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If you’re booking a trip and searching for hotels, you may see numerous booking options besides the hotel itself. You may see prices from Booking, Expedia, and other online travel agencies as you browse your options. But there’s a newcomer to the group that surprised me.
A relatively new name in the world of online travel for hotel bookings is Traveluro or its pseudo-name of Splitty.
As a travel expert, I decided to take a deep dive into Traveluro to see if it’s a legitimate option for hotel bookings.
If you use a search engine like Google Hotels to score a deal on your next hotel booking, you may see a long list of results, including Traveluro which often undercuts the other online travel agencies and the hotel itself.
Let’s take a look at a few examples.
Google lists the Hotel Indigo Chattanooga as a “deal” at $185 per night. Here’s the price breakdown when you click on the listing:
When I click on the Traveluro result, I am taken to the Traveluro website. A standard, nonrefundable room is $185. My Traveluro total for the weekend with taxes and fees is $434. Traveluro even asks for a tip (isn’t everyone?) during the booking process.
If I decide to book with the hotel directly, the total is $551.89.
Google lists the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay as a “deal” at $158 per night. Here’s the price breakdown when you click on the listing:
On the Traveluro site, the cheapest room is $161 for a standard room. All in with taxes and fees, the total is $1,519.00.
Interestingly, I did not see the $188 price when I visited the hotel’s official website. Instead, the cheapest price was $217 per night. If I decide to book with the hotel directly, the total is $1,720.99.
Google lists the Hampton by Hilton London Croydon as a “deal” at $111 per night. Here’s the price breakdown when you click on the listing:
On the Traveluro site, the cheapest room is $113 for an accessible standard double room. For the sake of following the best prices, I clicked to book this option. All in with taxes and fees, the total is $945.00.
When I go to the hotel’s website, the total price is £1,036.98 (or $1295.40 at the time of this writing).
Overall, the prices from Traveluro in the Google search are the prices reflected in the booking details. With taxes and fees, the total price was consistently less expensive than booking with a hotel directly.
However, price is just one consideration when booking a trip.
I quickly spotted two red flags from the Traveluro FAQ and Support pages:
“If you would like to amend your booking, please contact us via phone or email using this link https://www.traveluro.com/contact and will do our best to accommodate your requests.”
“If your reservation is not free for you to cancel on your own, please email us at contactus@traveluro.com for further assistance, so we can discuss this and other options with you.”
The language of “do our best” and “we can discuss” changes and cancelations isn’t very reassuring.
I checked out Traveluro on Trustpilot, a free review website open to companies and consumers everywhere. This independent digital platform aims to be a symbol of trust for consumers.
The reviews for Traveluro were not stellar. Traveluro.com has 8,741 reviews and is categorized as Average, or with a 3.7 out of 5 stars. What stood out were consumer complaints on two key factors when booking a hotel: how to change and how to cancel a reservation.
Many forums on Reddit like this one also advise against booking with Traveluro. One user says, “DO NOT! I repeat. DO NOT use Traveluro. This is as close to a scam as you can legally get without being a scam.”
It’s worth noting that several people have used Traveluro with no issues. A user in the same thread says, “I just stayed at a hotel in Orlando and booked thru Traveluro… no issues here and saved $20 per night compared to the other sites.”
Traveluro is not a scam, but is it worth the risk? Traveluro has some positive reviews. But when things go wrong, they go really wrong.
If you’re looking for the best hotel deal, online travel agencies like Traveluro may seem more convenient and affordable than booking directly with a hotel.
But if you seek the best in customer service, your best bet is booking directly through the hotel. If something goes wrong with your third-party website booking, be prepared to experience a less-than-satisfactory response to your inquiries.
Have you used Traveluro? Let us know in our free Clark.com Community!
This post was last modified on April 30, 2024 12:45 pm
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