About Booking.com
Founded in 1996 in Amsterdam, Booking.com has grown from a small Dutch startup to one of the world’s leading digital travel companies. Part of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG), Booking.com’s mission is to make it easier for everyone to experience the world.
By investing in the technology that helps take the friction out of travel, Booking.com seamlessly connects millions of travellers with memorable experiences, a range of transport options and incredible places to stay – from homes to hotels and much more. As one of the world’s largest travel marketplaces for both established brands and entrepreneurs of all sizes, Booking.com enables properties all over the world to reach a global audience and grow their businesses.
Booking.com is available in 43 languages and offers more than 28 million total reported accommodation listings, including over 6.2 million listings alone of homes, apartments and other unique places to stay. No matter where you want to go or what you want to do, Booking.com makes it easy and backs it all up with 24/7 customer support.
Overview of Booking.com
A career at Booking.com is all about the journey, helping you explore new challenges in a place where you can be your best self. With plenty of exciting twists, turns and opportunities along the way.
We’ve always been pioneers, on a mission to shape the future of travel through cutting edge technology, to make it easier for everyone to enjoy amazing experiences wherever they go. Under a desert sky, or in the heart of a bustling city. Discovering the perfect hideaway, or the perfect paella.
That’s why we’re always looking for people who search for better solutions, the ones eager to stray off the beaten path to find new ways of doing things. Because at Booking.com it’s more than a job, it’s a journey.
Booking.com is one of the top names in hotel booking companies. But is booking.com reliable and safe? Is it a genuine site to book hotels?
In this post, I am going to review on Booking.com based on Customer reviews, available data, and personal experiences.
But before going in detail let us see the quick answer to the question – Is Booking.com Reliable And Safe?
Yes! Booking.com is a reliable and genuine company when it comes to booking hotel rooms. It is a company that has made its name in hospitality industries because it’s good service and ease of use.
Although at times a few customers may some issues with booking, we have got some tips to make your stay at the hotel hassle-free.
Is Booking.com Reliable And Safe
Established in 1996, Booking.com is one of the largest online accommodation reservation service company. Not just hotels, but the company provides services like online flight booking, car rentals, and airport taxi booking services.
With 1,550,000 rooms booked every day, Booking.com boasts to cover 154,195 destinations in 228 countries and territories worldwide. Booking.com app and websites are available in 40 different languages across the globe.
Booking .com Real Customer Reviews
Let see some of the real customer reviews across different review sites on the internet.
Trust Pilot
On TrustPilot.com there are 17,176 reviews at the time of writing this article. Out of which 7557(44%) have given Booking.com 5 stars for their services, 1717(10%) people have given ‘great’ rating, 687(4 %) have rated its service ‘average’, 687(4 %) said Booking.com provides poor service and 6526(38%) of those people have rated Booking.com services poor.
Consumer Affairs
On Consumer Affairs.com, Booking.com has a 3 out of 5-star rating. 2352 people have left reviews for Booking.com on the site and following are the ratings:
What Makes Booking.com Reliable?
Let us see some of the points that make a reliable and genuine company to book hotel rooms.
Free Cancellation Until One Day Before Arrival.
There is no cancellation fee if you wish to cancel your booking at Booking.com. There is no cancellation fee until the previous day of check-in.
This makes booking a hotel room with booking.com risk-free and you are sure that your money will be refunded if you cancel your booking.
Pay At Hotel Payment Option
Nowadays Booking.com provides the option to pay the reservation fee at the hotel. Though this option may depend on the hotel, most hotels that have a tie-up with booking.com have ‘pay at arrival’ payment option.
Thus, you don’t need to pay anything at the time of booking. That means you can cancel your booking anytime without worrying about cancellation fees or the refund.
Flexible Policies
One thing that makes Booking.com customer-friendly is its flexible policies. You can change the date of check-ins, edit guests’ details, request an extra bed in case some of your friends decide to join you on the trip.
All that you can do directly from the reservation page. In other booking sites, You need to get in touch with customer support executives, and that too doesn’t ensure that your requests are entertained.
Booking.com Customer Support
The customer service of Booking.com is very prompt in helping its customers. They are available 24*7 to help you with issues related to booking, cancellation and payment issues.
You can get in touch with customer support via call, live chat, and email.
What Makes Booking.com Unreliable
Although Booking.com is a genuine website and a top brand in the hospitality industry, there are a few issues customers face at the time of booking and stay.
Rooms’ Price Keep Changing
The price of hotel rooms keeps on changing frequently. Their price keeps changing throughout the day. So it makes really impossible to predict the time to get hotel rooms at the cheapest price.
But this is the case of all other hotel booking sites as well. All the hotel booking websites work on demand and supply formula.
When more people are looking to book hotel rooms, the price of the room automatically increased by their algorithm.
So, it is better to book a hotel room 2 to 3 days before the planned check-in date. Booking too many days in advance doesn’t ensure that you would get the room at a cheaper price.
Communication Gap With Hotel Owners
Sometimes the hotel owners are not aware of the booking made on their hotel. Booking.com fails to notify about the bookings and this may lead to a lot of trouble at the time of check-in.
Booking Sold Out Rooms
Now, this is a frequent problem when it comes to booking a hotel room. Since the hotels can reserve the room for their guest(direct booking) without updating it on the Booking.com portal.
Thus, at the time of the booking room at that hotel, it may show the rooms unoccupied, but in reality, the rooms are already booked.
This may put you in a problem at the time of check-in. You may have a valid booking ID but when you reach the hotel, you are told the all the rooms are sold out for the day.
Not just Booking.com, but all other hotel booking sites have similar issues.
How to Make Sure Hotel Booking Safe And Secure
Here are some tips to make your hotel stay safe and hassle-free. Follow the tips to avoid issues related to check-in, cancellation, and refunds.
Check The Rating Of The Hotel
Always check the rating of the particular hotel you want to book your room in. Read the reviews of other customers before booking.
Choose a hotel with at least 8 out of 10 ratings. Read the reviews of customers about hotel staff, food, hygiene, and other stuff.
Also, do keep in mind the location of the hotel. The hotel must be easily reachable and at a good location.
Always Opt For Pay At Arrival Payment Option
As stated earlier in the post, Booking.com has ‘pay at arrival’ payment option. You can book a hotel without paying a single cent. You need to pay at the time of check-in.
My recommendation is to always go with this option. As with this option then is no worrying about cancellation fees and refund if you wish to cancel your booking at the hotel.
Also, if you book a room with ‘pay at hotel’ option and later if the price of the rooms drops or you find a better deal on any other site, you can easily cancel the booking and book on that site.
It is a win-win situation for you. Your money is not stuck and you have the ultimate freedom to cancel your booking anytime without worrying about the refund.
Call The Hotel After Bookings And Before Arrival
Although, when you book a hotel room with Booking.com, you as well as the hotel owner get notification about the hotel booking made by you. You may also get a call from Booking.com customer service asking you about your arrival time.
But it is always better to give a call to the hotel to tell them about your booking. Also, to tell them your arrival time and to let them know about special requirements if any.
Why I recommend doing so is sometimes the Booking.com site algorithm might not work properly and mistakenly book a room at the hotel which is already sold for the day.
Conclusion
So, That’s our review of Booking.com. What do you think, is booking.com reliable and safe for booking rooms and flights?
Do let us know about your experience with Booking.com. Do let us know in the comment section. We would definitely add them to the article.
