Agoda and other OTA's

[Flipflop]

Does Agoda drive anyone else crazy?  It seems like the prices for the same room and same dates changes every 10 minutes.  I've been using TripAdvisor as an aggregator, but wondering if there are better sites out there to use.

[Herbby]

Best to use a VPN when browsing, and then turn it off/change location when booking.

[petehoax]

8 hours ago, Herbby said:

Best to use a VPN when browsing, and then turn it off/change location when booking.

why? 

@OP: google maps is a great aggregator and you normally get lower prices that way than going directly to Agoda. 

[Herbby]

3 hours ago, petehoax said:

why? 

@OP: google maps is a great aggregator and you normally get lower prices that way than going directly to Agoda. 

Because once the website realises your IP address, it raises prices for stuff you have recently looked at. Using a VPN stops this. I use stuff like booking.com and Skyscanner regularly and have seen this happen many times.

[Flipflop]

On 10/16/2022 at 11:23 AM, Herbby said:

Because once the website realises your IP address, it raises prices for stuff you have recently looked at. Using a VPN stops this. I use stuff like booking.com and Skyscanner regularly and have seen this happen many times.

Agoda seems to raise the price almost immediately after viewing just once.  thanks, I'll give this a shot

[petehoax]

On 10/16/2022 at 4:23 AM, Herbby said:

Because once the website realises your IP address, it raises prices for stuff you have recently looked at. Using a VPN stops this. I use stuff like booking.com and Skyscanner regularly and have seen this happen many times.

that's not true, and very easy to test yourself empirically. 

but i don't expect you to change your opinion on it and it's up2you of course. 

[little_me]

1 hour ago, petehoax said:

that's not true, and very easy to test yourself empirically. 

I've read a lot of anonymous people on the Internet claim they have seen it.

I've read statements from Agoda and Expedia claim they don't. (Expedia owns almost every  travel site on the Internet that isn't owned by Agoda's parent co.).

What I find difficult to believe is that they'd use an IP address and not a cookie. And, while I've only ever used corporate enterprise VPNs, I'm pretty sure none of commercial VPN providers are blocking any cookies, especially not in an HTTPS / TSL connection. (If you're allowing the VPN provider to play man in the middle by trusting there cert to do that, I think you trust them way too much...)

It's much more likely the hotel is willing to take a hit selling one room at a teaser rate to trick the algorithm, and as soon as that's rented by someone else, they put another. But feed them one at a time....

(I once got 50% off a brand new car from a dealership doing this, 10 identical cars for 80% off, and the eleventh for 50% off, I got there fast enough after hearing the ad to get the one for 50% off. But, of course, it was a Chrysler, so, no one really wanted it even at 1/2 off...But I really needed a new car.)

Edited October 18, 2022 by little_me

[Herbby]

7 hours ago, petehoax said:

that's not true, and very easy to test yourself empirically. 

but i don't expect you to change your opinion on it and it's up2you of course. 

Ok then 🤷‍♂️

[filipef]

i use Trivago to find the best hotel rates