Why you need a rate checker on your website

It’s no secret as you know it and the OTAs know it: Guests are shopping around and looking at multiple websites, about 40, before making a booking. Why? Because they want to find the best rate, see photos, and read reviews before making their purchase decision. In an ideal world, they would just make a booking directly through your site as you follow rate parity rules and have the same rate across all sites, but not all of your website visitors understand this.

Enter rater checker widgets.

Photo courtesy of Triptease.

A rate checker widget displays all of your rates across all of your online channels so guests can quickly see where they’ll get the best deal – which should be by booking direct!

Not only does this benefit you by saving on commissions and generating direct bookings, but it also benefits your potential guests. With a rate checker on your website, you can:

• Build trust – Guests easily see all the rates from around the Web and can choose the right price for them.
• Save time – Save your guests time from bouncing around the Internet trying to compare rates and speed along the booking process.
• Be flexible – With this tool, guests are better informed of where they should complete their booking and as most are responsive that means your guest can quickly make their booking on their mobile device like almost 40% of travelers do.

There are several standalone price check widgets offered by Triptease, Clicktripz, Convertio, and Cloudbeds. Though with Triptease’s widget, you can also add amenities or benefits of booking direct under your property’s rate like early check-in, complimentary Wi-Fi, or a best price guarantee.

Do careful research to ensure the tool is pulling prices ethically as the OTAs are keeping a close watch on this new technology to ensure rate parity clauses are being adhered to.