Travel Secrets member hotel price discounts can be as high as 50%, when compared to the largest online booking sites in the world. Expedia Group, Booking Holdings spent more than $11b on marketing (mostly to google) in 2019. That is 40% of their combined $15b revenues.

They, like all online hotel booking sites, robotically check each other’s selling prices throughout the day, to make sure they are competing against each other. This is also necessary, as hotels can and often do change their specially negotiated prices throughout the day. You’ll notice from the below price comparison; that the two major booking sites keep their prices very close to each other. They are not in the game of underselling each other, so they can maintain a healthy markup/margin.

TravelSecrets.com business model is to offer free membership, knowing its members will take advantage of the 10%-30%+ lower hotel prices than these major hotel bookings sites, and share this secret with their family, friends, and colleagues, so we don’t have to spend money on advertising when the major hotel booking sites spend up to 40% of their margins on advertising. Then we work on a markup/margin and rely on volume to make a profitable, sustainable business.

Travel Secrets offers the same hotels, and the same options for free cancellation, paying in advance, or at the hotel. Hotel booking confirmation reliability is the same.

Sample savings comparison below with Booking.com and Expedia
(click to enlarge)

FAQs

How is Travel Secrets able to offer such special member prices?

The two largest global online hotel booking sites, spend 40% of their gross profit on advertising ($17b a year), primarily with Google. Their technology expenditure and general overhead and human resource costs are also huge...while their shareholders demand a good net profit.

Travel Secrets is able to offer club membership free and still offer prices 10%-30% less than these large global online hotel booking sites because our business model relies on our members to do the marketing, sharing Travel Secrets with their family, friends and work colleagues. We don’t carry much technology, general overhead and human resource expenses, as we rely on our established hotel wholesale partners to provide those resources. Lastly, we operate on a low, but sustainable, margin, so we can pass these saving to our members. That is the secret!

We are a small team of travel experts and pioneers in the online travel space, with over 150 years of combined experience in the travel industry. We focus on sourcing some of the most reliable and best hotels program partners worldwide, so you'll always find a selection of chic city breaks, beautiful country getaways and gorgeous beach retreats.

Hacks for major savings when booking as if you are located in a different country

Don't assume that you will be shown the same prices as everyone else who may be located in other countries, as hotels use all kinds of complex algorithms to cater to the purchasing power of different countries.

Hotels will routinely offer different prices depending on where you’re visiting from. This is particularly true for those residing in the United Kingdom, where the price difference can be hundreds of pounds higher for a booking made from the EU or the USA.

TravelSecrets.com has made it easy for those who are not tech-savvy or don't want to hassle using VPN or browsing using the ‘incognito’ option. On the hotel price listing screen, simply click "Select Country" and select a different country than the one you are located in to see if the rates are lower.

Are Travel Secrets member prices always the cheapest?

No. Only for approximately 50% of the hotels listed, where the savings can be as high as 50% compared to other major online hotel booking sites.

Hotels will periodically negotiate ‘flash’ sell deals with specific travel sellers, similar to brand items at supermarkets. These deals are mainly to fill the hotels low occupancy dates and may be limited to residents from a particular country. Often, if one hotel in a destination, does this, the competing hotels, if they need the business, will do the same. You should shop for hotel category (star rating) and other aspects important for you.

Travel Secrets and our wholesale partners are constantly negotiating spot hotel deals, so they are there to be had in the same hotel category (i.e. a Hilton versus a Marriott or a DoubleTree). But for any specific hotel, we may not be the least expensive.

What to do when rooms are not available at the Travel Secrets special member rates?

If you ARE travelling during the peak travel season or when a convention is in town (our system will tell you that, if you selected such a date), check for another hotel with the same star rating is easiest, but if you really want a specific hotel, check back later in the day or the next day, as it is common that hotels may reduce or increase their room allocations throughout the day or between days. Hotels use sophisticated ‘Revenue Management Systems’, which try to maximize the prices they sell at, based on their occupancy level for any particular date(s), what competitors are selling at (changes throughout the day), history data, originating buyer trends, number of nights a booking is for, etc. etc.

If you are travelling during the peak travel season or on a convention date and your travel dates are not flexible and still wish to book for your desired dates, you can select “View all rates” to view all the prices available. These are generally the same rates offered at any online hotel booking site.

Payment options
Currently, credit card payments and a third party ‘Book now pay later’ option are accepted by Travel Secrets and our hotel wholesale partners.
Taxes, special fees and surcharges.

All taxes, special fees, including ‘resort fees’ and surcharges are included in the final detailed price displayed and explained on Travel Secrets. They are not included or displayed in the preliminary hotel search result, as you will not have yet selected your desire room / type.

Related to our promise for 10% to 30% or more discount, off the lowest available hotel rates compared to those on the major hotel booking sites, those are comparing apples to apples, and include all taxes, fees, and surcharges in the price comparisons.

There are special instances, where hotels may not have included their ‘resort fees’ or any surcharges, in our negotiated hotel rates. You will be informed of such fees, in the final detail price display. These are more likely to be hotels in USA (i.e. not in Europe or Asia), especially in Las Vegas, Hawaii, and Orlando and with large well know hotel brands (except Marriott), where US consumer laws still let them get away not disclosing such charges, except in fine print, until you check-in the hotel. This will hopefully be a thing of the past, as various US legislatures and state attorney general offices tighten US consumer-protection laws.

Which locations are Travel Secrets special member rates available?
All global major and secondary cities and resorts.
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