TA and third party booking

[BNcruzIng]

We paid for tripadvisor to list our property (photos, management response etc...) on their website.
However, when we click on our photos, they direct us to the third booking engine instead of our direct website. I feel that we are somewhat being cheated. I called them and complained about this and they said that's their policy when we have a third booking party.
sort of dirty business practice from TA I believe...any thoughts?

 

[Arks]

That's how they do mine, but I don't pay. If I paid, I wouldn't want people to go to a booking site. Kind of makes you wonder what the point of paying is.

 

[Copperhead]

Of course they believe they are doing you a favor, after all you are using the OTA's! And as far as the hotels go, they don't care how they get the reservation just so they get them.
It is the little guys like us that it hits hard.
Yes, you would think that if you are PAYING those bucks, you would have the viewers sole focus while on your page. This was also brought up when discussing some of the B&B directories.
TA has provided another way to close this gap though. That is Tr ipCon nect and now you can have your own reservation system show up with the OTA's. It does cost some as it is PPC but you do have control of the spending.
I am setting mine up now, Arks got his up and running a couple weeks (?) ago.
And FYI, you no longer have to have a business listing to use this booking feature so if you think this will work for you, you may save $ going this route and dropping the business listing when it is renewal time.

 

[Arks]

Of course they believe they are doing you a favor, after all you are using the OTA's! And as far as the hotels go, they don't care how they get the reservation just so they get them.
It is the little guys like us that it hits hard.
Yes, you would think that if you are PAYING those bucks, you would have the viewers sole focus while on your page. This was also brought up when discussing some of the B&B directories.
TA has provided another way to close this gap though. That is Tr ipCon nect and now you can have your own reservation system show up with the OTA's. It does cost some as it is PPC but you do have control of the spending.
I am setting mine up now, Arks got his up and running a couple weeks (?) ago.
And FYI, you no longer have to have a business listing to use this booking feature so if you think this will work for you, you may save $ going this route and dropping the business listing when it is renewal time..

I am setting mine up now, Arks got his up and running a couple weeks (?) ago.

Yes I got my first click December 23. I set my exposure/day at the minimum of $10, but I don't get enough clicks to have to pay $10, so it's working well enough.

 

[gillumhouse]

Of course they believe they are doing you a favor, after all you are using the OTA's! And as far as the hotels go, they don't care how they get the reservation just so they get them.
It is the little guys like us that it hits hard.
Yes, you would think that if you are PAYING those bucks, you would have the viewers sole focus while on your page. This was also brought up when discussing some of the B&B directories.
TA has provided another way to close this gap though. That is Tr ipCon nect and now you can have your own reservation system show up with the OTA's. It does cost some as it is PPC but you do have control of the spending.
I am setting mine up now, Arks got his up and running a couple weeks (?) ago.
And FYI, you no longer have to have a business listing to use this booking feature so if you think this will work for you, you may save $ going this route and dropping the business listing when it is renewal time..

Remember the battle we had with the former owner of bandbdotcom before it was sold to the conglomerate? That whole thing was about ads on the page WE had paid top dollar for. Ahhh, those were the days. That was when we had a chance to win (and for the record, we did) - before mega-megas took control of everything.
I think there are only 2 directories left (other than InnRewards - we need to stir stumps on that again folks) that are still owned by a person - Mary and Deborah. Randy and Eric sold to mega (and am NOT knocking them for selling).

 

[OnTheShore]

Of course they believe they are doing you a favor, after all you are using the OTA's! And as far as the hotels go, they don't care how they get the reservation just so they get them.
It is the little guys like us that it hits hard.
Yes, you would think that if you are PAYING those bucks, you would have the viewers sole focus while on your page. This was also brought up when discussing some of the B&B directories.
TA has provided another way to close this gap though. That is Tr ipCon nect and now you can have your own reservation system show up with the OTA's. It does cost some as it is PPC but you do have control of the spending.
I am setting mine up now, Arks got his up and running a couple weeks (?) ago.
And FYI, you no longer have to have a business listing to use this booking feature so if you think this will work for you, you may save $ going this route and dropping the business listing when it is renewal time..

I am setting mine up now, Arks got his up and running a couple weeks (?) ago.

Yes I got my first click December 23. I set my exposure/day at the minimum of $10, but I don't get enough clicks to have to pay $10, so it's working well enough.
.

I set mine up 10 days ago, and have had a total of about 15 clicks, and one res (although it is not totally clear whether it really originated with TA), so far. I am not on any OTA, so not competing with them. Still debating the business listing thing...

 

[BNcruzIng]

Of course they believe they are doing you a favor, after all you are using the OTA's! And as far as the hotels go, they don't care how they get the reservation just so they get them.
It is the little guys like us that it hits hard.
Yes, you would think that if you are PAYING those bucks, you would have the viewers sole focus while on your page. This was also brought up when discussing some of the B&B directories.
TA has provided another way to close this gap though. That is Tr ipCon nect and now you can have your own reservation system show up with the OTA's. It does cost some as it is PPC but you do have control of the spending.
I am setting mine up now, Arks got his up and running a couple weeks (?) ago.
And FYI, you no longer have to have a business listing to use this booking feature so if you think this will work for you, you may save $ going this route and dropping the business listing when it is renewal time..

My dilemma! The third party booking brings us 20-25percent of our total revenue. I set up Tripconnect as well at limited fund to see how things goes both ways.
we have to pay one way or another!l

 

[GoodScout]

This is a TA policy I've ranted about until I've decided its pointless to keep ranting. Is it fair? Heck no. Is it how they do business? Yes. Are they going to change? Nope.
Like anything else, you just have to look at the cost/benefit analysis for your property and see if it makes sense. Last year they raised my rate and I told them the C/B ratio made it time to cancel my business listing. We split the difference somewhere in the middle. Should they try and raise my rates again, I'll just cancel.
The lesson is, you should be tracking every reservation for its source, charting what you pay for that listing, if anything, and re-evaluate every year or month you renew.
When I worked in my previous life, I had a simple saying: "All successful marketing is this: Stop spending money on things that don't work, and start spending more money on things that do."

 

[EmptyNest]

This is a TA policy I've ranted about until I've decided its pointless to keep ranting. Is it fair? Heck no. Is it how they do business? Yes. Are they going to change? Nope.
Like anything else, you just have to look at the cost/benefit analysis for your property and see if it makes sense. Last year they raised my rate and I told them the C/B ratio made it time to cancel my business listing. We split the difference somewhere in the middle. Should they try and raise my rates again, I'll just cancel.
The lesson is, you should be tracking every reservation for its source, charting what you pay for that listing, if anything, and re-evaluate every year or month you renew.
When I worked in my previous life, I had a simple saying: "All successful marketing is this: Stop spending money on things that don't work, and start spending more money on things that do.".

And have you seen their newest...Home Advisor ...oh brother..trying to beat out Angie now!