Can I book hotels for Phuket sandbox through Agoda or do I need to use an official channel?

@Ja***

Apparently you've never used Agoda before. You don't talk to Agoda, you talk directly to the hotel.

@Garrett **********

I used them for years and when I had to cancel a booked trip at the beginning of the pandemic, the only money I lost was with Agoda. They gave me a credit good for 1 year, while the hotel was refunding their direct clients. Direct 1, Agoda 0

@Garrett **********

I’ve used Agoda and I’ve had to change hotel bookings. When you’re at the airport and trying to shift everything and use Agoda’s in house communication I would take calling the hotel directly every single time.

@Ja***

You don't you can email the hotel directly, worked fine for my sandbox trip. In the last 12 months I've had 31 bookings on Agoda, never had an issue.

@Garrett **********

i emailed the hotel directly but it was through agodas communication interface, I use Agoda quite a bit but for my ASQ when I come back I’ll do it directly again. Or hopefully quarantine will just be lifted.

@Ja***

ASQ packages do seem to be cheaper directly with the hotel. If you're doing the sandbox though, an OTA will be cheaper per night. For me, the biggest benefit to using an OTA like Agoda is in the event of refunds or cancellations. I've seen a good number of people both flights and hotels, have trouble getting refunded when they were entitled to refunds. Thai Airways is probably the best example.