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Why does Agoda show a lower initial price that becomes higher at checkout?

AgodaHotel bookingPricing transparencyTravel tipsExpat adviceThailand
Jul 2, 2024
6 months ago
Philip **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
I've been using Agoda to book most of my hotels. I scrutinised more the booking process this time. 604 baht for a room on their first page. I wanted to book for 7 days. The next page just before paying it comes up with a number for the 7 days without any explanation for 5880 baht. But if you do the maths it's 840 baht a night. They try to confuse with discounts and cash back. Any one else notice this, have I missed something. Also to get the final price you have to scroll down 5 pages first but you can press the next final step button at any time.
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TLDR : Answer Summary
Many users have noticed that Agoda often displays a lower initial price for hotels, which can rise significantly during the checkout process. This discrepancy is primarily due to the addition of taxes and hidden fees that are not clearly itemized upfront, leading to confusion and frustration. While some users report Agoda as being cheaper overall, many recommend checking direct hotel websites or using booking platforms like Booking.com for clearer pricing. There are also suggestions to compare prices using TripAdvisor or Google Hotels for a more comprehensive view before finalizing bookings.
David **********
In Thailand if you post a.negative review you are likely to be threatened by the owner. They don't like criticism even if constructive.
6 months ago
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Ryan *******
HERE IS A HACK.

Go to Google travel>hotels>search

Hotel name or area in city>click hotel. (make sure you toggle price to show total with fees in Google hotel)

It will show you multiple booking sites and prices. You can always check which room which site has...

OFTEN AGODA is best price, best room 60% of the time. Booking is agoda parent company. They will get about 20% share. Then there is trip, vio, traveloka, momondo, Trivago, that usually have deals aswell.

Clearly I am making these percentages up. But it's kinda the truth
6 months ago
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Fish **********
A tip to share, especially for Agoda hotel booking. Just to TripAdvisor first , look for the hotel there and set the date window there too , there would be a link from there to jump to Agoda. In most cases , it’s cheaper than you direct book from Agoda. Go try it.
6 months ago
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Ryan *******
Straight up. All booking sites have advertising they send out to entice you to get that price. Regardless when you book it's still a fantastic deal even if you don't get advertise price.
6 months ago
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Jonathan **********
Did my bookings thru Agoda, no issue and a freaking good deal as well. Only thing I found was that they would still have places that were clearly scams if you read the reviews. I mean how can you allow someone to advertise a place that multiple reviews say doesnt even exist?!
6 months ago
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Teovski ******
Yes, I filed an official complaint with EU authorities because they advertise prices that are impossible to book. That is misleading!
6 months ago
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Martino *******
He's the same with Booking. They tell you that you have a "special price" because you are a "Genius". But if you disconnect or see the same hotel in incognito, the price is the same. They mislead you in many ways showing fake discounts and "best prices". You check in Agoda and other sites and you see the same prices.
6 months ago
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Kathy ********
Same here

in Europa as well when I clicked on the page it went up from 30 to 160 euro for 1 night ridiculous
6 months ago
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Alan ******
Another thing with Agoda they only publish selective reviews. Bad ones are definitely removed.

They want the money.
6 months ago
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Paul ***********
Same as booking.com I normally find the hotel on line then go to hotel reception and ask for room price it always works out cheaper
6 months ago
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Ron ******
Try Trivago.
6 months ago
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Brett *********
Have you considered that some days like weekends are a higher rate?
6 months ago
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Sam *****
We have been travelling in Asia over 2 years now.

Some tips.

Check prices using different VPN locations.

Clear your browser history.

Some of the cheapest prices I get from the same company come from when I go to Google maps. Search hotels in that area I want. Select the hotel. The prices here are usually cheaper than Agoda is quoting me as a VIP member. It is absolute bullshit really. They are such scammers.
6 months ago
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Sam *****
Check their prices with different VPN locations and clear your browser history. You will be amazed at the different prices you get quoted. Often cheapest if you go to Agoda via trip advisor app too.
6 months ago
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John *******
Have had minor issues with agoda previously I don't use it any more only use expedia good luck
6 months ago
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Richard ******
Swerve Agoda!
6 months ago
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Cloana ********
Book only one night or 2 and book following nights on place👍
6 months ago
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Marcel *******
You can also reduce the tax by logging in via vpn from another country
6 months ago
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Klaus ***********
Agoda is a pain and has ever changing prices, eye washing cash back and promotions- bullocks
6 months ago
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Mark ********
Booking.com is my go to booking site.
6 months ago
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Jim **********
Yes, i got a price for 1 night that was considerably less than the nightly rate on a 7 day booking. Even the first night was more than the price quoted for a single night booking for the same date !

So, I just made 7 single night bookings. Bit if a pain, but increases the admin overheads for them snd the hotel - so they might get the message then !
6 months ago
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Bernard *****
Agoda... same company than Booking 😁😁😁

Booking Holdings : Agoda, Booking, Kayak.....
6 months ago
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Paul *********
I had my booking cancelled....

Not happy as the same one on Booking.com cost be an extra £400 4 months later!!!

The one I booked got relisted at £400 more than I paid.

Won't use them again.
6 months ago
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Ryan *******
Just book per day or per 2 days.

But go to google hotels first.. Book per day and it's cheaper.. You must play aroujd to defeat the algorithm.
6 months ago
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Sam *****
@Ryan ******
 totally agree. I always book just one or 2 night blocks to get my total stay. Cheaper. And if the hotel turns out not to be what you expected. Most have cancelation these days and I just cancel the remaining days and find somewhere else
6 months ago
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Ryan *******
Toggle to show total price in Google etc
6 months ago
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Ryan *******
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Dave *****************************
I would rather use a company that gives you final price without hidden extras. Seems these guys conning people now. To the best to the worst in such a short time.
6 months ago
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Scott *********
You need to take all thai hotel reviews with a grain of salt as the defamation laws in thailand are quite severe for those posting a negative reveiw.
6 months ago
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Ben ******
Use booking.com
6 months ago
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Vinay ********
I use hotels.com and they are very good with 1 free night for every 10. But after a few weeks they merge with expedia and LateRooms.com and its going to points. So not sure if I'll continue with them. I use topcashback for bookings to get some money back. Its not a lot but builds up as loads of other companies are in topcashback. I live in the UK and use my nights for when I'm in Thailand.
6 months ago
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Michael ********
My wife worked for agoda, but we only use booking.com or google reviews
6 months ago
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Greg *********
Agoda canceled a reservation of mine last year with no explanation. They said it was "a system thing." Thankfully they did refund me.
6 months ago
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James *********
Agoda's bought or buying up all the competition, wirtually have a near monopoly on the market,and prices WILL rise
6 months ago
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Morris *****
I can get you 20% off Expedia hotels if you are willing to trust me lol.
6 months ago
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Kal *********
Weekend rates and weekdays rates are not the same especially in low season ... and depending on where u stay weekends rates are usually way more expensive... those factors ...
6 months ago
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Terary **********
I double check the final figure, before putting in my credit card number and decide at that time "is this price worth it"... The big joke is that a lot of those properties don't bother putting accurate pictures... You get misled on price and product.
6 months ago
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Terry *******
The cash back is a joke!
6 months ago
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Mike *******
I stopped using Agoda years ago, because of the website design, which withheld the real total cost until the very end of the transaction. I use Hotels dot com and Booking dot com, which both have transparent cost (including tax) right up front.
6 months ago
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Bob ********
I booked a hotel in Pattaya last year, the price was 650 Bt. per night.

An Agent popped up the first time I searched (without me asking) and wanted almost 900 Bt. for the same hotel. ..I got the better price by bringing up the hotel website and booking direct with them.
6 months ago
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David ***********
Agoda usually add taxes and charges on the last page. You have to be careful
6 months ago
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Sam *****
@David **********
 you can select on the app to show prices inclusive of taxes.
6 months ago
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Sam *****
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James ***********
It’s been like that forever, it’s called the tax. They oft in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam are less priced than what you get working with hotel*people direct …but it’s always different.
6 months ago
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Jennifer ******
Agoda is not transparent. Trip is better
6 months ago
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Joseph ****
As others have mentioned, the booking sites cite cheaper Sunday night through midweek rates. Even within those days, there is fluxuation. And Fri, Sat nights are invariably highest.
6 months ago
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Paul ********
They are generally the cheapest but you do have to tread carefully as they use lots of scammy tactics that can bump up the costs considerably, as for customer service it's one of the worst. I still use agoda from time to time but wouldn't use for things like international flights as if something goes wrong you will find the airline won't rectify anything as its all booked under agodas authorisation and agoda will do nothing to help. I've had to make many bank charge backs due to situations like this or had to pay the airline extortionate fees to over ride agodas admin on the booking.
6 months ago
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Nick ************
I never use agoda for exactly this reason.
6 months ago
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Martyn ***********
Your original daily rate laybe a cheap day midweek etc.. Maybe the rest is higher rate, hotel full or weekend rate?
6 months ago
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Matthew ******
Never use Agoda!! I got a hotel rated 8.5 by Agoda and it was a complete dump!! I’d use Hotel, Booking or Airbnb
6 months ago
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Rogerio ******
@Matthew *****
 booking and agoda are owned by the same company
6 months ago
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Scott *********
@Matthew *****
 You need to take all thai hotel reviews with a grain of salt as the defamation laws in thailand are quite severe for those posting a negative reveiw.
6 months ago
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Scott *********
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Giorgio ******
I've never booked in advance . I find a place on the spot when I get there .

always find and choose in time .

Never had a problem to sleep where I choosed to.
6 months ago
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Marc ********
Yes final price is always different then first advertised.

But they are most of the time still the cheapest.

And they have good customer service
6 months ago
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John ********
What do you guys thing of booking.com
6 months ago
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Rich ****
@John *******
 not the cheapest but reliable
6 months ago
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Rich ****
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Ds ******
If you book on the app, there is a setting to include tax in the shown price, but not other tax like city tax.
6 months ago
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Andy **********
Select includes all taxes and fees total price, also select any discount codes and coupons they are giving you, then you should get the price you were expecting at the payment stage
6 months ago
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Peter ********
They’re all bullshit ripoff, I don’t know why people still use this crap. Always cheaper to book direct and no rubbish about “only one room left at this price”wankers
6 months ago
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Brandon ************
@Peter *******
 I tried contacting a hotel to book direct and they had no interest in charging anything but the rate on the website. When I mentioned it was cheaper on Agoda they said to use Agoda then.
6 months ago
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Julane *******
@Brandon ***********
 we've been traveling around Thailand for 2 years using primarily Agoda and sometimes trips.com which has a much more transparent bonus system. Agoda's VIP status is a joke. And the click to "claim a 10% discount in the next hour" popup always makes the price higher! Agoda certsinly gets the award for weird stuff, but their prices are still usually the best.

So we have made about 500 hotel bookings in 2 years. I always check the walk-in rate (when we arruve) to compare. Only 2 or 3 times was it cheaper...and like 10 baht. Generally we pay 20-30% less than the walk-in rate. (A few times, we decided to stay a month, then the rates dropped to half.)

I don't understand how these booking apps get such low prices?🤔
6 months ago
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Peter ********
@Brandon ***********
 yes but was it cheaper on Agoda? What they say and what comes out of your bank account is always different.
6 months ago
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Philip **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Brandon ***********
 well I walked in to one hotel and the price he gave me was considerably cheaper. Walked into another. Got the price. Then used Agoda and the price was considerably cheaper. The girls at the desk were surprised.
6 months ago
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Philip **********
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Andy **********
Click on that icon on the top right
6 months ago
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Bonnie ***********
We are in Thailand right now and have had nothing but bad things to say about agoda this trip. One hotel they gave us 70 percent off the price as some kind of special only to discover that the price we paid was still 20 percent more than the door price. We also needed to change a date and were told non refundable and non transferable even though the booking was 3 weeks away. I will never use them again.
6 months ago
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Rogerio ******
@Bonnie **********
 that's interesting because I've done bookings last minute, literally at the hotel counter, and Agoda was cheaper and thus we had to book 'online' first even though we were right there at the hotel.
6 months ago
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Bonnie ***********
@Rogerio *****
 your experice is what we found last year but this year it's been crazy the difference in price
6 months ago
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מקל ******
@Rogerio *****
 agreed Agoda can be 5-10 bucks cheaper online than booking in person.
6 months ago
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מקל ******
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Leon ****
You might be surprised when search same day and hotel without login to Agoda account or try on a different phone and without login. 🤣
6 months ago
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Michael ********
@Leon ***
 Me and wife check with her account in thailand and mine registered in UK. Usually the same but results can go either way benifitting Thais or Foriegners. Wife used to work for agoda she did explain it but went in one ear and out the other.
6 months ago
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Sam *****
@Leon ***
 clearing your browser history too results in cheaper prices too.
6 months ago
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Philip **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Leon ***
 not with Agoda but have tried with VPN and subscriptions. Can be a lot cheaper when your a Nigerian!!
6 months ago
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Philip **********
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Zeki ********
Every time I book hotels in Thailand I use Bookings.com haven't had any surprises, try it on your next booking.
6 months ago
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Sam *****
@Zeki *******
 agree Agoda is always cheaper for me. They are both owned by the same holdings company anyway.
6 months ago
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Rich ****
@Zeki *******
 but not the cheapest. Always more than Agoda.
6 months ago
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Rich ****
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Dave *****************************
Yep, had same problem recently. I get the impression they are ripping people off now and I am very disappointed with them. Final price went up from what they quoted. Now deleted their app.
6 months ago
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Phil ******
Try searching in trip advisor as has 8+ search engines with prices including agoda booking etc
@Philip *********
6 months ago
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Phil ******
6 months ago
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Phil ******
6 months ago
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Phil ******
6 months ago
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Phil ******
6 months ago
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Philip **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Phil *****
 8 search engines with different names all owned by the same company.
6 months ago
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Phil ******
@Philip *********
 no your completely wrong such a stupid comment. Here's an example with 15 different companies. I'll informed please delete your comment
6 months ago
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Philip **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Phil Beer thanks for that. You are right not all of them are owned by Expedia or bookingdotcom but most of them are. I think TripAdvisor is owned by Expedia or a parent company. Trivago owned by Expedia were fined $45 million in Aus for their price claims.
6 months ago
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Phil ******
@Philip *********
 no not owned by either companies

*****************************************


I also don't use trivago
6 months ago
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Phil ******
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Philip **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
I just got a reply back from Agoda. I did just change the setting and did give me the total price BUT after cash backs. So still initially 250 baht more with possibly getting the money back in 60 days time. But you have to request it. Good chance I will have forgotten.
6 months ago
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Sam *****
@Philip *********
 also the hotel has to confirm this cash back thing. In 700 nights of hotel bookings in the last 2 years I can tell you in my experience 30% dont and you never see it anyway.
6 months ago
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Julane *******
@Sam ****
 I guess, I've been lucky, but I often try to book without the cash back option.
6 months ago
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Sam *****
@Julane ******
 yeah I won’t book anymore with it. Because it just doesn’t always happen. Also if you read small print. If under a certain amount Agoda also take a certain amount. Example ,can’t remember exactly $1US so most times you get nothing anyway.Major Scam. I just wish all these boggy people would latch onto this and expose them. Unfortunately I am just way too old to fully get into it. Sad but true.🍻
6 months ago
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Sam *****
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Andy **********
@Philip *********
 you should receive an email to let you know your cash back can now be claimed.
6 months ago
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Brandon ************
@Philip *********
 they usually send you an email when it's time to request it
6 months ago
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Dan ********
@Brandon ***********
 yeah, it's literally not worth my time to deal with that much like my lazada returns, they just don't happen. Agora and many businesses do similar and its in the hope that so many customers won't apply the cash back, subsidising those that do.
6 months ago
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Julane *******
@Brandon ***********
 yes, that's true. Recently they added a new requirement. You are charged a fee if your cashback is under $10usd. But you can select it to go into your bank account for no additional fee, if under $10.
6 months ago
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Julane *******
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Wouter **********
We use agoda for our homestay to, guess there used weekend rates to what can increase the price
6 months ago
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Rok ********
Midweek days cheaper than weekends when booking a week yet go according to the lowest advertise price most likely being Tuesday and wednesday. I usually find agoda best value for money and certainly easiest to navigate app.
6 months ago
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Robert *******
Use HOTELS.COM
6 months ago
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Ben ********
Airbnb is the best , booking.com next
6 months ago
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Alessandro **********
VAT
6 months ago
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Phil **********
Rip off merchants cost me £60 when flight dates changed from 22th July to 12 September and I didn't notice when I clicked on pay.phoned them straight away but they wouldn't even let me speak to a supervisor to put my case agent told me it would cost £60 to cancel.will never deal with them again
6 months ago
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Mike **********
@Phil *********
Always book directly either the airline website

Never use 3rd party apps

The flight fare is the same

But with 3rd party you really have little hope if help

Direct with airline assures you get THEIR customer service
6 months ago
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Philip **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Phil *********
 I have decided it's better to just book directly with the airline and not too far in advance. It would be nice to be able to do this with hotels. I think there are clauses if they undercut online booking companies they get blacklisted.
6 months ago
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Philip **********
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Philip **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Tiket another I have used are more honest. If have the time or inclination it pays to put the booking through a few first to compare.
6 months ago
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Martin ******
Agoda are typically the cheapest, but they use the most confusing tactics to extract more money from you, and they cancel confirmed bookings at the last minute most, I think, going by fb complaints - they've never cancelled mine but they have snuck in charges.
6 months ago
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Stuart **********
I use agoda or trivago to find a hotel then go to the hotel website and check their prices.Some hotels will give you a better price as they then don’t have to pay commission to agoda,booking.com etc
6 months ago
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Dan ********
@Martin *****
 cancelled mine, new years eve, about 5 years ago. Left me on the street without a booking at 5am.
6 months ago
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Martin ******
@Dan *******
 that's horrendous! they book through booking.com, (and are owned by the same parent company I believe), but I hear about this much more with Agoda than booking. They should not be allowed to describe their bookings as reserved, people spend a fortune on holidays and you're very reliant on them.
6 months ago
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Martin ******
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Philip **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Yes I could gather that. But with the final price there is no breakdown. Adding 17% tax still gives a lower number. Agoda info box says there are other fee in compensation for processing the booking. But it's not itemised.
6 months ago
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Garrett ***********
@Philip *********
 There is a break down
6 months ago
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Philip **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Garrett **********
 show me please where,?
6 months ago
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Philip **********
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John ********
Use booking.com if you want the total price on the first page. Agoda has always worked like this
6 months ago
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Brian *********
Try trip
6 months ago
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Brandon ************
That front page number never includes taxes
6 months ago
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Teovski ******
@Brandon ***********
 all pages say "with taxes", so that is not the explanation
6 months ago
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Julane *******
@Brandon ***********
 I use their app. I have set my preference to include ALL taxes.
6 months ago
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Jon *****
@Brandon ***********
 True for Agoda, not for Booking
6 months ago
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Doug *********
@Jon ****
 Aren’t Booking and Agoda owned by the same company???
6 months ago
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Jon *****
@Doug ********
 They are definitely linked but the price shown on Booking is always the final price, it's not the case for Agoda
6 months ago
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Jon *****
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Declan **********
6 months ago
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Declan **********
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