Knowing where to stay is one of the first challenges of planning any trip. Unless someone recommends their favourite hotel or you return to somewhere you know you love, you’ll find yourself doing a hotel search. Whether you’re looking for a homely apartment, a centrally-located property or something super unique, there’s one booking site that comes highly recommended. Get insider knowledge and tips from an ex Customer Service Executive in our latest blog; why choose Booking.com.
Choosing the right accommodation for your trip is important; a real deal maker or breaker when it comes to a successful holiday. With Booking.com searching for the right hotel is simple and hassle-free. Here’s why! Get the low down from Karen, an ex Customer Service Executive, as you discover the seven reasons she still books with Booking.com, years after moving on from the company.
1. Enjoy A User-friendly Booking Site
Why Choose Booking.com? One of the main reasons that we use Booking.com to make our accommodation reservations is the user-friendly style of its website. Booking.com have created and maintain their website in-house. This enables them to constantly tweak it to make sure it is always benefiting the people that use it.
No matter what part of the website you are using, whether you are searching for your hotel, using the manage my booking area or looking for contact details for a ‘real person,’ you’ll find the pages easy to navigate and the information you want clearly visible. Booking.com’s Customer Service Executives are used to helping people navigate the website, so Karen shares the user-friendly features she loves here:
Why Choose Booking.com: Searching For Your Hotel
When you are in the searching stage, you can choose more confidently with:
- Clear and fun icons to show you the inclusions for each accommodation, like a person swimming to indicate a pool or a martini glass to indicate the property has a bar.
- Room rates that show what you get for that rate so you can take control of your booking. You can choose to pay more for inclusive breakfast or opt for free cancellation, if it’s available. This makes it easy to compare rates so if it’s £5 extra to have free cancellation, you can work out whether that’s worth it to you.
- Icons of people that demonstrate the occupancy for the room and rate, as well as how many people you currently have selected make booking simpler. For example, the room might sleep three but only one is coloured in, showing that the rate displayed is for one person. This serves as a great reminder to increase the occupancy if you need to and helps to avoid confusion over how many people the rate you are being quoted is for.
- The Booking.com room rate table is also a great tool if you are completing a group booking for an odd or large number of people. You can easily play around with the room options and availability for your party all in one place.
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Why Choose Booking.com: After You Have Made A Booking
There is also a very useful manage my booking section which clearly shows you information like the dates of your stay, images of the property and the conditions of the booking. Check when and how payments need to be made or see your options for changing or cancelling. For most properties, this section will let you change bookings online with a tool that indicates if your change is free of charge or whether there will be something to pay.
This is fantastic for anyone who wants to reserve a free cancellation room with the flexibility to change the details nearer the time. Remember to always check the booking conditions before you enter your card details because booking conditions are set by the property, not Booking.com, and therefore vary.
Why Choose Booking.com: Contacting Customer Service
If you are unable to find what you need online, or have made a mistake with your booking that you don’t want to be charged for, you can also easily find the contact phone number you need. Pick by the language you would prefer to speak in and reach a Customer Service Executive who can offer advice on the booking conditions. If need be, they can also reach out to the property to ask questions on your behalf.
You can also easily change the language you are viewing the website in, or the currency the accommodation is displayed as. We really like the friendly reminders of the currency you will need to pay the property in so that if you change your website view to your own currency whilst you are searching (to help you understand the cost better), you are far less likely to forget to check the actual amount you will pay to the property in their currency.
2. Pick From A Large Variety of Properties Worldwide
Why Choose Booking.com? In excess of 28,000,000 properties across 227 countries are bookable on its website. They also assist travellers with all styles of taste and budget, so whether you are looking for a 5* resort in Dubai, a property close to the Colosseum or a hostel in Fiji, there’s bound to be something to suit your taste and budget.
Easily compare prices and inclusions of other properties nearby to know whether you are getting a good deal for the area. Plus, get extra information about the location of your hotel and the other options around it. So if you haven’t visited a location before, you can look up the address and check out what the area is like. With so much variety, Booking.com makes adventuring into unknown territory fun and simple.
3. Booking.com Rewards Regular Bookers
Why Choose Booking.com? Once you have made three bookings within the space of a year, you are automatically elevated to Genius booking status. This means that when you log back into the same account, you are shown Genius benefits. These include lower prices with part-taking properties – watch out for the Genius icon on hotels in your search.
Please note: The booking Genius benefits are always updating and improving so check Booking.com for the latest information and start benefiting from regular traveller deals.
Sometimes, you may also be offered other promotions spontaneously from Booking.com for being a regular booker. Last year, we were able to benefit from £5 rewards once we made certain bookings and were also able to offer £5 rewards to friends who booked too. Booking.com change their promotions constantly, so when you see something great, take advantage of it!
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4. Price Match Guarantee On All Hotels
Why choose Booking.com? They offer a price match guarantee, but unlike some companies, applying for it is easy. If you find the exact same property, on the same dates, in the same room type, with the same inclusions, available to book on another website for cheaper, simply call or email the Customer Service team. You’ll find the contact details easily in the manage my booking section. As long as the Customer Service Executive can find the deal you state and it’s available to book at the time, they will honour the cheaper price.
We have never found the price on Booking.com to be dearer and as a company, Booking.com pride themselves on offering competitive pricing. But it’s great to know that if this ever happens, the process of getting the same price honoured is easy and hassle free. As an ex-Customer Service Executive, Karen knows how simple and quick the process is because she handled it for customers as part of her role.
5. Reviews From People Who Really Stayed
Why Choose Booking.com? Only guests who actually complete their stay with Booking.com are given the option to leave a review, and they can only leave their review for that particular property. This means the reviews you are reading are honest and more legitimate than many review websites. Customers also have a window of time to leave a review, so they cannot go back months or years later and leave a review that may now be out of date.
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When choosing a property, not only do you have reviews to help guide you, but also review scores that give you an indication of whether previous guests got what they were expecting from their stay. These scores are very handy when picking the accommodation that’s right for you. Use them to get first hand advice on the friendliness of the staff, the cleanliness of the rooms, the facilities on offer and the accuracy of the photos presented on the website.
6. Peace Of Mind – 24/7 Support
Why Choose Booking.com? They employ 17,000 employees in 198 offices in 70 countries worldwide. For no extra cost to you, you’ll benefit from 24/7 Customer Service support; a lifeline if things go wrong. Booking.com’s worldwide call centres are covered around the clock, even on bank holidays. Plus, you will always be able to speak to someone in English because every staff member needs fluent English to work in Customer Service.
Why Choose Booking.com: Speak to Someone In Your Language
You will also benefit from 40 other languages being spoken by the Customer Service team. Some of these are also covered 24/7 whilst those with a lower global demand are manned during language peak times. This means that no matter where you are in the world or what language you need to communicate to your hotelier in, there will always be someone who can help you speak to your hotel. This helps you with those burning questions, late night arrivals or with any misunderstanding that may arise between you and your chosen property.
Booking.com employees don’t just speak the language – they are the language. Speaking to a Customer Service representative in your own tongue helps to avoid miscommunication. The member of staff you speak with will also have access to the preferred language line of your property, making sure the accommodation owner gets the same privilege too. We think this is wonderful for worldwide travel where so much can be lost in communication, especially via phone, email or messaging. So let Booking.com help you bridge the gap, or support you if it’s ever needed.
Why Choose Booking.com: Support If Things Go Wrong
The Customer Service team also provide protection for cancellations made by the property which is particularly useful in the event of a hotel overbooking where the property is at fault. Sadly, these situations can’t be avoided but with Booking.com, the Customer Service staff are always there to help. Enjoy the confidence of travelling independently with the likelihood being that you will never need to speak to Customer Service, but with the added reassurance of support if things don’t go to plan.
7. Connecting Locals To Potential Travellers
Why choose Booking.com? This company helps local hoteliers in lesser known parts connect to potential travellers all over the globe. From individuals who rent out their apartments, to the couples who run quaint B&Bs in small villages, and the authentic local experience of a guesthouse, everyone can grow their small business with Booking.com.
Despite being an international company, what remains at the core of Booking.com is the idea of helping travellers to have the stay they are looking for. With more than 1,550,000 rooms reserved everyday, that’s a lot of new connections, business relationships and travel friendships being made.
Why Choose Booking.com
In conclusion, finding somewhere to stay on your next trip doesn’t have to be a headache. Pick your location and start searching with a simple, easy to use website. If you need a place to lay your head in a foreign land or even just down the road from work, find the widest range in the world on Booking.com.
With their lowest price guarantee and free cancellation options, you can book with real peace of mind. If you’re searching for your next holiday or you want to take a cheeky browse for travel inspiration, start your hotel search with Booking.com today.
– A Personal Note From Karen:
“I worked as a Customer Service Executive in the summer of 2017 and loved the company’s ethos, support of staff members and customers, and the streamlined processes.
Booking.com are who we always used before I got the job … and who we still use after I moved on from the company. I find their website super user-friendly and the options for pretty much everywhere in the world broad and interesting. I like that the reviews are by people who actually stayed and that the hotels listed have a clear rating, clear price and clear inclusions.
This is why we always choose Booking.com.”
Did you know?
By making a booking from one of the links in this blog, a small portion of the money you spend goes to Transform Me Travel, at no extra cost to you.
Thank you for supporting our small business.
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