I'd appreciate a "how we make money" section on the site. It's not clear how (if?) you do, and that scares me a bit when considering an extension that'll run on sites that take my credit card.
We do make money from booking commissions, but our commissions are much lower than those of the OTAs and more importantly go to a company that is trusted by and founded by the hotel industry.
Room Key's raison d'être is to lower the cost of hotel distribution for the hotel industry and to be an advocate for the traveler in what is a very confusing marketplace for the average consumer. Price confidence is severely lacking hence why consumers are often searching up to 6 sites before making a booking decision.
Very few people understand how the online hotel industry works and we would like to start to cast some light on that.
Regardless of whether a privacy policy makes you feel comfortable, their ability to observe all of your browser activities is difficult to ignore.
A rogue employee spying on people (happens a lot, we read), or the company accidentally saving your data and then being hacked, or any number of other potential privacy issues... probably isn't worth the small amount of money you might be able to save sometimes. At least for me it's not.
On the other hand, all but the most careful internet users are probably giving away nearly all of their personal information and records of their activities anyway, so maybe it's a moot point.
The big chains are fighting to stay relevant against the channels (Expedia, Priceline, Airbnb). Franchisees don't want to pay 6-8% of revenue to a chain and then another 10-15% to a channel. They're going to pick one or the other, and right now, my bet is on the OTA or "online travel agency" aka Expedia.
This battle is existential for the chains (they're out of business if they lose). They need to be seen by member properties as "worth it" or the properties will "de-flag" and go independent, getting bookings directly from the channels. They're trying every play in the book, from merging to get more bargaining power (Marriott's purchase of Starwood), creating their own tech stack to drive direct bookings for member hotels (this), and trying every loyalty trick known to man.
In the long run the current situation isn't stable. Franchisees aren't going to pay for both a channel and a chain. The chains couldn't get their shit together enough to bring the individual properties bookings (what you're supposedly paying that 6% of revenue for) and they're going the way of the dodo. That's what's really going on here.
Roomkey et al is the chain-funded effort to fight back against Expedia, etc. They're going to lose unless they get serious about fighting Expedia and co. head-on. The problem is, they're fighting a battle where Expedia already has a strong, fortified position and it's going on be on their (Expedia's) terms. I don't see how this ends well for the chains.
We do make money from booking commissions, but our commissions are much lower than those of the OTAs and more importantly go to a company that is trusted by and founded by the hotel industry.
Room Key's raison d'être is to lower the cost of hotel distribution for the hotel industry and to be an advocate for the traveler in what is a very confusing marketplace for the average consumer. Price confidence is severely lacking hence why consumers are often searching up to 6 sites before making a booking decision.
Very few people understand how the online hotel industry works and we would like to start to cast some light on that.