[splonk]

Part of the push for loyalty programs is that Booking (and Expedia) have tried to have a "most favored nation" clause in their agreements with hotels that states that hotels can't advertise a lower price elsewhere...unless they have an existing relationship with the customer. Hotels are often paying 20%+ in commission, so they're highly incented to get you to sign up for their program and give you free wifi or whatever and a few bucks off the room price.

EU regulation is pushing back on the MFN clauses, but I'm not sure what the current state of things is.

[carlosjobim]

Booking.com's entire business is dependent on them being able to advertise the lowest price. If not, then all hotels would just use booking.com for visibility and get all reservations themselves. In short: Booking.com would pretty much instantly go out of business.

[tgsovlerkhgsel]

If Booking.com wasn't charging any commissions, there would be a strong reason reason for anyone (hotels or guests) to avoid them.

If the difference was small enough, many guests would still book through booking.com instead of the hotel out of ignorance, not caring enough, or because booking provides a better experience.

It'd cut their profits by limiting the commissions they can charge, but I don't see why they would go out of business.

[carlosjobim]

Customers would catch on very quickly. Maybe the sinking ship could float for a little while, but not for long. There are ring effects to consider.