Imitation: the sincerest form of flattery. This week, Travelocity rolled out an opaque price search for hotels: “Top Secret” hotels.
The pitch: Travelocity says they’re “the first major online travel site to offer unpublished (or “opaque”) hotel deals and regular hotel rates all in one search window, without the hassle of bidding.”
Priceline and Hotwire have been doing opaque bookings for over a decade. And other, smaller sites, such as EasyClickTravel, have been offering opaque bookings within a list of search results for some time. So Travelocity isn’t doing anything new here — and if you parse their proclamation, you’ll see that they’re not even saying they’re innovating.
I’m thinking that Hotwire and Priceline might actually be winners here. By adopting opaque this way, Travelocity may be validating the model for customers who might otherwise have avoided it in the past. Which would make Hotwire and Priceline “safe” for those who feared it before…
But that success would depend on Travelocity’s “Top Secret” hotel deals actually being a deal. Or bookable. I’ve got a potential trip to Chicago in the cards, and I checked for a deal using the “Top Secret” engine, but nothing came up for either set of dates. Nothing! That struck me as odd. Hotwire and EasyClickTravel have several opaque options for the same dates. I realize my test is hardly comprehensive, but it’s Chicago! Still, maybe this is just a “soft opening” for Travelocity.
(Perhaps coincidentally, Hotwire has started incorporating selected rates from their sister company hotels.com into their opaque rates.)
If anyone books a Travelocity Top Secret hotel, post your results in the comments!
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March 30th, 2010 at 10:05 pm
[...] by: Mark Ashley One of the criticisms of opaque booking sites like Priceline and Hotwire (and, as of last week, “Top Secret” hotels by Travelocity) is that you can’t choose your bed type. If [...]
May 19th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
I frequently book with Hotwire and have never had a problem. I have always received acceptable accomodations for a good price. I have also always received a ‘non-smoking’ room. I have used Hotwire in the US and Europe and this has been the case. I decided to try the Travelocity ‘top secret’ hotel option for a trip to a family funeral, as the hotels were showing really high prices. The ‘top secret’ rate was slightly cheaper, but we were given a ‘smoking’ room. I called the hotel and travelocity requesting a ‘non-smoking’ room, but none were available. If travelocity is going to offer this service, they need to ensure that it is stated in LARGE LETTERS, or in BOLD that you are not guaranteed a smoking preference. For many customers, bed preference is not as important as smoking preference. I am very sour over the experience and will definitely not use Travelocity again.
June 28th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
[...] unnamed until purchase completed) hotel supply into the regular Expedia sales channel. Travelocity added “top secret hotels” back in March. I guess it’s Orbitz’ turn [...]
August 6th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
[...] you choose your bed type – Hotwire’s 4-star surprise, or how I enjoyed a wildly-overrated room – Travelocity adds discounted opaque hotel booking option – Hotwire hotel search (aff) Categorized in: Hotwire, hotels No CommentsSHARETHIS.addEntry({ [...]