Hotels dangle freebies to encourage more direct bookings

New York

HOTELS and online travel booking companies tend to have a marriage of convenience - one that savvy travellers can exploit.

When hotels are having trouble filling rooms, they will grudgingly pay Expedia and other online travel agencies commissions of 15-30 per cent to help reduce the vacancies. But when the beds are filling up, the hotels would much rather avoid those hefty commissions by having travellers book directly through the hotel's website, call centre or authorised brick-and-mortar travel agent.