So, Traveluro is presenting a much more affordable price than what would be available from booking directly with the hotel. Is it genuine? How can they offer such low prices? Could you get scammed? Do you need to book through them or should you try and avoid them at all cost? If you’re questioning these questions, then this article has got your back! By the time we’re done here, you’ll know EXACTLY whether or not Traveluro is an authentic and efficient platform that won’t let you down or if its’ just a scam waiting for unsuspecting victims! So without further ado…
Is Traveluro Legit?
Traveluro is an accredited online travel agency, but caution needs to be taken when using them for bookings. They often have complications in comparison to booking directly with the hotel as there are more risks involved.
Even though there is always a chance of something going wrong when booking directly with the hotel, it is less likely than if you booked through Traveluro.
Why is Traveluro not very reliable and carries greater risks of issues?
The reason for this incident is because of a third party getting involved.
Let me explain!
If you don’t know what Traveluro does, they are in charge of finding and booking accommodations for you.
As an intermediary, Traveluro collects your payment and is responsible for your booking, not the hotel you booked with since your contract is not directly with them. Thusly, you should not expect any direct assistance from your hotel in regards to anything but rather through traveluro themselves.
If there are any issues between you and the Hotel, they are obligated by law to solve this dispute so please contact Traveluro first before getting back at anyone else just yet because it may be illegal after all.
Traveluro’s customer support is poor.
When you need assistance from Traveluro, you will find yourself going back and forth between your hotel and them for hours before things are finally cleared up.
It is also probable that your problem will not be solved at all, even though it was an urgent matter due to a lack of customer service from Traveluro. Furthermore, changing or cancelling reservations made through Traveluro can be quite difficult. You need to take care of this kind of stuff via little-to-no useable customer service offered by Traveluro and there is a good chance they would deny any requests made.
To summarize, having travel agencies – like Traveluro – can complicate matters because the hotels do not offer you direct help but instead ask you to contact them first before moving on to anything else. And now that Hotel has sent all the information back to Traveluro, you are stuck between two entities who seemingly do nothing about this for themselves.
On the other hand, direct booking with hotels means being able to make cancellations, amendments or even resolving any other issue more conveniently since there are no third parties involved. For example, a hotel will never receive your booking confirmation from Traveluro if you booked through an online travel agency like this one – thus missing out on reservations for rooms because of overbooking.
There have been many instances where a guest has arrived at their destination only to find out that they don’t have accommodations in place despite having pre-arranged everything through agencies such as these.
Alternatively, if the hotel is overbooked, it’s possible that they might bump those who have paid less than others through an online travel agency like Traveluro and lie to you, saying your reservation was never made. Regardless of the circumstances, if you contact Traveluro for help in such a situation there is a high chance that you won’t get any assistance from them since their customer service is unreliable. In contrast, when booking directly with the hotel there are no third-party involvement so these problems don’t arise at all.
In a nutshell:
Though Traveluro doesn’t always work, it has some advantages over booking directly with hotels. One major advantage is that they generally offer cheaper prices than booking direct- but there are disadvantages too. If there is an issue while using Traveluro, it can be difficult to cancel or change the reservation, and sometimes impossible to resolve any other problems when using them.
With that being said, let’s conclude: Is Traveluro legit?
Although booking through Traveluro carries a greater chance of difficulties than booking directly, it is nonetheless an established and respected company.
So, Should You Book Directly or Through Traveluro?
If the price difference is the same or slightly less expensive, then booking through Traveluro isn’t worth it. But if the cost of booking directly with the hotel and through Traveluro varies significantly, then most likely you’re going to choose depending on your preference of how comfortable you are with trusting them.
Personally I don’t use Traveluro because they aren’t transparent about their business practices. They don’t even have an ABOUT US page on their website!
Instead of using Agoda or any other online travel agency for accommodation, book at least three days in advance with one of these preferred providers, but always do research beforehand on the cheapest rates available before you make your reservations:
- The price difference is extraordinary when booking through them instead of directly.
- Booking an average hotel, not a very expensive luxury hotel.
- Not making reservations for a large number of days at once.
Other than this, you need to do your research on the hotel before making a reservation.
Don’t know how?
Read these posts to find out:
- 8 Tips To Book Safely on Booking.com
- 8 Tips To Book Safely on Trip.com
- 7 Tips To Book Safely on Priceline
- 6 Tips To Book Safely on Agoda
- 4 Tips To Book Safely on Expedia
Now let’s move onto another important question that you might have been wondering about and which is:
Why Booking Through Traveluro Is Cheaper Than Booking Directly?
There are two possibilities for why Traveluro can offer cheaper rates than booking with the hotel:
- By negotiating with hotels to offer cheaper rates, and then giving some of this commission back to the customer in the form of lower hotel prices.
- By using the Merchant Model.
Traveluro are specialists when it comes to booking hotels. They buy in bulk from hotels, which means they can offer lower rates than you would find anywhere else on the market!
Confused? Consider this example:
Traveluro purchases a large number of rooms from hotels in bulk at discounted rates before the date they will be needed. An example would be if 50 rooms were booked for $100 per night, but regular rates are usually priced higher than this (around $150).
Over time, Traveluro resells those rooms for a higher price ($130) but are still cheaper than the current market rate set by the hotel ($150).
Example:
- Traveluro will slowly sell off the 50 discounted hotel rooms at $130 per night, earning themselves $30 profit if someone books a room through them.
- The customer will still be able to buy below the current market by the hotel ($150), saving you $20.
By selling those rooms for a higher price than what they were bought for, Traveluro profited from this transaction and also provided us with affordable rates over the current market cost.
Thus, Traveluro is able to offer cheaper rates than booking directly.
