Lucrative: Pay at Hotel Offer

One of the most lucrative offers that comes across while searching for cheap hotels rates is “ Pay at Hotel “ offer. However, sometimes such offers are actually not so lucrative as they sound. When you are very tempted by such an offer and your mind feels that “you have to go for it”, do recheck certain things to make sure that you are not at a loss.

Say you block a hotel room considering the “ pay at hotel offer” in HKD800/AU$142 NOW. However, since you are travelling after 2-3 months, you might end up paying much more due to the increase of the ROE. However, if you confirm a hotel from a travel agent/ consultant, you will not be required to pay extra than the payment as per the agreed amount. Just make sure you have the confirmation voucher. Sometimes a traveller might be in a win win situation if the rate of exchange goes down.

Even if you are paying by card, you are definitely paying extra. You would be charged a remittance fee and the exchange rate will be as per the Bank and not the online rate. Even if you pay cash in the local currency, the same is charged when you by foreign exchange from a bank or dealer. Usually, you will never get the foreign exchange as per the online rates. It is usually 1-2 units higher.

Mostly, in the “ Pay at Hotel” options, the taxes are not included in the published price. The taxes range from 10% to 20% of the basic amount. A travel agents’, booking has all taxes included, except for some countries while paying the city tax at the hotel is mandatory.

Next time you come across a “ Pay at Hotel offer”, please check the mentioned so that you do not end up at a loss. Also while confirming a booking with an online portal, please check the nature of complaints on the internet. There will be no complaint free booking portal, however, the nature of complaints will help you understand its quality and service commitment.

“ Pay at Hotel “ offers might work when you are travelling within your own country where exchange rates do not fluctuate.