Why you should always book a holiday directly – you could get some free perks

NEXT time you are booking your holiday online, you may want to ditch the comparision website.

Experts have explained why you should go direct to the hotel.

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You could end up having some amazing extra freebies if you use the hotel’s own website.

This is because they don’t have to pay any commission, unlike if you use a third party comparison website.

According to the Washington Post, the Calton Tel Aviv hotel gives guests a free $40 taxi from the airport if you book via the website.

Stay for more than three nights and you can get a free massage and room upgrade.

Other hotels will also hold a number of rooms back on their website that isn’t available on third-party websites.

Megan Scheid, vice president of hospitality at a resort in New Hampshire said direct bookers have access to the “best rooms in the house” as well as last-minute availability.

She said: “We shut off the online travel agencies long before we sell out.”

Shane Lambert, a former hotel manager said: “A lot of hotels punish people for booking through third-party sites.

“They don’t like paying the commission and would rather you booked with the hotel directly.

“The consequence is that you get the worst room within the room category you book a lot of the time.”

It’s the same for flight comparison websites – and you could even be the first to get kicked off the flight.

Flight attendant Celessa Dietzel recently revealed that people who bought their ticket via a search engine are more likely to be chosen to leave the plane first.

She told Business Insider: “I always tell people whenever they’re afraid they might get bumped is, ‘Okay, well how did you find your ticket?’

“Some of the general areas that [cabin crew] look for are the lowest fare tickets, those who checked in last, non-refundable tickets [and] tickets that are bought through a third-party website.”

Flight attendant Kristie Koerbel agreed, adding: “Also, be aware that if a flight is oversold and no one volunteers to give up their seat, the first to be bumped will be the family that saved a few dollars by using a bargain website.”

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