Trivago in trouble [fined $44.7m for misleading advertising]

[Pushka]

Even the TV ad is totally misleading.

$120 in the "gold card" might be for a penthouse 2 room suite upgrade with breakfast and club room access and points and the $95 for run of house single room only.

Apples and oranges.

Everything about that ad is just wrong. It’s like they think people know nothing about travel. Maybe they don’t.

 

[serfty]

Everything about that ad is just wrong. It’s like they think people know nothing about travel. Maybe they don’t.

Agreed - biggest jarring for me is that normally at no stage during check does the rate get publicly verbalised by the hotel employee. They are trained to be discreet and not to.

 

[boomy]

Travel adds are not aimed at people on AFF who are well informed. Most people have no idea how to search for hotels or flights so they can be easily manipulated.

 

[moa999]

Most decent chains have best price guarantee.

Albeit claiming it is like pulling teeth.
I think the bigger difference is many of the chains provide no tier benefits if you book through the websites.

 

[Denali]

Yes that advert annoys me, the cheaper price doesn’t usually get points or free wifi or free water or even breakfast.

Every. Time. that ad is on, Im yelling at the tv and my poor husband gets that "there she goes again" look.

Never once found a good deal when looking at Trivago and I want the man-bun Trivago Man to come back. He and the woman in the elevator had a thing going (ie Ketut & Rhonda vibe).

 

[Pushka]

Agreed - biggest jarring for me is that normally at no stage during check does the rate get publicly verbalised by the hotel employee. They are trained to be discreet.

Theres another thing. (I thought it might have been just me not noticing other people’s conversation when checking in but it struck me as very poor form)

Hate the American? Hate the Trivago girl. I used to like her, thought the gym ad was pushing it but now it’s a big shove. Bloody know all.

 

[Cossie]

Every. Time. that ad is on, Im yelling at the tv and my poor husband gets that "there she goes again" look.

Never once found a good deal when looking at Trivago and I want the man-bun Trivago Man to come back. He and the woman in the elevator had a thing going (ie Ketut & Rhonda vibe).

We mostly record and then fast forward through ads, but if this ad is shown live, it gets immediately muted!

 

[cqtiger]

judging by how well known the ad is on here , it must be working a treat in the public domain.
I've never seen trivago give a better deal than the hotel website

 

[boomy]

judging by how well known the ad is on here , it must be working a treat in the public domain.
I've never seen trivago give a better deal than the hotel website

And that’s why they have plenty money to bombard us with advertisements during prime time.

 

[SOPOOR]

I hope they get fined well.in excess of how much extra profit they made from the sales generated by the misleading

 

[Anna]

I'm another one who mutters at the tv when that stupid Trivago ad comes on

 

[p--and--t]

The hotel online booking world is basically a duopoly.

• When you should use travel booking sites like Expedia and Priceline — and when you shouldn’t

These are not complete lists of the companies they influence/have effective control over...

• Expedia "group" includes such names as Hotels.com, VRBO, Egencia, HomeAway, RBITZ, travelocity, hotwire, wotif, ebookers, Cheaptickets, CarRentals, Classic Vacations, Traveldoo, Silverrail, Orbitz.
• The Booking "group" includes Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, Kayak, Cheapflights, Rentalcars, momondo, Mundi, Opentable, Rocketmiles, FareHarbor, HotelsCombined, Venga

Trivago is effectively owned by Expedia and tends to prioritise the Expedia "group" over others.

From Wiki

• "Trivago claims to be the world's largest online hotel search site, comparing rates from over 1 million hotels and more than 250 booking sites worldwide. Since their majority shareholder is Expedia, the effort is to direct bookings to their sites by way of various "adjustments" to how other sites' rates are perceived. They also offer rates through many sites reselling for travel wholesalers, where rooms may or may not be available at time of booking. "
• " Trivago promoted its best advertisers, the ACCC claimed.[2] The ACCC claimed Trivago failed to properly disclose its operating model and used misleading "strike-through" price comparisons that compared a more expensive luxury room with a standard room.[44] The matter will return to court for orders for penalties, declarations, injunctions and costs.[2] "

 

[DC3]

I'm another one who mutters at the tv when that stupid Trivago ad comes on

That ad is almost as weird as that poor guy, who loves airline coffee, in the current QF safety video.

 

[dajop]

The hotel online booking world is basically a duopoly.

• When you should use travel booking sites like Expedia and Priceline — and when you shouldn’t

These are not complete lists of the companies they influence/have effective control over...

• Expedia "group" includes such names as Hotels.com, VRBO, Egencia, HomeAway, RBITZ, travelocity, hotwire, wotif, ebookers, Cheaptickets, CarRentals, Classic Vacations, Traveldoo, Silverrail, Orbitz.
• The Booking "group" includes Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, Kayak, Cheapflights, Rentalcars, momondo, Mundi, Opentable, Rocketmiles, FareHarbor, HotelsCombined, Venga

Yes and unfortunately, such is the way of the world, Expedia took over and completely destroyed useful Australian sites such as wotif.com and stayz. Don't blame the original owners though for getting out and making some good cash on their hard work. If they didn't it would only be a matter of time before the big 2 pushed them out anyway.

 

[Pushka]

Grrr. Just on as I was reading this thread

 

[boomy]

That ad is almost as weird as that poor guy, who loves airline coffee, in the current QF safety video.

Some airlines offer decent coffee, QF is NOT one of them!

 

[leadman]

judging by how well known the ad is on here , it must be working a treat in the public domain.

I would like to know how much of their advertising costs are as a proportion of the hotel costs! Everywhere I have travelled over the past few years they have had almost media saturation. They would not be getting it for free!

And I'm sure all of us have the hotel staff yell out our hotel room rate at the front desk!

I've always considered them a parasite to the industry, feeding off others.....

 

[DC3]

Some airlines offer decent coffee, QF is NOT one of them!

I think they dressed him up to resemble/imitate male QF cabin crew. He loves that coffee.

Edit; And, yes, I omitted that it implied QF airline coffee.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Travel company’s sneaky ad trick

Australia’s Federal Court has found travel comparison site Trivago guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct over prices advertised and commission rates.

www.news.com.au

Hopefully a big fine coming their way.

 

[Peso]

In my experience, I find that if its not a big hotel brand e.g. Hilton/Marriott/Hyatt, and if you're not subject to a corporate rate, aggregator sites are almost always cheaper than booking direct.

I remember calling up a fancy hotel in Seminyak asking them about cheaper rates on Booking.com, and if there's any catches with those. They simply noted that it's an "agreed rate", the product is the same, and they won't match or beat the prices. Weird, but alright.