"It all depends."
Call a toll-free number and book a hotel room? In Thailand?
- International calls are expensive and unreliable
- You may have a language problem
- Maybe you book the room ... probably at or near rack rate.
- Are you comfortable wiring funds or giving your CC# by phone?
Reservations are often handled by one person who often works 08:00 to 18:00. If you call at night Thailand time, they will probably tell you to call back the following day.
About those room rates. Certainly, you do pay a commission. But consider ... booking engines have contracts with hotels, and despite commissions, you will virtually always get better rates than individuals who book in advance. Walk-ins will pay top rates.
Is my credit card information secure? A reputable booking engine's hotel booking forms will use a secure server to collect information. Ours does.
Whadda you mean you don't have any record of ... Reliable booking engines are there to intervene when problems arise ... and because they represent such a large portion of a hotel's booking, they have influence.
Okay, which engine?
- Local Hotel Booking Engines will have a distinct advantage with room rates and the number of hotels offered.
- Confirmations Thai hotels generally don't have real-time confirmations. Our engine is in Thailand ... local confirmation calls ... local language ... local relationship
- Problems Our hotel booking engine multilingual staff is adept at solving minor problems such as getting rooms changed and, sometimes, even changing hotels without additional charges.
- Memorize or note the URL: www.GuidetoThailand.com
- Internet shops are prolific in Thailand. Pop into
one as soon as you know your schedule; and book your
hotel. Caveat: a full day is sometimes required for confirmation. If you have a cell phone, you can get conformation by text messaging.