Agoda Payments.

[oceanicmanta]

Recently switched to Agoda from Expedia.

Just completed several Agoda hotel stays, booked using the worldwide 10% discount and CIMB MasterCard.

Transactions on ShopBack are being tracked, & hopefully will be credited for 6%.

For Expedia, ShopBack 6% is awarded on full transaction amount whereas on Agoda, it's only on amount less taxes.

Agoda also awarded "Gift Cards" for each stay, amounting to another 3.8% of value which can be & combined & used for next booking

Expedia no longer has 2x Best Price Guarantee and recently prices have been higher ...

so Agoda seems to provide better value.

 

[dede1217]

i used both , cox expedia might be cheaper in some hotels, whereas agoda is cheaper in others ... as well as other ota sites ...

Agoda usually have 5% promotion tied to your account.
prices would be somehow different, if you used diff ways of getting to the sites
booked a 4* hotel for few nites at expedia at $715, but agoda is $790
in addition, expedia allows me to earn points, just like agoda ...

true expedia bpg no more, used to use it quite frequently, managed to get $0 to $10 for some 3/4* hotels ...

 

[martin]

Usually, when i plan for a trip, i always quickly make some tentative bookings first. After that, i continue to study more options further and make changes. Hence, i always choose pay later and in the case of japan especially, where there is the option to pay at hotel, i will choose that.

Btw, regarding agoda, read recently here that there are some work arounds or using different websites, you can get more discounts from agoda but I cannot remember which thread now. Anyone knows?

 

[dede1217]

Usually, when i plan for a trip, i always quickly make some tentative bookings first. After that, i continue to study more options further and make changes. Hence, i always choose pay later and in the case of japan especially, where there is the option to pay at hotel, i will choose that.

Btw, regarding agoda, read recently here that there are some work arounds or using different websites, you can get more discounts from agoda but I cannot remember which thread now. Anyone knows?

if u subscribed to agoda, normally they would send their promo to your email. is normally 5% discount. so far the highest was 11%. however if u use the link, you cant get the 6% shopback rebate ... so some calculations is involved .

 

[martin]

if u subscribed to agoda, normally they would send their promo to your email. is normally 5% discount. so far the highest was 11%. however if u use the link, you cant get the 6% shopback rebate ... so some calculations is involved .

Oh, i have agoda account and use it many times for booking. I might have unsubscribed from their mailers. So means i have been missing out on the 5% discounts? I never use shopback before.

 

[dede1217]

Oh, i have agoda account and use it many times for booking. I might have unsubscribed from their mailers. So means i have been missing out on the 5% discounts? I never use shopback before.

Normally every month would have at least once ... 5% discount
you need to go to that respective link to click and book ...

but after the 5% discount, might only be just few dollars cheaper, compared to using their app to book ... basically u have to try many sources... if use shopback 6%, cant use the 5% discount ...

 

[BlackCube]

Eh. Even if using pay now u still can cancel the booking and get full refund leh. Whether u pay now or later, it still possible to have free cancellation.

 

[dede1217]

If pay later, the amount might varies slightly depending on the exchange rate.
if i book my vietnam hotels, agoda will charge based on the vnd amount
then when the time comes, they would use the exchange rate based on the current exchange rate ...

 

[BlackCube]

If pay later, the amount might varies slightly depending on the exchange rate.
if i book my vietnam hotels, agoda will charge based on the vnd amount
then when the time comes, they would use the exchange rate based on the current exchange rate ...

Yeah
Usually I pay now first also. No difference since can cancel and get full refund also.

 

[Arcanell]

expedia rate still cheaper than agoda imo. but now trip.com seem the cheapest

 

[dede1217]

expedia rate still cheaper than agoda imo. but now trip.com seem the cheapest

agree, would say if u have the discount, expedia normally is the cheapest.
would say 70% expedia is cheaper, 30% agoda is cheaper ...
trip.com seems cheaper mostly on china hotels ... however wont not try to book from there. sometimes their price seems 20% cheaper than others.
understand is by ctrip big china company... however, would still go for expedia or agoda if possible ... sometimes other ota might offer cheaper prices than expedia and agoda, if their promo is good enough ...

 

[BlackCube]

My recent searches actually doesn't show that Expedia is cheaper. Anyway, I kinda don't like Expedia also.

 

[dede1217]

My recent searches actually doesn't show that Expedia is cheaper. Anyway, I kinda don't like Expedia also.

how come u dun like expedia? overcharge?
so far i find expedia and agoda was the best out of so many ota ...

 

[BlackCube]

how come u dun like expedia? overcharge?
so far i find expedia and agoda was the best out of so many ota ...

I don't know also. Find it like shady since last time Liao. So never bother to use it. My personal opinion only.

Anyway. Recently got one thread that Expedia overcharged a couple of hundred right? Or I rmb wrongly?

 

[oceanicmanta]

I don't know also. Find it like shady since last time Liao. So never bother to use it. My personal opinion only.

Anyway. Recently got one thread that Expedia overcharged a couple of hundred right? Or I rmb wrongly?

I use both Agoda & Expedia.
Think they are ok lah, not running shady business.
And both their after sales Cust Service is good (compared to Zuji).

the Expedia overcharge matter was not very clear ... using Debit card will have higher charges, and TS did not provide much details to substantiate

 

[zuppeur]

Recently switched to Agoda from Expedia.

Just completed several Agoda hotel stays, booked using the worldwide 10% discount and CIMB MasterCard.

Transactions on ShopBack are being tracked, & hopefully will be credited for 6%.

For Expedia, ShopBack 6% is awarded on full transaction amount whereas on Agoda, it's only on amount less taxes.

Agoda also awarded "Gift Cards" for each stay, amounting to another 3.8% of value which can be & combined & used for next booking

Expedia no longer has 2x Best Price Guarantee and recently prices have been higher ...

so Agoda seems to provide better value.

anyone know how to get the 10% worldwide discount?

 

[BlackCube]

anyone know how to get the 10% worldwide discount?

Not all hotel can use.

 

[BlackCube]

I use both Agoda & Expedia.
Think they are ok lah, not running shady business.
And both their after sales Cust Service is good (compared to Zuji).

the Expedia overcharge matter was not very clear ... using Debit card will have higher charges, and TS did not provide much details to substantiate

Yeah but I'm still not convinced. Doesn't matter since got so many choices.

 

[martin]

I have never used shopback but just checked out its site. Booking.com 9% cashback. Wow. But is shopback really that simple? Just shop and got cashback? Is this still on top of cash back from credit card that give cash back for online shopping like dbs live fresh?

 

[oceanicmanta]

I have never used shopback but just checked out its site. Booking.com 9% cashback. Wow. But is shopback really that simple? Just shop and got cashback? Is this still on top of cash back from credit card that give cash back for online shopping like dbs live fresh?

yes ShopBack cash back is on top of rebates from credit cards ...

however, purchases on bank promo micro-sites (eg DBS microsite within Expedia) probably wont get cashback ... this is fair since Expedia cant reward both DBS & ShopBack for the same traffic.

use of promo codes is fine - as evident from my recent Agoda & Expedia purchases ... though some are pending cash back to be confirmed

ShopBack can be quirky. You have to be careful and follow steps closely to ensure your purchases are tracked. For multiple purchases, best to start again ie close all web pages, re-login SB, select merchant, check SB Buddy is green, complete purchase in 1 go (try not to search for other products etc).

There was a period their tracking of transactions was really questionable.
Recently I see some improvement in their tracking mechanism, but not 100% convinced yet.

Dont be surprised if bona fide transactions dont get cash back or tracked (even if steps are followed) and the reasons ShopBack give will be ludicrous.

I will always remember ShopBack telling me "please understand, we cant pay you since the merchants dont pay ShopBack as transactions are not tracked".

If there is any doubt, rest assured ShopBack WILL NOT pay

It takes a while for cash back to be confirmed and redeemable. You can only encash when your accumulated SB cash back is at least $10 and can only encash the full amount, not partial.

The 9% is for limited period only. For OTAs, it's usually 6%.

So, just treat SB cash back as a bonus.

PMed you my ShopBack referral code - $10 for u, $5 for me. Delete if not relevant.

Cheers