Most people don’t just go to various online travel sites shopping around for the best price on the hotel they’ve already decided on — they go to travel sites to figure out where to stay in the first place.

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For hotel chains to shift consumers to book direct, they need to:

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Show consumers the product that best meets their needs

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Offer consumers the best price on that product

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Give them the best user experience

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Hotel chains want to avoid the high commissions these sites charge, and they’ve begun to address one piece of it — price.Hotel Chains Are Aggressively Fighting the High Costs of Selling Through Expedia, Orbitz, and Hotels.com

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Major chains now (sometimes) offer lower rates if you book direct on their websites than if you book through an online travel agency site like Expedia. The discounts are generally 2% – 10%, but usually closer to 2%.

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