The problem
Guests who loved their stay often rebook the easiest way they know: on Booking.com, which then takes its commission on a guest you already won. Website visitors do the same when the site only offers a phone number. If a 5-room B&B takes 45 of its 50 bookings a month through Booking.com at an average $319£240€286A$461C$451 a stay and pays 15% commission (check your own contract), every booking that could have come direct costs $48£36€43A$69C$68.
What the AI does
freetobook, a Glasgow company, offers a direct booking engine free, with no tie-in, annual fee or commission: a booking diary, booking links for your own website and a report of where each booking came from. Its channel manager, at $2£1.50€1.79A$2.88C$2.82 a booking (direct bookings free), keeps Booking.com's availability in step with the diary so a direct booking closes the room there too. Card Payments, at $185£139€165A$267C$261 a year, lets you take payment when a guest books. Put a 'Book direct' button on your website, Facebook page and Google profile, and in every confirmation and thank-you email to past guests.
A worked example
A 5-room B&B in Pitlochry takes about 50 bookings a month in season, 45 of them through Booking.com and 5 by phone into a paper diary. The owners move the diary to freetobook, connect Booking.com and add a booking button to their website and guest emails.
Before
45 Booking.com bookings a month at $319£240€286A$461C$451 and 15% commission: about $2,155£1,620€1,928A$3,110C$3,046 a month in commission
After
If 8 of those book direct instead: 37 through Booking.com, 13 direct, and 8 x $319£240€286A$461C$451 x 15% = $383£288€343A$553C$541 a month less commission
What it's worth
About $383£288€343A$553C$541 a month saved in commission, against about $100£75€89A$144C$141 for freetobook. That's 8 bookings at $319£240€286A$461C$451 moving from Booking.com to direct at an assumed 15% commission (8 x $319£240€286A$461C$451 x 0.15); the 8 is an assumption, and quiet months will bring fewer. The booking engine is free; the channel manager is 37 x $2£1.50€1.79A$2.88C$2.82 = $73.82£55.50€66.05A$106.56C$104.34, Card Payments $185£139€165A$267C$261 a year is about $16£12€14A$23C$23 and card handling from 0.4% on $2,554£1,920€2,285A$3,686C$3,610 is at least $11£8€10A$15C$15 so about $100£75€89A$144C$141 a month, plus a $65£49€58A$94C$92 one-off connection fee for Booking.com.
How to set it up
- Open a free freetobook account and set up your rooms, prices and policies in the diary.
- Copy every future booking from the paper diary and Booking.com into freetobook, then connect Booking.com through the channel manager and check availability matches.
- Add Card Payments if you want to take payment when guests book, check with freetobook how it handles deposits and refunds, and write your cancellation terms into your booking conditions.
- Put the booking link on your website, Facebook page and Google profile, and in confirmation and post-stay emails to guests who agreed to hear from you.
- After two months, use the booking source report to compare direct bookings and commission paid with the same months last year.
What goes wrong
- Read your Booking.com contract before advertising a lower price on your own website. A perk for direct guests, such as a later check-out, avoids the question.
- If the channel manager connection fails, a direct booking won't close the room on Booking.com and you can be double-booked. Check both calendars every morning.
- Channel manager fees are per Booking.com booking, from $12£9€11A$17C$17 to $132£99€118A$190C$186 a month, and the page doesn't say whether prices include VAT.
- Emailing past guests about offers needs their consent under PECR and UK GDPR; a booking alone doesn't give it.