Trivago is one of the newer hotel booking portals to make a splash on many travelers' radars. But, how much do you know about the company, besides their commercials can be a little goofy? Let's find out just exactly what is the deal with Trivago and if they are worth a visit.
What is Trivago?
Trivago is a metasearch hotel search site that quickly sifts through the metadata of hotel sites and other travel booking portals to find you the best deal in a matter of seconds. Like Kayak and Google Flights, you do not book directly on Trivago but are transferred to the hotel website or the booking site (i.e. Expedia, Cancelon, etc.) to begin the reservation process. You find a hotel room and Trivago earns a small referral commission.
Metadata searches have become popular among travelers who want to leverage computer technology to find the best deals quickly. While Trivago started as German travel website, they are now owned by Expedia. Despite being owned by Expedia, they will display the listings from over 200 different booking sites including a few owned by their competitors.
Searching for Rooms on Trivago
You can search for hotel rooms in any city across the world. All you have to do is select the destination, travel dates, and the number of travelers.
After typing in all the required travel information, the search results will display the following information:
- Hotel name
- Best price
- Next three best prices
- Trivago user review score
- Hotel amenities
- Distance from a notable landmark
When looking for a place to stay in Las Vegas, the search results were very similar to the other hotel booking sites Expedia and Priceline. The one primary advantage for Trivago is their landmark proximity. Hotels on the Vegas Strip are measured by their distance to the Bellagio Fountains. Other hotels might be measured by their proximity to the airport.
You could easily find out this information with a web search, but Trivago is doing their best to keep you on their site for the entire booking process. They even have an overhead map function that lets you zoom in to see the nightly rate for all hotel listings.
Another awesome feature of Trivago's overhead map is the "Show Top Deals" button that only shows hotels with sharp markdowns. For example, this feature showed a 70% discount from the normal nightly rate at the Elara Suites for only $229 a night while the other travel booking sites were charging $281 for the same room.
Hotels will advertise exclusive Trivago nightly rates that are cheaper than the other third-party listings. Even if you must visit Priceline or Expedia to get the rate, this same exclusive rate will be hidden from travelers that go directly to Priceline or Expedia to browse the exact same hotel listing.
Advanced Filters of Trivago
Like the other hotel booking sites, Trivago offers advanced filters that let you filter results by star rating, distance from key landmarks, nightly rate, amenities, and hotel name. They even offer one of the most extensive lists of extra filters that can help you find hotels that are child-friendly, have on-site amenities like a casino or spa, and hotel niches like a theme hotel, spa hotel, or a health resort.
Trivago-only Prices
One downside of Trivago is that they don't offer a rewards program like Priceline, Expedia, or Hotels.com that allow you to earn points for each purchase that can be redeemed for reward travel. Yes, you can earn these points as you Trivago will direct you to one of these booking sites to pay for your stay, but, you might not consistently book from the same site even if you regularly use Trivago.
To compensate for this, Trivago offers exclusive deals. You will find them on Trivago by clicking the "Top Deals" button or you might see an icon on a booking site.
You may not always be able to find an exclusive deal, but, Trivago does a good job of offering competitive prices to the other metasearch portals and third-party booking sites. Even if you are comparing the price to book directly from the hotel instead of a third-party site, your comparison shopping can be efficiently completed on Trivago!
Negative Headwinds for Trivago
Like any company, Trivago isn't without their struggles. From an investor standpoint, Trivago has encountered some recent challenges since they launched an IPO in late 2016 when it launched at $11.85 per share. In six months, the share price doubled to $24.27 per share in July. It has since dropped back to the $10 range just two months later.
While there are many theories for the rapid decline in share price, one primary reason is that of a drop in advertising revenue. The originally projected growth was 50% year-over-year and has since been lowered to 40% as booking sites like Priceline and Booking.com have curtailed advertising spending on the site. This can mean fewer hotel room listings and ultimately, the better deals might be found on another booking site.
Time will tell how Trivago adapts their business strategy to continue providing quality deals to budget-conscious travelers.
Maximizing Your Trivago Experience
Since Trivago is a price comparison portal that gives you the opportunity to compare the prices of booking directly through a hotel or from a third-party travel site, there is one consistent way to maximize each Trivago experience.
A flexible rewards credit card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred can be your best option. You will earn two points per dollar on every travel purchase. It doesn't matter if you book directly with a hotel or on a third-party site such as Priceline, Expedia, or Hotels.com. You essentially earn double rewards points if the booking site has any loyalty program plus the Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Along with any travel rewards earned through Trivago, you will also earn two points on all dining purchases and a single point for non-travel and dining purchases.
Other travel credit cards will only award you bonus rewards points if you book directly through the hotel. Sometimes, hotels don't always have the best prices. That's why you use a site like Trivago to compare the prices from multiple sites all in one place. If you don't have a flexible travel rewards card, you might be forced to sacrifice rewards points for a better nightly rate.
Is Trivago Worth a Try?
Despite some of the recent setbacks Trivago has experienced from a corporate standpoint, they are still an effective hotel search engine. They instantly provide the best prices on the internet. Will Trivago always have the best deal? No, but no travel site will. But, booking through Trivago can help you find a great deal hassle-free with their quick service and advanced search filter options.
