3rd Party Booking

[TheCodeMan95]

Hello all! In all of our trips to Universal, we've always booked our hotel direct. However, prices have absolutely skyrocketed this year - and Cabana Bay is significantly cheaper if booked on Booking.com. I know it's always better to book direct, but for a nearly $500 savings, I'm leaning toward doing it.

Has anyone ever booked a Universal hotel through Booking or another 3rd party?

 

[Chumpieboy]

We've always booked direct for Uni hotels but have booked other hotels in other cities thru Booking. FWIW No issues that we remember.

 

[Skold]

We used to book through Expedia or Booking (or whatever) until we got APs about 10 years ago. Then we went through Universal to get the AP discounts. But this year the Hard Rock did not have any discounts for our dates and was a lot cheaper through Expedia. Booked HR through them, and Aventura through Uni for a split stay. Never had any issues.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

We've always booked direct for Uni hotels but have booked other hotels in other cities thru Booking. FWIW No issues that we remember.

I have as well - but wasn't sure if there were any differences when it came to these onsite hotels. I guess realistically, you're literally just booking a Loews hotel lol

We used to book through Expedia or Booking (or whatever) until we got APs about 10 years ago. Then we went through Universal to get the AP discounts. But this year the Hard Rock did not have any discounts for our dates and was a lot cheaper through Expedia. Booked HR through them, and Aventura through Uni for a split stay. Never had any issues.

We did the same for AP rates - but with how prices have gone up, I'm thinking Booking may be even cheaper than the AP rate!

 

[Jake S]

I used to use Hotels.com exclusively because I often found better deals. But as the noise has grown around horror stories from booking using third-party sites, I’ve sworn off them. Most of the time, it won’t be a problem — but when there is a problem, it can be almost impossible to find a solution.

Which is to say there’s a risk when booking using a third-party site — but you have to decide whether that risk is outweighed by the potential savings.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I used to use Hotels.com exclusively because I often found better deals. But as the noise has grown around horror stories from booking using third-party sites, I’ve sworn off them. Most of the time, it won’t be a problem — but when there is a problem, it can be almost impossible to find a solution.

Which is to say there’s a risk when booking using a third-party site — but you have to decide whether that risk is outweighed by the potential savings.

For sure! I've used Booking a few times without issue, so I may bite the bullet. $500 savings for a week is a big deal!