Premise: Savtravv Hotels
While perusing r/churning, as I do on occasion, I came across an ad for SavTravv Hotels, a website that shops around for hotel pricing to find the best rate.
We guarantee to beat any hotel rate you can find online, or you pay nothing.
I thought this was a novel idea, promising to save $10 or more for a low cost of 10%. I booked a trip for Cabo for ~$400 for a night, which I thought was the best rate at the time. Within an hour, I got a response from SavTravv listing several different options, where the lowest rate was about $330. Quick service, novel idea, and simple premise. You could also have them price shop for a rate or hotel before booking it, which works well for non-refundable travel. They currently only service hotels, and not airlines or vacation packages.
Purpose: Beat Any Hotel Rate
This site is a price-guarantee for flexible hotel bookings. I am not sure what they use to rapidly search all the sites, but they were able to include things such as promotional codes. They were not, however, able to replicate “insider pricing” or specific loyalty membership pricing. I assume they can match the general loyalty member pricing – such as when Starwood members get an additional 5% off on their bookings. These rates however may not be flexible / refundable so please read carefully before booking and price matching.
For non-refundable rates, quote them what you’ve found (with screenshots, which would help) and they will try to beat the rates with a same or better cancellation policy.
From SavTravv website
Methodology
According to the site, there are “three simple steps”.
- Send SavTravv the booked flexible itinerary or best rate that you have found.
- SavTravv searches for your best rate
- They report the best rates, and after the customer is satisfied and pays the service fee (currently $10) SavTravv sends booking instructions.
Pricing Structure
When I booked about two weeks ago, the fee was 10% on savings greater than $10. I thought this was quite low (if you save $20, they make just $1?) and not sustainable from a business perspective. The fee structure has currently changed to $10 for all savings greater than $10. If SavTravv cannot beat the rate by $10, you would pay nothing. Pretty nice for a 0-win situation: you either have the best rate or you will save even more! See the bottom of this article to try SavTravv for free!
Edit: 2/20/17 – Upon reaching out to the site founder, he clarified some points.
There are a few things that aren’t entirely correct – we never charged 10% of the rate saving, though it is something we are exploring, i.e.
– Where the overall customer saving is between $10 – $100, we charge 10% of the savings; and
– A fixed fee of $10 for savings > $100.
Price Shopping is difficult – from Pixabay
Opinion and Feedback
I had some issues with the premise on the site:
- It says to rebook a flexible or non-refundable rate – but, by definition, I cannot rebook a non-refundable rate without a fee.
- No mention of how quick they would respond. What if I needed a stay for the next 24 hours? Would they be able to handle that?
- Would I still get loyalty points/credit for my hotel loyalty program?
- What is the point of the “free travel credits” section of the site, other than shilling? It was weird for me to see a website with a tab for promotional credits for other companies. The website should be solely for the purposes of price comparison
- The FAQ should be more visible – in the top section, rather than having to scroll all the way to the bottom.
Try It Out – for FREE!
I have spoken with the owner of SavTravv Hotels, also named Daniel, about some of my feedback. He has taken it into account (such as clarifying some confusing language). He was gracious enough to offer my readers a promotional code.
Use code “HOTELION” and mention my blog when emailing ask@savtravvhotels.com the itinerary you want to price shop for. This will make your first price shop FREE – and if SavTravv cannot find a lower rate, you can try it again in the future, also for free.
With that kind of no-cost, no-obligation price shopping, why not try it out on your next hotel stay? I certainly will – if I need to pay a cash rate rather than my army of points.
Featured image from Pixabay of a beautiful resort similar to what I hope to stay in Cabo. Author does not receive any commission or revenue from SavTravv – it is just another tool to help lower your travel costs. Author does not endorse any particular product and is providing his opinion, which may not necessarily reflect your opinion or that of BoardingArea or TravelUpdate.
What do you think of my musings on this website? Let me know in the comments, or reach me directly at TheHotelion@gmail.com! Like my posts? See more here, on TravelUpdate! Follow me on Facebook (The Hotelion) or on Twitter and Instagram: @TheHotelion
