Precision Reservations

[sydneyboy]

Can people who have used Precision Reservations for hotel bookings in any part of the world share their experiences good, bad or indifferent.

I use them all the time - and I don't tolerate fools or incompetence, so draw your own conclusion

[TrongpaiExpat]

I use them as well. You get a lot of E mails for just one reservation but the site works. You have to pay via credit card and then you print a voucher rather than paying the hotel.

Review all the small print about cancellation policy and fees.

The down side to them is if you want to leave early or the hotel for some reason does not meet your expectations, changing plans is not easy.

[Aunty]

I use them all the time - and I don't tolerate fools or incompetence, so draw your own conclusion

So how do you put up with yourself then?

I use them all the time - and I don't tolerate fools or incompetence, so draw your own conclusionSo how do you put up with yourself then?I'd be careful if I were you, Tourette. Lots of this sort of behaviour (as I'm sure you known from your lifetime's work of dissecting amoebae) runs in the family, and as the offspring of my sister, you must be next in the queue. Remind me, did that under footman ever get around to marrying your mother?

[Smiles]

Precision has always done well by me. If I recall (it's been over a year since last using them) I had a small booking fee tacked on the bill which was not well-advertised beforehand anywhere on the site ... at least where I could find it, (which is hardly uncommon for me :cyclops: ). But their site is very quick and the achkowledgements came back instantaneously.

On the other end ~ when it came time for check in ~ each and every time the reservation was there waiting for us. Never a misstep on that front and that's what's important for me, extra fee or not.
I used another booking service a few years ago wherein there was not receipt of booking at the hotel when we arrived later at night than usual, and it took some hassle to get it straightened around. Luckily I had a paper copy of the whole deal, but the hotel itself had not a word. Never had an issue like that with Precision (though admittedly it never happened before or since the incident with other agencies either). Bottom line is that the major hotel booking agencies do their job very well for the most part.

Another agency I like using is Asia Rooms ( http://www.asiarooms.com/ ).

Cheers ...

...
Another agency I like using is Asia Rooms ( http://www.asiarooms.com/ ).

Cheers ...

The problem with Asiarooms.com is that, it takes sometime for them to respond (48 hours or less). Many times they respond to me saying the rate was not available and I then found availability with the same hotel at a higher rate on another website or travel agent (For example, Centra Point Silom). So, why did Asiaroom put the low rate on the website? and if there is availability with higher rate, why don't they update their website with the correct rate info, or respond to me with an offer of higher rate? or tell me on what dates this low rate is available. It is a complete waste of time (48 hours) to "bid" the low rate on Asiarooms.com only to find out the rate is never available.
It seems like they are operating under the Priceline's bussiness model, only the entire process is manual using the cheap Thai labors instead of a computerize and speedy bidding system. The rates shown on their website is available only half of the time, and you waste 48 hours for nothing.

[Smiles]

Fair comment on Asia Rooms I suppose, if that is your experience. But my dealings with them have been nothing like yours ... efficient response times & problem free every time.
C'est la vie ...

Cheers

[globalwanderer]

i always use www.asiatravel.com (http://www.asiatravel.com) and have never had a problem... instant confirmation at most hotels

[sydneyboy]

Thank you for your helpful responses. What prompted my question was that I am contemplating another trip to Brazil in a few months and I noticed that Precision's rates for a new 5 star hotel in Rio was substantially below that of other wholesalers. Being cynical by nature I was wondering if there was a "catch". However I may give them a try. Other comments welcome.

Thank you for your helpful responses. What prompted my question was that I am contemplating another trip to Brazil in a few months and I noticed that Precision's rates for a new 5 star hotel in Rio was substantially below that of other wholesalers. Being cynical by nature I was wondering if there was a "catch". However I may give them a try. Other comments welcome.


It may be worth looking at asia rooms (yes they do actually cover South America). My experience of them has been 95% excellent and 5% slight pain, when I thought i'd booked a room only to be told 48 hours later that there was no room available. It sometimes pays to book a week or more in advance to avoid such problems.

The Rio 5 star hotels come in at $96.00 to $331.00 per night (discount prices - some are much more expensive at other times) - http://www.asiarooms.com/brazil/rio_de_ ... pe=#hotels (http://www.asiarooms.com/brazil/rio_de_janeiro.html?sort=star&type=#hotels)

.... It sometimes pays to book a week or more in advance to avoid such problems.


How many 48 hours can you waste if you book a week or two in advance....lol.
I would say book at least one month ahead if you want to use asiarooms.com.

I have used Asiarooms, Asiatravel and Precision in the past and found them to be very good

However more recently I obtain a price from their websites and then contact the hotels direct and ask them if they could match or beat the price advertised

On all but one occasion by doing this the hotels have offered me a lower price - probably because they then dont have to pay any commission to the agents. The discounts were in some cases 10 to 15% lower than quoted on the agents sites

Try it and see for yourself - it will only cost a phone call or an email (remember to get written confirmation of the rates and other relevant details in case of any dispute later

Another plus is not having to pay upfront by credit card - saving international transaction fees

Being cynical by natureYou are confusing scepticism with cynicism - a common mistake

[TrongpaiExpat]

However more recently I obtain a price from their websites and then contact the hotels direct and ask them if they could match or beat the price advertised

On all but one occasion by doing this the hotels have offered me a lower price - probably because they then don't have to pay any commission to the agents. The discounts were in some cases 10 to 15% lower than quoted on the agents sites

Try it and see for yourself -

I have tried it, even had the BF call and speak in Thai but each time we were offered the same price as the web agent. Once the price was on the phone was higher than the agent.

On my recent trip to Ko Samet, I booked via Precision, 3800B. The BF called and they wanted 4000B. They were at best half full, I wondered if I just showed up would they discount the room, I asked and they said the walk up rate/rack rate is 4000B, no discounts.

Logic would seem to say that if there's empty rooms then they will discount, but TIT.

I guess if you walk around and go from one place to another you will eventually find someone willing to discount a room but do you really want to spend that much time and effort on your hoilday to just save a few hundred baht?

[Sen Yai]

On my recent trip to Ko Samet, I booked via Precision, 3800B. The BF called and they wanted 4000B. They were at best half full, I wondered if I just showed up would they discount the room, I asked and they said the walk up rate/rack rate is 4000B, no discounts.

Logic would seem to say that if there's empty rooms then they will discount, but TIT.

They have a strange view to booking rooms on Samet. I found some places unwilling to confirm a reservation at all. The reason given is that we may fail to turn up (even though I offered to provide credit card details as a guarantee) and some one might just turn up without a booking, and presumably be willing to pay a higher price. So they'd rather wait to see who turns up, without confirming a reservation!

As for Precision reservations; I used them a few times many years ago when they first started ('02 or '03?) but found they rarely had the rooms I wanted (sorry, full) and tried to push me to book an undesirable room in an undesirable part of town instead. I discussed here on this board at the time, and felt they had little 'buying power' in the market. Things may have changed now, and Precision may now be able to obtain good discounts from the better hotels.

However these days I, like many others it seems, prefer to use Asia Rooms and have always experienced a good service with no problems.

[bao-bao]

There was some mention here of having Precision coming back and saying "sorry, the room we said we had we really don't have", but that's never been my experience with them, and here's why: when you're logged in to their web site, you have the option of doing a real-time chat with an agent.

They're patient, courteous and reasonably fast with answers, and if they don't know an answer they put you on "e-hold" and get one from a supervisor. It's free, and saves the wait for confirmation. Additionally, you get a transcript of the chat emailed to you for documentation. If someone's had a room pulled out from under them after booking with one of their online agents, I'd appreciate hearing about that, though.

Precision often also has some of the best rates, plus you accrue points based on the hotel booked and money spent that can be applied to future bookings. They made points with ME when I needed to change a reservation and saved the $15US cancellation fee because I was going to another hotel they handled. Granted, it's not a lot, but $15US in LOS is nothing to jahm at.

In fairness, though, they don't carry a very wide line of "budget-minded" places in LOS. You won't find many of the B&Bs and boutique type places discussed here on Sawatdee handled by them.

I've had great luck with AsiaRooms, too. I check them both for rates when I'm planning a trip there. AsiaRooms doesn't have the live agent chat or the "rewards points" system, however.

I guess if you walk around and go from one place to another you will eventually find someone willing to discount a room but do you really want to spend that much time and effort on your hoilday to just save a few hundred baht?

We have just booked a holiday to Bali in May at a nice resort just north of Seminyak

Asiarooms has the price set at US$78.00 per nite for a suite

http://www.asiarooms.com/indonesia/bali/puri_madawi.html

The resort's website has the price at US$77.00 per nite

http://www.madawi.com

Emailed the resort and asked what price they could do for us - the answer was US$62.00 per nite pus 10%VAT - plus breakfast for 2 and free broadband internet to the suite - plus free pick up and return to the airport

For a 10 day stay that is a saving of US$100 plus internet and transport fees (a saving of between 3000 and 5000 baht.

No walking around from place to place - just a nice polite email request

Works 80% of the time for us

(We also hope to make a detour to Lombok to see Farang Boss and Yogie's resort - the scuba diving there is supposed to be unbelievable)

http://www.lombok-network.com/index.html

[Bob]

Like Jojo, I most often find the cheapest rate at a hotel directly with the hotel, especially if you're staying more than a few nights. Sometimes the trick, however, is finding the hotel's website.

[sydneyboy]

Thank you for all your comments. A wonderful example of what this forum can be at its very best.