Court ruling against booking.com

[Camo]

This is from Greek Travel Pages but ruling should apply to Spain and give pilgrims a better deal when booking accommodation

court ruling

 

[CTLawGal]

Thanks for posting, very interesting. For those not wanting to go to the link to read what happened, as I understand it, the court ruled against Booking's "parity clauses" which prevent a hotel from offering a lower price on its website. I read it as meaning if you're using a website like Booking.com to search for rooms, always check the location's website to see if they offer better pricing for booking directly.

 

[dougfitz]

Thanks for posting, very interesting. For those not wanting to go to the link to read what happened, as I understand it, the court ruled against Booking's "parity clauses" which prevent a hotel from offering a lower price on its website. I read it as meaning if you're using a website like Booking.com to search for rooms, always check the location's website to see if they offer better pricing for booking directly.

I think this is good news generally, but it might take some time for anything to change. This ruling seems to provide guidance to Rechtbank Amsterdam (Netherlands) on questions that court referred to the CJEU. The CJEU guidance will now have to be applied in the case that led to this request. Reading the text of the judgement, the CJEU guidance on determining where exemptions allowing parity clauses can be used 'requires a concrete examination of the substitutability, from a supply and demand point of view, between online intermediation services and other sales channels' (see here). That requirement might add to any delays as the parties haggle over the conduct of such an investigation!

Someone who has a better understanding of the EU jurisprudence system might be able to better explain where this goes, but at first glance from someone living outside the EU, this could still take some time before we see the behaviour of Booking.com BV and Booking.com (Deutschland) GmbH (the applicants in this case) change.

 

[OldWisePilgrim]

If the hotels can decide voluntarily to list with booking.com, why can’t booking.com require parity? Each hotel can ensure being able to offer whatever price it wants (as low as if wants) merely by NOT listing with booking.com. It seems that the hotels want the benefit of being able to list/advertise on booking.com, but then want to be able to undercut booking.com in pricing, thus getting advertising for free.

 

[OTH86]

See this previous post:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/eu-ruling-on-bookings-com.86888/

Especially the comment by @Kathar1na ...

 

[OldWisePilgrim]

I will repeat my earlier comment - this sounds like typical EU bureaucratic big brother regulation. In its “wisdom” the EU obviously wants hotels to be able to advertise for free on booking.com. How is it “free”? Someone uses booking.com to initially book a hotel, and then the hotel and the consumer conspire to not compensate booking.com (by the consumer’s immediate cancelation of the booking.com reservation). Why should booking.com provide free advertising to the hotel? I am not surprised that the EU does not perform economically as well as China or the US.

 

[Kathor1]

See this previous post:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/eu-ruling-on-bookings-com.86888/

Especially the comment by @Kathar1na ...

LOL, @OTH86, I had decided to stay away from this thread but since you referred to my earlier comments, only this: This ECJ judgement is not going to change much if anything for pilgrims who are booking hotels in Spain or in France or in fact in any other country of the EU plus in the three additional countries of the European Economic Area. Why? Because Booking.com had already abolished these clauses about "price parity" or "best price clauses" for all these countries.

The reason for this is the recent EU Digital Markets Act (DMA). For France, Germany and Austria, Booking.com had abolished these clauses in their contracts with hotels already years earlier because the German Federal Cartel Office had ruled against these clauses and later, I think, the Spanish Cartel authority had also slapped a big fine on Booking.com for the same reasons. We established in an earlier thread that numerous Spanish hotels offer lower prices on their own websites than the prices they offer on Booking.com so that's nothing new.

Well, the Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 19 September 2024 in online, and there are plenty of news articles online, too, and some of them even show that the writer has some understanding of EU competition law and EU Treaty law. Everyone can read about this to their heart's content. BTW, but surely everybody will know this, the case was actually started by Booking.com before a Dutch court, a large group of hotels from Germany introduced a counter suit, then the Dutch court submitted the issue to the European Court of Justice for their opinion who has now made its ruling, and the case is back in the Dutch court.

 

[Kathor1]

For France, Germany and Austria, Booking.com had abolished these clauses in their contracts with hotels already years earlier

To be precise, and this is a quote from the CJEU’s recent judgment:

It should also be noted that, in the meantime, both the narrow parity clause and the wide parity clause have been prohibited by law in Belgium, France, Italy and Austria [in addition to Germany mentioned just before this line].​

As to France in particular, this has been the case since 2015 - i.e. hotels operating in France and with a contract with Booking or a similar OTA could offer lower online prices for their rooms on their own websites - so this recent judgment will bring no change for pilgrims booking rooms in Paris, Bayonne or SJPP.

We can of course discuss what, in our personal opinions, are the best economic policies and the best competition laws and antitrust laws that the European Union as a whole or individual EU countries such as Spain should adopt and pursue but unless you are an EU passport holder with the right to vote in national and European elections you are not going to effect much change I’d guess …

 

[Corned Beef]

Looks like the original case was B.com v its customers. Not a good look.

I think by now most people realise you can book direct for a saving or pay a premium for using apps. You can also use aggregators like the Trivago app to check if any of the various apps are out of line and a bargain is available due to mispricing.

 

[falcon269]

Looks like the original case was B.com v its customers. Not a good look.

I think by now most people realise you can book direct for a saving or pay a premium for using apps. You can also use aggregators like the Trivago app to check if any of the various apps are out of line and a bargain is available due to mispricing.

I have used booking.com for over a decade and made hundreds of bookings. I disregard all the "last room at this price" panic. I have never found a cheaper price at the accommodation than on booking.com. It may happen, but has not happened in my experience. There is so much gainsay information throughout travel websites that the consumer needs to be wary of any of it. EVERYONE is a mark for businesses EVERYWHERE. The internet has just made misinformation more widespread, and it all is aimed at your wallet. Be skeptical I would advise. Consumer lawsuits generally are also a scam...

 

[Molly Cassidy]

Looks like the original case was B.com v its customers. Not a good look.

I think by now most people realise you can book direct for a saving or pay a premium for using apps. You can also use aggregators like the Trivago app to check if any of the various apps are out of line and a bargain is available due to mispricing.

Not my experience. Usually going direct is more expensive.

 

[Camo]

I think by now most people realise you can book direct for a saving or pay a premium for using apps.

Not sure about "apps" (whatever that might mean) but the one that "sits above all" is simply google maps where one searches for hotels or a particular hotel and the google business site will generally suggest you insert your details (dates etc) and will list the available prices from maybe 10 or more "agencies" like booking.com, travago, hotels.com etc etc AND will give the hotel website if they have one.

Seems to me all the advantages are with the customer as the hotel pays the 15% (and generally complains bitterly if asked) and my one lousy experience with hotels.com settled me on booking.com who generally had the lowest price anyway.

Of course if you are on a return trip by all means email the hotel and renew your acquaintance for a "mates rate".