American Web Hotels

Do Orbitz.com and Cheaptickets.com give you the same exact prices for hotels? Is that the same with Hotels.com and Expedia.com? Seeing that Orbitz and Cheaptickets are both owned by Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. and Hotels.com and Expedia.com are both owned by Expedia, Inc., it’s worth a look.

Lets start with Orbitz and Cheaptickets. For each site I’ll search using Colorado Springs with my dates being May 27-29. I’ll only search for hotels for 2 adults. After calling Orbitz and speaking to one of their customer service reps to see if they have the same exact prices as Cheaptickets, I was told that “they are two different websites and they’ll have different prices.” Really?

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Here are the search results from each of the two websites sorted by lowest price:

The first 10 hotels from Cheaptickets.com and the average total per night for the basic room type…

Howard Johnson Express Inn – Colorado Springs: $55.49
Days Inn Colorado Springs: $58.77
Super 8 Motel – Colo. Sprs./Garden Of The Gods: $61.72
Days Inn Colorado Springs: $64.50
Super 8 Motel – Colorado Springs Airport: $65.40
Super 8 Motel Colorado Springs: $66.13
Rodeway Inn & Suites: $67.03
Crestwood Suites of Colorado Springs: $71.77
Econo Lodge Downtown: $73.16
Days Inn Colorado Springs/Garden of the Gods: $73.83

The first 10 hotels from Orbitz.com and the average total per night for the basic room type…

Howard Johnson Express Inn – Colorado Springs: $55.49
Days Inn Colorado Springs: $58.77
Super 8 Motel – Colo. Sprs./Garden Of The Gods: $61.72
Days Inn Colorado Springs: $64.50
Super 8 Motel – Colorado Springs Airport: $65.40
Super 8 Motel Colorado Springs: $66.13
Rodeway Inn & Suites: $67.03
Crestwood Suites of Colorado Springs: $71.77
Econo Lodge Downtown: $73.16
Days Inn Colorado Springs/Garden of the Gods: $73.83

Same exact rates, same exact hotels, same exact discounts. It should be noted that when you sort your search results by “best value” for each of the two sites, you’ll see different hotels. But if you compare the prices from these “best value” search results on each of the two websites, you’ll find that both have the same exact prices. The one major difference I found between the two is the price guarantee from each site which you can find in Price Match Guarantees of the Major Booking Sites.

What about Hotels.com and Expedia.com?

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The first 10 hotels from Hotels.com and the average total per night for the basic room type…

Travelodge South: $46.75
Howard Johnson Express Inn – Colorado Springs: $50.99
Days Inn Colorado Springs South: $55.24
Rodeway Inn & Suites: $55.24
Super 8 Colorado Springs Co: $56.10
Days Inn Central: $58.65
Super 8 – Colorado Springs Airport: $59.49
Crestwood Suites of Colorado Springs: $59.99
Super 8 Motel Colorado Springs: $60.35
Airport Value Inn And Suites: $63.00

The first 10 hotels from Expedia.com and the average total per night for the basic room type…

Travelodge South: $46.75
Howard Johnson Express Inn – Colorado Springs: $50.99
Days Inn Colorado Springs South: $55.24
Rodeway Inn & Suites: $55.24
Super 8 Colorado Springs Co: $56.10
Days Inn Central: $58.65
Super 8 – Colorado Springs Airport: $59.49
Crestwood Suites of Colorado Springs: $59.99
Super 8 Motel Colorado Springs: $60.35
Airport Value Inn And Suites: $63.00

Same exact hotels, same exact prices, same exact discounts. If you sort your results by “Hotels.com Picks” and “Expedia Picks” you’ll notice that they still have the same prices and hotels, it’s just that the hotels aren’t in the same exact order. Price Match Guarantees of the Major Booking Sites notes the price match polices between Hotels.com and Expedia.com, which is the only difference I see between the two.

Main tips:

Which is better, Orbitz or Cheaptickets? They have the same prices and virtually identical price match guarantees. I don’t think there is a difference whether you book with one or the other, assuming you are just shopping for hotels.

Hotels.com or Expedia.com when you want to book a hotel? They have the same prices and the same weak price assurance policies. I’d say that it does not matter whether you book with one or the other.