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4 simple steps to cheaper hotel rates, with TravelPony

There’s a new social hotel booking site on the scene that’s well worth a look.  TravelPony was launched just a few months ago and offers a new way to search for hotel deals.  Competitive pricing is the order of the day here and rates can be anything between 10%-70% below those of the major travel sites.  Have a look for yourself and see if you can find a bargain. TravelPony The concept is quite simple, but effective at the same time. Users of TravelPony access the site via their Facebook login and the deals with over 2,000 top hotel partners are competitive thanks to users’ willingness to share a post on their Facebook or Twitter social media channels. The process of booking is equally straightforward but here it is in 4 easy-to-follow steps (if you prefer to watch, rather than read, skip to the video below): Step 1 Go to www.travelpony.com and search for your destination city. Step 2 Login to the site in order to view the prices. The simplest way to do this is via your Facebook ID. Step 3 Look at the hotels that interest you. There’s detailed information on each hotel and you can even see the saving that you’ll make by booking via TravelPony versus using another site. Step 4 Book and share.  Once you’ve booked your hotel, the honourable thing to do – in order to keep in the spirit of the site and to help it work – is to share the deal you’ve just taken advantage of via Facebook and/or Twitter.  Although this is not a requirement, it does help drive the site.  If you prefer, you can just taken the ‘Pony Promise’ to share your find offline instead.
YouTube video
The focus of the site so far is currently on the United States, with all the major cities covered. There is also a limited representation in Europe, covering a handful of cities (Barcelona, London, Madrid and Paris). At the time of writing, a quick search conducted by me unearths the five star Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas for as little as $109 a night next week – a TravelPony saving of some 27%. Aria Resort So, whilst the big sites are busy spending big bucks on marketing, sites like this one can grow more naturally, instead relying on word of mouth via social media.  Saving on their marketing budget should, in turn, allow them to pass on savings in their hotel rates, thus hopefully helping to generate even more social sharing. Give it a try and let us know in the comments if you find any great deals… if it lives up to the billing and continues to offer excellent prices, I’m sure it has every chance of success. Disclosure: This post was sponsored by TravelPony but, as always, opinions expressed are my own.

Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED magazine. In addition to other awards, the blog has also been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Telegraph.

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150 Comments

  1. Are you only allowed to facebook for viewing your website? What about those who do not have FB and do not wish to further add complexity to the already problematic issues with facebook security and privacy?

  2. Facebook login isn’t mandatory and you can use an email. Because we put our marketing budget back into a deal that we offer to customers, we *hope* that customers are willing to share a social message to help us get the word out. We don’t use “data” beyond your email address for confirmation emails and to add you to our newsletter (You can optout from the account section of the site.)

  3. I visit my son in Pennsylvania but I drive. TravelPony has only air lines to choose from. What’s up?

  4. Terry, TravelPony offers hotel bookings online, but no airlines. We have some of the top hotels in Philadelphia on our site and are also working on getting Pittsburgh up.

    The deals that we try to offer customers are in many cases over 30% off the lowest comparable market rates. Because of price competition in the airline industry, it’s much more difficult to use our business for airline bookings.

  5. I like Travel Pony but don’t like that you have to create an account to search for a hotel. If you do setup an account, it seems to have pretty good prices though.

  6. Leoky, if you don’t want to creat an account, then don’t use the site. Why is that everyone who wants free/cheap stuff likes to moan about it?

    Complain much?

  7. Hello Michael and thanks for dropping by.

    Clay is probably better qualified to answer your questions but I’ll try.

    The primary focus of TravelPony – a travel tech startup company located in Nashville, Tennessee – is upon discounted hotel rates via your Facebook login.

    The focus of TripAdvisor on the other hand has predominantly always been upon user reviews… reviews of hotels, rental properties, tourist attractions, restaurants and more.

    Regards

    Paul

  8. Michael,

    Paul is correct on both questions. As for the “safety” to book with us, while TravelPony is a relatively new arrival in the travel scene, we’re a reputable business that is placing bookings with over 5,000 hotels in nearly 50 cities. Feel free to call in to one of our customer service lines to speak with one of our representatives.

    Next time you’re booking a trip, we hope you book through TravelPony.

    Best regards,
    Clay

  9. Any decent deals for hotels in Goa and Kerala compared to other sites? I’m only interested in 5 star resorts.

  10. Hi
    The idea of savings on accommodation is always a bonus. Travel Pony advises ‘the very first Social Travel Site that gives people real savings when they tell their friends!’ – if you joined through your email address only and not through FB, how will Travel Pony know if you have shared the site with 1, 5 even 20 friends, but all via an email message? When I joined today, I was not asked if I was referred to the idea by a friend?
    Sincerely, and hoping to obtain savings
    Allyn

  11. I assume that as with hotel.com it is not possible to be ‘piggy’ and also get the points offered bt the chains?
    Love the travelponey branding. Will give it a try.

    DT

  12. I do official and leisure travel mainly to Dallas and Vegas. On official travel, I have two options. First is to use a government travel agent and let them take care of the arrangements. Or I can take care of it myself and submit receipts up to the maximum per diem allowed. For leisure travel, I use “name your own price” a lot. Lets say the Hilton is $150/night. I start at $50 and work my way up until they accept my bid. Its usually around half price. I’ve been happy doing that but I will give this site a comparison next time.

  13. Greetings from the UK! I note that everything is in dollars…obviously! Can you book from the UK though?
    Look forward to hearing from you.
    Thanks

  14. Hi everyone! I hope that I can help answer any questions that you have about TravelPony.com.

    Debra – It is up to the hotel if they’ll give you rewards points as well, but in nearly all cases you can add your membership number at check-in and earn and claim elite status at your hotel. You usually do not earn as much as if you were paying a non-discounted rate.

    Sally – Although we do charge in the for of USD at this time, we do accept international payments via credit card. Please check with your bank for the most up to date exchange rates.

  15. Good information to have since I travel often. I do not use any of the social sites since I value personal information security. I will use website to see how well your site works. Richard

  16. Travel Pony – Give me some example’s of your saving’s – from other’s – let’s say – Holiday Inn Express in Downtown Greenville, NC – -Two double beds -for Two night on a Sunday Night(and Monday Night – -For This Month-compare )- Thanks -Roy

  17. I like to book in advance my next vacation for December 2014 but the website only let me do it up 6 months

  18. I think this is interesting.. my only thought… when I go away on vacation I never post on facebook where and when I’m going on vacation. Are those details publicized with the great deal given? Just saying…

  19. Hi Sandra, thanks for visiting and posting a comment.

    Again, I’ll let Clay verify, but I’m pretty sure that’s *not* something that would be automatically posted to your Facebook wall.

  20. Sandra,

    TravelPony does not post any message that is not edited and approved by you, meaning that you control the content of any message that you choose to post.

    Our recommended post is: “I can’t believe how much I saved on my hotel at TravelPony.com”

  21. If I were to book a hotel (for example, with Marriott), am I still able to earn points with their rewards program or do I give up that opportunity by using TravelPony?

  22. Hello,
    So there must be a catch though.
    How do you make money? Is Facebook paying you guys?
    Thanks.

  23. Hello Dawn

    Thanks for dropping by. With reference to your question, this is covered by Jonathan’s comment above where he says:

    “It is up to the hotel if they’ll give you rewards points as well, but in nearly all cases you can add your membership number at check-in and earn and claim elite status at your hotel. You usually do not earn as much as if you were paying a non-discounted rate.”

  24. Hi Peter

    Good question. I’m not from TravelPony but, as I understand it, Facebook do not pay. Instead, TP will take a small % commission from each booking and make their money that way.

    At least, this is what I assume to be the case. If I’ve got that wrong, I’m sure Clay or Jonathan will step in and put me straight.

    Paul

  25. Hi Peter – Yes, TravelPony is a business and looks to make money through modest margins on sales. However, instead of spending billions of marketing dollars on traditional marketing like the big guys do, we are able to invest that into the most powerful marketing channel, word-of-mouth.

  26. Clay/Paul/Jonathan….looks like you guys are running this site. I too am interested in hotels in Goa/Kerala besides some others and noticed that you have taken the time to answer questions posed by Debra/Sally/Dawn/Sandra Terry & Michael but not to Mukesh. Now isn’t that rather rude! Are you chaps biased or prejudiced and only reply to Caucasians? If so, that is nasty!!!

  27. Oh my, Patty… that’s an outrageous accusation!!!!!!!

    Firstly, I do not have any involvement in the running of Travel Pony. (Clay and Jonathan both work with TP.)

    Secondly, I have no idea of the race of individuals posting here, nor is it something I would even contemplate when choosing to reply. (You appear to be making huge assumptions on this front, purely on this basis of name which, to be frank, is a little absurd.)

    Thirdly, I don’t reply to each and every comment anyone ever posts. If you look through more closely, you’ll see – in addition to Mukesh – that neither myself (nor Clay or Jonathan) responded to Roy (and to posts made by several other posters). For what it’s worth – and I really don’t feel I should have to justify myself any further – you’ll also notice if you look at other posts on the blog that I regularly respond to people with names not normally associated with Caucasian people. I have also interviewed people with a mix of ethnic backgrounds on this site, and have people guest blogging here from many different corners of the world.

    I apologise to Mukesh and Roy if it appears we’ve not responded. It’s certain not on any race grounds!!!! The answer to both of you – and indeed to your request, Patty – would be to go on the site and search for the dates and locations that you are interested in, and see what search results are returned to you.

    I hope this helps,

    Paul

  28. Hi I’ve just found your site through the sky news website here in Europe. As a European found your site good, but it could be better if you could give hotel prices in Euro also. The whole world does not all use the mighty $.

  29. Why will it only let me chose up to 4 people for the occupancy and why can’t I change the date?
    Thanks!!

  30. Hi Patty – Thanks for reaching out! You’re right, it was quite rude of me not to respond to Mukesh’s question. I apologize, I must not have seen it earlier. In regards to the question: we do not currently have any properties available in Goa and Kerala. Sorry about that! We’re quickly expanding and have plans to launch 3500 top properties over Q1 of 2014, so stay tuned.

    In regards to running the site…well I can’t take all the credit, we have a great team working on changing the way people book hotels :) and though Mr. Johnson has done a great job reviewing our website, he is not employed by us.

    Sandra – In regards to the Euro, this feature is not yet live, but we’re working on it. You’re still able to book through TravelPony if you live outside of the United States, but you will be charged an exchange rate based on your bank.

  31. Patty, we know what race you are: it’s called BUFFOON!!! Look up the Hotels yourself and quit being so lazy.

  32. Just a reminder to everyone that we prefer to keep things civil around here… please let’s not resort to name-calling, etc. and let’s just keep on topic with any discussions here focussed upon Travel Pony.

    Thank you

    Paul

  33. Are the prices I see full prices, or are resort fees, parking fees, etc. incurred upon arrival? If so, does your website show for what extras a person will be charged?

    Thanks

  34. A nice new competitor on the online booking business. As a new company I do not expect you to have deals in each and every city around the world. I do hope you expand and realize your customers come from many lands and also travel to many lands. A little time spent on multiple currencies and countries will move you ahead.
    Disregard the few that discourage you because their city is not listed. There are thousands of cities and destinations. Keep at it. It will grow with customer demand to other destinations.
    Sorry GOA is not a world hot spot for travel.

  35. Linda – Some resorts charge additional fees that are not included, but we clearly state these at checkout. In regards to parking, wifi, etc., we’ll always state whether or not they’re included, but we do yet have support for additional fees. This is something that we’re working on and have part of our product roadmap for Q1-Q2 2014. We often have a live chat agent available or you can leave us a note and we’ll be able to help you with any additional information you may need about the hotel.

    Rona – Thanks very much for the support and the advice. We have received a lot of buzz from countries other than the US and we’re planning to support multiple currencies (though we do currently accept international credit cards).

  36. Please add hotels in Cincinnati, OH. We wll be traveling there in April, and I was hopeful of using your site.

  37. Nicki – Thanks for the feedback. We’ll make it a priority to add Cincinnati as soon as possible. On a personal note, I was up there this past weekend…and boy was it cold! Glad you’re making the trip in April :)

  38. Hello! I’m excited to use your site, and like a lot of people, my phone seems to be attached to my hand :) Will you come out with an app that can be used on smartphones and/or other devices?

  39. Hey Samantha! I’m glad you see what you like :). I’m a huge app user myself, and though we are definitely working to improve our mobile-friendly site and look towards a native application in the foreseeable future, our biggest focus right now is to deliver more savings in more places. Stay tuned for more. Thanks!

  40. Just checked out your site. I like the branding and ease of finding hotels in the cities you have so far, and would be interested in shopping your site if I were interested in any of those places. I also like that you are already expanding into EU, Canada and Mexico and I understand that you’ll be expanding further.

    The following is just input, but I do hope you’ll be adding Cabo San Lucas and more options in the Hawaiian islands and the Caribbean, as well as at least a few places in SE Asia, soon. :)

    One other thing – when checking the site I was keeping an eye out for other Hawaiian and Caribbean islands and other areas like the Mexican Riviera (I can’t stand Cancun, but go down to the Riviera area every few years). Upon a second look, I found Playa del Carmen, which I happen to know is down in the Riviera area, so that’s what I was seeking, but a lot of your users might not know that was what they were looking for. Have you considered expanding your site from just specific cities, to slightly broader regions? Even in places in Houston, TX, someone might actually be looking for a place in Webster (near Johnson Space Center), yet your hotels are only in the city proper. You’re also going to wind up with a REALLY long list as you keep adding cities.:) Best of luck to you! :)

  41. There are none of the place where I will be traveling such as St Augustine & Ormond Beach, Stuart, Vero Beach & Coco Beach, Florida.
    Will any of these areas be added by Spring?

  42. Julianna – I know that we are working on some Cabo San Lucas properties very soon. In regards to your suggestion, that’s great feedback! We’re exploring changing this as a team.

    Pat – These are all on the horizon for spring. Please stay tuned :)

  43. I haven’t even seen your site yet, but wish you all the best and success in the new year. People need to remember and practice the Power of Kindness! and not be so quick to criticize and accuse.

    I do not mean for you to post this….just wanted to say hello and good luck. I am always looking for a good deal, and hope to travel more in the future after I heal from spine surgery.

    Enjoy your day!! Marianne

  44. I have created an account with my email and not with facebook, am I able to get the same discounts if I had used my facebook login?

  45. Also, if I get a better discount with my facebook login can I cancel my account and signup with my facebook account to get the specials?

  46. Best of luck on an awesome startup idea! Keep it real as you grow and not go way of hotwire’s star rating games etc.! Cheers!

  47. I’d like to know how often does TravelPony add new hotels and deals? I went to search for a particular hotel but couldn’t find it. (I’m from Chicago)

  48. Brig – You’ll receive the same discounts whether you sign up via Facebook or by email. Keep in mind that we only ask for your email and public information via Facebook.

    Tandra – We’re adding about 500 new hotels per week currently and look to double the number of properties by the end of Q1

  49. I just signed up with your site hoping to find a great rate in Vegas. I see there aren’t many hotel choices listed when the default setting is left at “2 adults/0 minors.” But what puzzles me is there is even less available when I select my situation of having “1 adult/2 minors” as travelers. Why the penalty for bringing kids? Trust me, I don’t want to to have to bring them to Vegas either. But we are cool enough to stay at the Bellagio. Really. Also, when will more hotel choices be available there? Thanks!

  50. Hello Lori… I’m not sure why that’s surprising. If booking for 2 adults, you would presumably be looking at rooms with twin or double (or king/queen/etc.) beds. If instead you required sleeping arrangements for a total of 3 people (albeit two of them children), there would be a number of rooms sleeping only 2 people that wouldn’t be able to accommodate you any longer.

  51. Hi Lori! Thanks for considering TravelPony for your upcoming stay. In regards to selection, we offer dozens of hotels, but sometimes there may be an extremely busy weekend because of an event that affects the inventory that 3rd party sites like TravelPony have to offer.

    Additionally, we display hotels when we have something to offer. By that I mean we don’t show a hotel if you can get better rates for that room type elsewhere.

    Lastly, in regards to children, not all of the Las Vegas hotels are family-friendly. So, when you add children, the results will be less.

    All that being said, if we can help you with your trip, please reach out to us via the Live Chat on TravelPony.com. Thanks!

  52. Let us please stop the hotels added (often hidden) sircharge for added admenities use of swimming pools, refrigerates in room and other items not use. I am 70 years old and do not need a news paper etc.

  53. Hi Stanley – I believe you’re referring to what would be considered resort fees that some hotels charge. This is a long-time practice at some (mostly high-end) properties. We understand that sometimes if can come as a bit of a surprise so we list any additional fees required by the hotel before you check-out in the summary section.

  54. I booked a reservation at a Hilton property through you today but Hilton still has no record of it. Hilton checked by property name, my name, and my dates and they couldn’t find anything. (I checked because this is the first time I used TP and wanted to be sure it worked correctly.) Once the reservation is confirmed through TP, shouldn’t it show up?

  55. Hi, what a cool idea! I feel excited to try this out the next time I am traveling. Last year I traveled about 12 weeks to foreign countries and it would have been nice to have this option. Thanks for the article :)

  56. Hello, I booked a hotel in Fort Lauderdale on your site and saved 13% more than any other travel site.
    I especially like the fact that when looking you can see what other sites are charging at the same time.
    Keep up the good work.

  57. It would be good if you could get your searches to also come up on trivago which ive found is a good comparison site for finding the cheapest deals

  58. I’m happy I happened upon TravelPony. I have an upcoming cruise in November going out of Galveston TX and will come in a few days early. I can’t wait to try your site! Cute name :)

  59. Hi there! I just wanted to let your readers know that Marriott policy is that reservations made through third-party sites, like yours, are not eligible for rewards points. I believe that’s true for most of the larger hotel rewards programs, although I can’t speak from personal experience there.

    I’d hate for your readers to be disappointed after seeing your comment about “nearly all cases”…we try to take great care of our guests, and we don’t want them to be disappointed at check-in! Thank you :-)

  60. I’m going to a convention in May in Sacramento Calif. Any motel/hotel possibilities for that city?
    Thanks

  61. We go to Des Moines, IA about once a year – that’s a big city – I’m surprised it wasn’t on the list. Along with Madison, WI

  62. Does the site allow you to request such specifics as handicap accessibility? I find such sites for theater tickets don’t allow you to.

  63. I’m excited to hear that everyone is looking forward to the growth of TravelPony. Please stay tuned for Des Moines Sacramento and Galveston over the coming weeks.

    Barbara – I’m so glad that we could help you find the right accessible room for your trip yesterday. Please let me know if I can assist you in any other way.

    Alex – Thanks so much for the information. It’s very helpful for our customers that frequent Marriott hotels.

  64. Can you also take advantage of other discounts, such as senior citizen discounts. Also, how far in advance can rooms be booked?

  65. 1- Most hotels will not give you points for your stay by booking on any third party site. Some will give you points for charging to the room in the restaurant or things like that.

    2-If this is anything like most of the existing third party sites, they can only add hotels as they want to sign up. If hotels in a certain area don’t want to or have the ability to join another site, they won’t be on here.

    3-If a hotel is already giving this site a discounted rate and paying them a commission for your room, 99% of the time you will not be able to use additional discounts. Most of the time AARP/Senior rates, AAA, or any negotiated discount needs to be booked through the hotel.

  66. I am new to the site, I am looking for hotels in London. but it pulls up everything it does not allow me to enter an area, there is a map with red balloons on it, but it is not showing me if this is the number of the hotel that are being shown. How can I choose an area in london.
    Thanks

  67. Why do you charge a resort fee or a destination charge for most of the hotel bookings in your website?

  68. Hi Wendy – I fully understand how it may be challenging to sift through all of the options in a particular city. At this time, the best way to filter is through the map function on the left side. With so many new hotels being added to the site, we’re planning on integrating more advanced filter options.

    Vijay – While it is common for many vacation destinations to charge an additional “Resort Fee” when you arrive, this is not very common at more urban hotel properties. This is a fairly common practice and is applicable whether you book with TravelPony or the hotel’s website in most cases. We make sure that you are made aware of any Resort fees before you check-out so that you’re not surprised when you arrive.

  69. As I’ve read the comments posted here, it seems like a lot of people don’t quite understand sites like TravelPony. Sites like this one are superb for finding a better deal than places like Hotels.com, Orbitz, Expedia, etc. However, what everyone forgets is a thing called rate parity. It’s plain and simple. Hotel franchises are not non-profit organizations. They want to make money off of their hotels. They make the most money when the hotel is booked directly, either by calling the hotel, the reservations line, or via their official websites.

    Say you already know where you’re going. Why not call the hotel to book directly? Not only do they have better rates, but you can usually haggle to get an even lower rate. I have been in the hospitality business for the last decade, and have worked for most of the major brands including Wyndham, IHG (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, etc.), Choice Hotels International (Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Econo Lodge, etc.), and Best Western.

  70. Terry, TravelPony offers hotel bookings online, but no airlines. We have some of the top hotels in Philadelphia on our site and are also working on getting Pittsburgh up.

  71. Hi Paul,

    I do a lot of travel bookings for our company (hotel, car rentals, flights, etc..) and I am intrigued by the concept of Travel Pony. Just a few questions:

    1. Do you plan to expand your coverage to Asia and Australia? (I work for an Australian IT company but our managers and staff do travel a lot both domestic and international).

    2. When searching for hotel deals in your website, does your result also show comments or reviews about the hotel?

    3. Does TravelPony accept payment thru PayPal?

    I have a brother and a sister in the US and I will surely tell them about your website.

  72. Ali – Thanks for your kind remarks. We’re excited to be expanding into many Asia and pacific destinations over the next month. So, please keep us in mind.

    We are integrated with Yelp to display reviews on as many properties as we can, though we’re interested in syndicating other review sources. In regards to paypal, we do not take paypal credit. We do however work with most major credit cards.

  73. If Travelpony really wants to fly it might want to consider adding more sort options to the results it returns. Right now you can only sort by Price and Savings %. I would like to have sorted by rating, hotel name (e.g. Marriott) and proximity to the city I requested.

  74. I’m a Marriott Rewards member and have been given points upon check in when using a discount site. And even had amazing upgrades. I’ll absolutely give this a shot on my next trip. Good luck!

  75. Eight of us ( 5 adults/3 kids) are travelling to Orlando, FL to Disney in July. Do you guys provide competitive prices for rental houses as well…or only hotels?

  76. The suggestion is that you can offer lower prices due to not having to pay for advertising but travel.com takes an 8% commission. Assuming they spend half of that on advertising there is only a potential 4% savings. A 4% discount isn’t much. Is it worth it?

  77. Hi there !

    Do you do business in India? I am a frequent traveler within India and need hotel rooms at competitive price.

  78. Jonathan/Clay, a thought to add to the roadmap – daily ‘Pony of a Deal!’ (or something similarly catchy). Send out a hot deal on a regular and consistent basis to induce further engagement, drive more people to your site and market your brand. Make sure to have a ‘like or share’ option for such deal.

  79. Beth – That’s great feedback thanks.
    Bramha – We do offer some consolidated rentals, but we mostly focus on delivering incredible deals on top hotels. Please take a look for your upcoming stay, we have dozens of options in Orlando
    Ken – I’m not sure about the business model of Travel.com, but TravelPony can save you up to 50 or 60% in many cases.
    Ashok – We’re always expanding and should offer some options in India in the in the next few weeks. Please check back soon.
    Danielle – That’s a wonderful idea. I’ll be sure to take this to our marketing team. Thanks a lot!

  80. Goa in India is a beautiful beach resort for foreighners. Do you offer hotel deals there. A few people have already asked this question, but I have not seen a reply. I plan to go to Goa, Mumbai & New Delhi this fall. Hope to find reasonable prices any recommendations.

  81. Hi Linda – My apologies for the delay! Goa is on our roadmap as we’re working to offer a dozen or so properties. We’re also working with several dozen hotels in Mumbai and Delhi. Please stay tuned as we’d like to get these live by the end of March.

  82. despite all the hype about online deals, we find that travel wholesalers generally have the best rates by far on most of the hotels we need around the world, plus often they can combine a package airfare which is cheaper than any airfare online as well.

    Contract hotel rates + package airfare = savings.

    Yes, cancellation/changes costs, but so do a lot of online deals.

    Online is convenient, but not very often cheaper than old methods.

    We often say to a wholesaler, this is what’s online now, what can you do & 90% of the time, they can do much cheaper, or if don’t have a certain hotel we costed, find something similar.

    Don’t think many people understand how most wholesalers work.

    From what I understand, if there are 100 hotels in a location, then they approach say 10% of various standards & say something like we’ll push all our business your way & so get a better deal, than if someone was to book direct with hotel.

    Sometimes the price might not be lower, but things like breakfasts or a credit thrown in, that can be used at bar or restaurant etc. (soft dollars for hotel)

  83. My research into the travel business (my wife plans to start one soon , she does have some contacts in the hotel industry) shows that many five star category hotels GIVE AWAY their rooms free to certain preferred travel agents. The logic behind that seems to be to retain brand value by not REDUCING the price to the public but increase occupancy and allied revenue (food , transport , etc.) by filling the rooms.

    The marginal cost incurred by a hotel in renting a room out to you is almost zero as the checkin day approaches with empty rooms remaining. And unless that particular day has an event attracting a huge crowd the chance is 100% that any five star hotel has only 50% or lower occupancy who have paid anywhere near “full fare”. They drive up the numbers by giving away these “guaranteed to be empty” rooms as said above.

    Examples of such deals I have used: Hilton Stansted London (minus 10 pounds , the cost of the free london tickets exceeded what I paid)
    Leela Palace , Udaipur (US$75/- , the lowest advertised rate was US$400+taxes)
    Sheraton London Heathrow (US$30/day)

  84. I agree with the idea of more sort options. One I always look for is “indoor pool”; another is “dining attached”. If I can’t find a 24-hr indoor pool plus 24-hour eatery, I usually don’t book.

  85. Thanks for this, I’ve got a trip coming up to NYC in May so I look forward to using TravelPony. AirBNB has a solid foot in the accommodation market but this might be a better solution for those who still desire to stay in hotels.

  86. As a small independent hotelier in Caribbean, I would like to inquire as how to list my hotel on TP, please advise the process & requirements. Thanks

  87. I’m from Australia and came across TravelPony the other day. Great site and it will come in handy when I travel to the US again. However, just wondering if there’s any plans to add hotels in Australia?

  88. After being skeptical of having lower prices than all other travel sites since now it seems that all travel sites come to about the same price these days, I checked it out and you guys are offering much lower rates! I hope this expands and you have more options in cities and I am definitely going to keep you in mind for my next trip. Hope to see you expand into flights soon!

  89. I am a travel agent based in Delhi India. Can i partner with travel pony or what are the ways to work together in order to provide best deals to our customers.

  90. Thank you so much Paul, for taking the time to explore about the site first and then sharing your feedback and steps to follow while on the site with us. This has made using the website a lot simpler for everybody else.

  91. good day..i have a consulting firm based in the Philippines that caters variety of services inclusive of travel packages..can i be partner with travelpony?

  92. Hi Nolan – TravelPony is focused on delivering great deals on hotels to those that share our message with their friends. It is not on our immediate product roadmap to add travel packages to our offering. However, please reach out to us at support@travelpony.com to leave your contact information. There may be some opportunities for us to work together down the road.

  93. Dear Paul, Clay, Jonathan,

    I just booked a room at travelpony.com my card was charged and however didn’t get any confirmation number. I called the number that “terms and conditions” says I should call and they told me they can’t help me with my claim… I’m really disappointed as I booked the hotel at travelpony.com because of reading this website… Could you or someone help me to get either my hotel confirmation or my money back?
    I appreciate your help!

  94. Hi Alma,

    We really appreciate you booking with TravelPony.com. As Adam from our support staff explained yesterday, your bank declined your payment. It looks like you entered a different postal code than what they have on file. Always remember to enter your address exactly as it is on your billing statement.

    In regards to the charges, pending charges may show up on your account from the original authorization. However, we never settled the charges, so your bank will clear then in a couple of days. At this time, you do not have a reservation with us. Please make sure that you have the exact address and if you have any further questions, please let us know at support@travelpony.com.

  95. Dear Jonathan,

    As a professional marketer and a customer I really appreciate Travelpony.com prompt reply every time I have sent an email. I indeed called my bank and told me the charge was to be yet verified and will give the final cancellation receipt within 2 two weeks.
    I will try to book again with you guys as I really like your website.
    I still would suggest you guys get a phone number where customers can reach you, I think I panicked because I couldn’t “talk” to anyone, whereas in other hotel booking websites I can just give a call.
    Good luck!
    Alma

  96. Congrats on the site, I hope to use it soon, as I am a lover of travel. If your ever need a Travel Writer or a Translator (English to Spanish), I’d love to help!

    Keep up the awesome work!

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