[Travel Information] Accomodation booking in Japan

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On October, well-known Hong Kong radio host Sammy Leung went on a sightseeing trip to Japan with his family. They had already made a reservation through an online booking agent, but when they arrived to check in, they were told that all rooms were full. Overbookings with these online agents are nothing new, especially with certain global platforms.

Personally, I rarely use these online agents. They're not particularly cheap, and when problems arise, it's difficult to get in touch with customer service. Even if you manage to reach them, they'll often just scripted responses, running you in circles, usually without offering any quick solutions. That's why I prefer to book directly through the hotel's official website, which I find much more reliable.

Some might think that global online booking agents are highly competitive, offering great price variations. But is the competition really that fierce? The giant of the global booking market are essentially two major groups: Priceline and Expedia. In recent years, Trip.com which has gained popularity in East Asia, is simply a rebranding of China's Ctrip (ctrip.com), which also owns Skyscanner and Qunar (去哪儿网), among others. So, there are really only three major groups. How competitive can that be?

Additionally, frequent browsing online agents website can drive prices up. Have you ever noticed that while browsing for hotels on the same website, for the same hotel and dates, the price changes each times? This happens because the website uses cookies to track your browsing habits and knows which hotels or destinations you're interested in. Prices will increase gradually until one day, they will 'bait' you with a slightly lower price, which may make you to think you've found a great deal and prompt you to click the 'Book' button.

▲ Online booking agents under Priceline and Expedia (Picture source: Discover Your Indonesia)

However, Japan operates a little differently. Some hotels or lodges may still redirect you to a domestic booking agent even when you are making a reservation via their official website. Japan is a country that places a high value on trust, so local booking agents rarely overbook, and the prices are generally stable. Even Japanese people, when travelling domestically, often use local agents to book hotels, and the typical practice is to pay at check-in, which helps avoid refund issues.

The agents I use most often are Jalan (じゃらん), followed by Rakuten Travel (楽天トラベル), JTB and Ikyu (一休). My preference for browsing Jalan is purely a matter of habit, and it allows me to concentrate my membership points. If the hotel I'm interested in is fully booked on Jalan, I'll still check the other 3 websites one by one. Besides the fact that they don't overbook or just pay on arrive, these local agents have another major advantage: they don't adjust prices based on browsing history. So, whatever price is set at that moment, that's the price you pay.

Although some hotel websites and the aforementioned Japanese booking agents offer English-language pages, I still recommend using the Japanese version. Many times, the prices and offers in Japanese are more favourable. Nowadays, PC and mobile browsers come with built-in Google Translate, so even if you don't know Japanese language, it's still not too difficult.

▲ The app layout of Jalan

Now, with all that said, my point is to encourage everyone to be a smart consumer and not be misled.

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