With a view to refining comparisons between different channels, trivago has introduced a series of filters that help the user easily identify the deals and the channels that meet all their requirements. The filters in question are the following:
- Meal plans: Displays only the rates of the selected meal plan. The options are the typical “free breakfast”, “half board”, “full board” and “all-inclusive”.
- Free cancellation. Hides all non-refundable rates or any which are outside the cancellation period.
- Pay at the hotel. Hides all ‘pay now’ rates (usually non-refundable).
- Express Booking. Only shows channels with the trivago Express Booking feature enabled.
- Mobile exclusive. What’s more, in cases when the user is searching on a mobile terminal, trivago has just added a new filter which will only show exclusive rates for mobile devices. Several channels use rates like this to capture more sales and now they will have more visibility and more users will be able to benefit from them.
Eradicate the competition
When applying these filters, the user sees a reduced number of booking options, yet receives better quality in terms of results. And this is where the opportunity comes up for you. Your goal is to ALWAYS be present with your direct sale, regardless of which filter the user selects. If you are present, you’ll have access to more users and, therefore, more hits and more bookings that would otherwise end up with OTAs. Also, you’ll improve the performance of your campaigns, which is very important and always a fiercely-debated issue.
Increase the average value of your bookings
In essence, metasearch engines highlight the cheapest rate available. Therefore, it’s normal that they’re biased towards selling the cheapest products and rates, as these are the ones that are featured the highest. Here’s a comparison of sales per meal plan of Mirai customers.
