Travelocity GoodBuy Hotels

Have you ever wondered when shopping at Travelocity what that small green tag that says: “GoodBuy” next to some of the rates is all about? At first, I didn’t give this much consideration. But every time I return to the website it seems as though there are more and more hotel rates that have this tag.GoodBuy Hotel logo

While the name GoodBuy implies that it’s in the customer’s best interest to opt for an offer that falls under this category, there isn’t that much information on the subject available on Travelocity.ca. So I decided to investigate what the GoodBuy program is all about, what makes it better than the ordinary Travelocity.ca guarantee. In other words, what is it worth to the average consumer?

What’s the GoodBuy Program?

As you may know Travelocity offers a lowest price guarantee for all hotel bookings completed through its service. So what makes GoodBuy hotel rates so special? From what I’ve learned through my research, these should be considered as a different category of booking from normal rooms, as these are only available in limited quantities and are supposed to be for specially negotiated rates.

By partnering with thousands of hotels, Travelocity has come up with the GoodBuy Hotels program in an effort to provide the lowest guaranteed rates available. So, in other words, if you choose to book a hotel room at a location that participates in this program, not only are you supposed to get an exclusive deal, but Travelocity will also either pay you the difference in price or let you to cancel your booking (and reimburse you) if you find a cheaper rate for the exact same room, at the same hotel and on the same dates. Just make sure to complete your claim within the 24 hours following your booking with Travelocity.

Pros

GoodBuy hotel rates are supposed to be exclusive and consequently lower than those advertised elsewhere.
These rates are guaranteed to be the lowest.
Unlike other competing sites who limit searches for lower rates to their respective website only, with Travelocity, the consumer can look almost everywhere online to find a lower rate (expect bidding websites).
GoodBuy hotel bookings are guaranteed for late arrivals.

Cons

The limited time-frame to claim (24 hours).
Hotel bookings require full pre-payment.
No way to disable GoodBuy rates (some users have complained about this since it sometimes makes searching for a specific hotel chain complicated).
Although this probably won’t bother most people, Travelocity caps the number of claims at 5 per month per customer.
As a high-frequency traveller, some loyalty benefits of booking through a hotel’s own site may exceed the value of the deals provided by Travelocity.

The Bottom Line

In the end, there aren’t too many hotel booking services that guarantee their rates. So to find one that does this on top of negotiating exclusive deals for its customers is definitely worth paying attention to, even if the period you have to make a claim is pretty short. Of course, there are some restrictions related to this type of policy, but most of them will only disadvantage high-frequency travellers. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t shop around to compare hotel rates, but it should at least give you some extra peace-of-mind to book a hotel that participates in the GoodBuy program. Plus, some of the codes released by Travelocity.ca only apply to this category of hotel rooms. Check out our main page about the latest Travelocity.ca rebates and coupons to save on Goodbuy hotels as well as on cruises, vacations and flights.

2 Comments

Jack

June 29, 2012 @ 08:22

Really? I can’t turn it off? Oh well.

    Marc-Andre

    June 29, 2012 @ 09:03

    I know it’s a bit of a bummer. But if you keep searching past the first page of results you’ll most likely find offers that aren’t in the “GoodBuy” category.

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