JUST ASKING

• Hotel guests often just ask the front desk if they can get a room upgrade.
• Often times having a celebration like a birthday or anniversary plays in favor of the guests and they can get a free room upgrade from the hotel.
• If the hotel room doesn't meet a guests' expectations or the guest is disappointed by the service and lets the hotel know, the hotel often offers an upgrade to redeem itself.

LOYALTY PROGRAMS

• Guests also join a hotel's loyalty program in order to get room upgrades.
• According to SkyScanner, 'Signing up for, and using, hotel loyalty rewards programs will always be the easiest way to get a free hotel upgrade.'
• Membership points allow guests to upgrade their room while still earning points for their stay.

BOOK DIRECTLY FROM THE HOTEL

•  Calling to book directly from the hotel as opposed to booking online is also a common way to get a hotel room upgrade.
• The personal connection formed may be formed as the guest gives details of his trip to the reservations' agent causing him to upgrade their room.
• Apart from the personal connections formed, hotel booking sites often cut high fees that cut into the hotel’s profit. If the hotel isn’t paying a booking site, they have more allowance to throw you a free upgrade.

CHECKING IN LATE

• Guests are more likely to get an upgrade during late afternoon hours towards evening as opposed to morning hours.
• This is because in the evening, they have a better estimate of which rooms will be occupied for the night and are in a much better position to offer an upgrade with this knowledge.
• They may also have some cancellations or no-shows in the evenings which frees up rooms.

REASONS WHY HOTELS GIVE UPGRADES

• Hotels may offer upgrades if there is a problem with the room or if a guest is unsatisfied with a service.
• Hotels may also upgrade guests who have a special occasion such as a honeymoon, birthday or anniversary.
• If the hotels run out of rooms that had previously been booked, the excess guests may get an upgrade to compensate for the overbooking.

RESEARCH STRATEGY

HOTELQUICKLY

• HotelQuickly was a company that emulated HotelTonight's business model, tapping into the niche market of last-minute hotel bookers and offering them stays at discounted rates. Customers could get rooms for check-in on the same day until 4 a.m. and agree to no cancellations or refunds when booking.
• HotelQuickly was founded in 2012 and raised $10 million in funding, but was unable to sustain itself. In 2016, the company rebranded and slimmed down in a quest to become profitable and in August 2017, it was sold to Rising Sun Merchant Services. At the end of November 2018, the company's blog stopped producing content. 
• In December 2018, there were complaints all over social media and consumer forums such as Trust Pilot and Trip Advisor after HotelQuickly canceled travelers' hotel bookings, leaving them stranded. Instead of refunding the travelers' money, HotelQuickly offered them vouchers for the amount booked, which turned out to be worthless as there were no hotels and there were also claims that the voucher had been used before.
• In addition, random searches on their website did not return any availability for properties in different cities, suggesting that they had suspended operations.
• Their failure has been attributed to the fact that they had an issue with their main supplier after having suffered huge losses and damages with the supplier. They had to terminate their relationship with the supplier while negotiating the damages, forcing them to cancel customer bookings as well.
• Travelers had been directed to HotelQuickly by TripAdvisor and Trivago, which earn a commission on bookings. Most of HotelQuickly's bookings were made through intermediaries, contrary to the information on their website, which stated that once a booking was made in their app or website, their "system automatically emails the hotel’s reservations department" or "calls the hotel’s front desk to personally confirm the reservation in some cases."
• It was later found that HotelQuickly’s travel agent license expired on November 12, 2018, making it potentially criminal for them "sell travel and fail to deliver the reservations without proper licensing." 

LATEROOMS AND SUPER BREAK

• Super Break, established in 1983, packaged travel and accommodation for mini breaks in the UK and overseas. LateRooms, on the other hand, was a database showing late availability at discounted rates for the hotel industry.
• LateRooms and Super Break both ceased operations after their parent company, Malvern Group, failed to find a buyer or secure funding, and therefore ran out of cash.  
• In July, Malvern Group appointed KPMG "to undertake an accelerated sales process to ensure further investment" after Cox & Kings India, a tour operator, who owned 49% of Malvern, defaulted on a loan. By doing this, they essentially put Malvern up for sale.
• However, Malvern could not secure interim funding from banks, causing them to run out of cash before they could complete a sale. As a result, LateRooms and Super Break were "unable to continue on a solvent basis" and ceased trading.
• At the time, Super Break had approximately 20,000 outstanding bookings with 53,000 people involved; while LateRooms had 23,000 outstanding bookings. All future Super Break bookings were canceled, while those on holiday at the time (400 people) could continue with their trips as normal. Reservations made with LateRooms were expected to be secure as the website acted as an agent representing accommodation providers, not taking any payments.

RESEARCH STRATEGY

HotelTonight

• HotelTonight takes advantage of the 65% average hotel occupancy rate to offer empty hotel rooms at discounted prices if they are not booked at the last minute.
• The HotelTonight app has an "Upgrades" feature which allows users to book an available suite for at least 50% off.
• After booking, travelers can further personalize their suites by chatting live with a customer care representative.

One Night

• One Night provides unsold high-end trendy/boutique hotels at their lowest rates anytime after 3 pm.
• Essentially, the app helps hotel guests to upgrade by giving them access to extraordinary hotels at lower rates similar to what they would have paid for standard rooms/facilities.

RESEARCH STRATEGY

FINDINGS

PRICELINE

• You earn 10,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days which is enough to redeem for a $100 statement credit plus.
• Priceline targets mobile users to spur growth.
• Its revenue for the year 2017 was 12.681 billion. 
• The key thing that differentiates Priceline from its competitors is its “opaque” travel booking products. 

UPGRADING.CC

• Upgrading.cc is helping innovate the hospitality industry with its unique 4-in-1 upselling concept platform for revenue optimization.
• They offer reduced operating costs together with the opportunity to upgrade RevPAR and maximize upselling revenue by over a 100% at zero investment cost.
• Users can choose to create & manage their personalized price alert by using the "My Price Alerts", and get notified of any price changes matching their budget.

RESEARCH STRATEGY

EXPEDIA

• The company offers 1 point for every $5 that is used on flights and 2 points for every $1 spend on bundled booking of flights and hotels.
• They offer three tiers: blue, silver, and gold. Seven bookings or $5000 spent on bookings annually gets users the silver status and $10,000 spent or 15 nights get the gold status.
• They have 60 million visitors globally and 41.3 million are from the United States. Women make up 60% of its users, while men make up 40%.
• Expedia posted revenue of $11.2 billion in 2018.

ORBITZ

• Orbitz offers three types of membership tiers: silver, gold, and platinum.
• Women make up 59% of Orbitz customers while men make up 41%. On the other hand, 59% of its customers are between 25 and 54 years.
• Orbitz has an estimated revenue of $764 million.

BOOKING.COM

• Booking.com, through its partner site, BookingSuite can offer guests a chance to upgrade for a discounted price. For example, if a guest booked a standard room for EUR 60, a Booking.com partner or property owner can offer the guest a chance to upgrade with an extra EUR 20.

HOTELS.COM

• Hotels.com give upgrades to gold members at check-in at VIP Access properties, subject to availability, which depends on rewards tier at the time of booking. Room upgrades may include complimentary upgrades to a room category with better quality or greater value. Room upgrades cannot be reserved.
•  61% of Hotels.com's customers are women, while 39% are men. 63% are between the ages of 25 and 54, and 60% earn over $75,000. Out of 32.8 million unique visitors worldwide, 27.8 million are from the United States.

KAYAK

• Currently, Kayak does not have any options for hotel upgrades directly through its official website. Kayak operates as a metasearch resource for different hotels, and it merely exhibits a comparison of prices. Any visitors seeking bookings are redirected to the source site where they are typically performed.
• The company's target market primarily consists of businesses operating in the travel industry (e.g., Hertz Global Holdings Inc., Delta Airlines). As of today, Kayak has a digital presence in more than 60 countries.
• One of Kayak's competitive advantages is that it manages about seven distinct international trademarks, while offering 20 different language options to assist visitors in several areas of the world utilize its services.

TRIVAGO

• Since Trivago acts as a metasearch resource, visitors are not permitted to book hotels through the website and upgrade options, along with cancellations, are not present on the site. Through its Hotel Manager PRO program, hotels present various offerings to visitors exploring the Trivago hotel webpage.
• Its chief target audience/market is price-sensitive travelers, while its leading markets are nations in Europe.
• One of Trivago's competitive advantages is the fact that it operates around 55 different localized sites in 33 nations, as reported by Market Realist.

Research Strategy:

TRAVEOLCITY

Overview of Upgrade Services

• Travelocity provides hotel upgrades on its members-only website.
• They provide this by way of hotel deals through participating hotels. Once customers utilize these hotels, upgrades are provided.
• Travelocity also offers this through providing promotional deals which members-only can acquire on their website.
• Another option is through a specific member discount where a customer is provided a percentage of their stay.
• Travelocity also offers an option for customers through last-minute deals which customers can apply for on the website.

Target Market

• The customer group which Travelocity serves mainly women, that is 61% of its customers are in this demographic.
• Another group which the company targets are individuals between the ages of 25-54.
• The last group mentioned are those with an HHI of $75K and over.
• The company has approximately 253.8 million Americans users yearly, but no data on additional users from other countries.

Competitive Advantage

• Travelocity seeks to help persons have fun planning their vacations and trips.
• They exceed customers' expectations by providing superb destination plans.
• They also offer what they call a Customer First Guarantee. This is a 24-hour service before, after and during the trip and they offer this for their flights, rental cars and activities as well as through their hotel provisions and vacation packages.

Annual Revenue

• The company's total gross bookings increased by 13% in 2018.
• The total revenue increased by 12% in 2018 for the full year.
• For the full year of 2018, lodging accounted for 69% of revenue, advertising and media accounted for 10% of the revenue.
• On the other hand, air accounted for 8% of the revenue and all other revenues accounted for the remaining 13%.

JETSETTER

Overview of Upgrade Services

• Jetsetter has various options for getting free hotels, upgrades or discounts.
• Utilizing the hotel during an off-peak season, the hotel will be more likely to upgrade your room for free.
• Another option is to mention a special event like an anniversary or birthday and the hotel may upgrade you for free.
• Jetsetter also states that joining a loyalty program may also work as they offer complimentary upgrades to customers via members-only reward system.

Target Market

• The company’s main target audience is travel enthusiasts.
• This demographic also includes persons who operate devices, for example phones, for travel services as it is so accessible.
• It also caters to people who are on a budget, so it makes using its application fee.
• It caters to people who love aesthetic. This is seen in studies where customers are more likely to book a service if it is physically appealing.
• It also caters to people who are content-driven. Hence, on its website, it features expert information on hotel deals and vacations for persons who love attention to detail.

Competitive Advantage

• Jetsetter offers its members-only look at insider deals.
• They provide deals and offers through its online magazine and by-product picks.
• Jetsetter has a competitive edge in that they verify hotels and travel destinations through correspondents who give honest reviews on the trips.
• Their online magazine offers premium photography, itinerary and travel articles to members.
• The magazine offers tips to help members choose the right destination to visit and activities to choose once they visit.

Annual Revenue

• Jetsetter has an annual revenue of 2.4 million yearly. 
• The company competes with other travel companies like Travelocity and Tablet Inc.
• The company has been acquired by Trip Advisor which annual earnings from hotel revenue in 2018 were $346 million.
• The Non-GAAP Net Income was at $38 million in 2018.
• Cash flow earnings from operating activities were $31 million in 2018.

RESEARCH STRATEGY

HIPMUNK

• Hotel upgrades — Hipmunk doesn't mention offering or helping travelers find hotel upgrades on their website. Their site has bots that scrape the internet to find the lowest prices available for hotels, flights, and Airbnb rentals. However, certain hotels do list information on how to earn room upgrades on their properties, but it's at the discretion of that hotel.
• Target market — Hipmunk targets frequent business travelers and people who travel using major brand airline and hotels. The highest website traffic comes from direct searching from US travelers. The top two social sites that travelers click through from is YouTube and Reddit. Some interest of these travelers is travel & tourism, news & media, and technology.
• Competitive advantage — Hipmunk has been featured among the top 10k in private western US companies. They raised $55 million in funding in seven rounds and were acquired by SAP Concur in 2016. They also offer efficient travel planning through their quick and easy website and apps.
• Annual revenue — It's estimated their income is around $5 million, but they are a private that has chosen not to disclose their revenue.

DAYUSE

• Hotel upgrades — Dayuse doesn't offer direct help with hotel room upgrades. They work with about 1000 hotels worldwide, and some do offer upgrades, but a traveler would need to contact the hotel directly find out about them. However, some hotels do list information about the upgrades they offer, but that is on a per property basis.
• Target market — Dayuse is targeting people who are looking for a quick daytime romantic getaway, travelers that have layovers, and any other people that could make use of a short stay. The highest website traffic comes from direct searching from US travelers. The top two social sites that travelers click through from is Facebook and YouTube. Some interest of these travelers is travel & tourism, news & media, and social media.
• Competitive advantage — Dayuse is the first site that offers daytime hotel bookings where travelers can purchase a few hours stay in any of the hotels on their website. Travelers can enjoy high-end amenities at these hotels for a fraction of the price.
• Annual revenue — The last mention of their revenue was at $21 million in 2017. They are a privately held company that earned around $17.5 million in funding since 2010.

Last Minute Travel

Hotel Upgrades

• The Last Minute Travel support section offers the ability to amend a booking which would likely include an upgrade if needed. Requested changes cannot occur within the 24 hours prior to the check-in date. The site specifies that all bookings have to be paid promptly to be valid.

Target Market

• The target market for Last Minute Travel is the traveler who makes last-minute travel plans and needs a booking in any type of hotel, including 5 stars. You can obtain a booking up to two weeks in advance.

Competitive advantage

• Besides finding hotels at competitive discounts, Last Minute Travel offers an option to reserve an Undercover hotel at a lower rate.

• Last Minute Travel also offers a loyalty program that includes booking discounts of up to 65% of the price points that can be accumulated to book a free hotel stay and a savings plan.

Annual Revenue

• Last Minute Travel is a subsidiary of Travel Holidays, Inc, which is a privately held company. Last minute Travel has an estimated $100 million in revenue.

Hotwire

Hotel Upgrades

• According to Hotwire, a change is possible but is dependent on room type, cancellation, and hotel policy. The room would have to be canceled and rebooked for an upgrade.

Target Market

Competitive advantage

• According to The Expedia Group financial report, Hotwire provides hugely discounted deals as its competitive advantage.

Annual Revenue

• The 2018 Expedia Group fourth-quarter financial report lists Hotwire under Core Online Travel Agencies (Core OTA). The Expedia Group does not provide Hotwire revenue independently. However, Dun & Bradstreet (Hoovers) lists its estimated revenue at $30.32 million.