TA new regulations

[happykeeper]

Have you been able to figure out which terms & conditions have changed?.

The only thing I saw that caught my eye when I read the T&C was that they only promise to display at least one of the three things that used be guaranteed. This may have to do with the TA's desire to not display your regular phone number and email. Chances are that your link will be the one thing that they will display.
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The only thing I saw that caught my eye when I read the T&C was that they only promise to display at least one of the three things that used be guaranteed. This may have to do with the TA's desire to not display your regular phone number and email. Chances are that your link will be the one thing that they will display.

So, for $3400/year, all I'm going to get is a link to my website!?!? Hell no! And even if you have a BL, there are still 4 or 5 other properties that come up on your page AND all of the OTA booking options. So what IS the advantage again? Someone please tell me.
.

I do struggle with understanding the true value of a BL. We use TripConnect and we are happy with what it does. It puts us in front of guests looking for dates we have open. IMO, it is a far better link than the BL. That's good. We don't use any OTA, so it's just us on there and it takes you right to our booking page.
The BL however, is a convenience. It doesn't help us in any way that I found to appear in the Just for You listings and it doesn't tamp down the obfuscation that goes on when we don't have dates open.
Most of our guests will do what we do when we come are looking at a property that we are interested in that does not have the convenience of our link. Copy and paste. I just finished arranging lodging for a big trip and found myself doing this regularly, since many places in Europe do not have a BL. so while the stats would suggest SOME benefit, the migration factor would likely temper those numbers significantly.
One other thing, we ran a TA special that was slightly better than our website, since we were a BL. We had very few book it. Although it's anecdotal, it did make me think that those that found us were heading right to our website and would be going there anyway.

 

[Copperhead]

Have you been able to figure out which terms & conditions have changed?.

The only thing I saw that caught my eye when I read the T&C was that they only promise to display at least one of the three things that used be guaranteed. This may have to do with the TA's desire to not display your regular phone number and email. Chances are that your link will be the one thing that they will display.
.

The only thing I saw that caught my eye when I read the T&C was that they only promise to display at least one of the three things that used be guaranteed. This may have to do with the TA's desire to not display your regular phone number and email. Chances are that your link will be the one thing that they will display.

And of course they still want the same $ for the listing.
I do not have a business listing any longer. Do they still require a yearly commitment? Seems like it is renegotiation time. They are offering less.
.

Each year, I negotiate the listing down to $680 for our six rooms. In RezKey, I ask all guests to choose from a list as to where they found us. I recently discovered that RK has a report that will break down this info. YTD we have $22,000 in TA referrals!! And that does not count manually entered reservations (I don't ask) or folks who secretly don't want us to know they found us there. Methinks, we are getting a great ROI.
Also, if you have a listing, you can take advantage of their Special Offers promos. We have featured our Dinner Packages every year, and every week they are emailed out to between 2500-3000 people!! For free. Many package bookings.
.

Each year, I negotiate the listing down to $680 for our six rooms. In RezKey, I ask all guests to choose from a list as to where they found us. I recently discovered that RK has a report that will break down this info. YTD we have $22,000 in TA referrals!! And that does not count manually entered reservations (I don't ask) or folks who secretly don't want us to know they found us there. Methinks, we are getting a great ROI.
Also, if you have a listing, you can take advantage of their Special Offers promos. We have featured our Dinner Packages every year, and every week they are emailed out to between 2500-3000 people!! For free. Many package bookings.

Mama, do you use Google Analytics to track where your visitors are coming from? Just wondering if those stats are the same as what TA tells you and what the guests are claiming.
I have quite a few reservations that use B&B.com as their referral site when RK asks yet GA does not show near the same numbers.
I am not doubting that both TA and B&B.com send me business. They do a great job in SEO placing my reviews in proper places.
Currently I find my best ROI is their TC PPC campaigns. There I am showing the rates in bold, not a tiny link that many overlook.
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Yes, I am on GoogleA constantly (set up for Real-Time). Trip Connex is a factor too. I did set up a separate RK web page for TC only, so when I look at Activity on RK, I see who is looking at what dates from there and booking.
So when my TA rep called with all their inflated numbers, I was able to quote exactly how many website visits I received from them, which is why they kept the rate at $680. YTD we have 400 hits from TA vs 515 last year. B&B.com over 2650 YTD which is virtually the same as LY, but am paying $1200 a year to BB, because we are listed in multiple cities. Again, I use BB.com's Hot Deals every week, which get sent out FREE to thousands of people. I get a copy and there are only perhaps 8 others in the entire state doing this. So yet another way to promote without spending $$$ along with TA's Special Offers.
.

Yes, I am on GoogleA constantly (set up for Real-Time). Trip Connex is a factor too. I did set up a separate RK web page for TC only, so when I look at Activity on RK, I see who is looking at what dates from there and booking.
So when my TA rep called with all their inflated numbers, I was able to quote exactly how many website visits I received from them, which is why they kept the rate at $680. YTD we have 400 hits from TA vs 515 last year. B&B.com over 2650 YTD which is virtually the same as LY, but am paying $1200 a year to BB, because we are listed in multiple cities. Again, I use BB.com's Hot Deals every week, which get sent out FREE to thousands of people. I get a copy and there are only perhaps 8 others in the entire state doing this. So yet another way to promote without spending $$$ along with TA's Special Offers.

Good stats. I have used BB.com's hot deals for several years, very easy to post, I set up several unique deals and alternate them. I have never, repeat never received even an inquiry from them for the deal. Glad their efforts (and yours) are working for someone.

 

[undersea]

Have you been able to figure out which terms & conditions have changed?.

The only thing I saw that caught my eye when I read the T&C was that they only promise to display at least one of the three things that used be guaranteed. This may have to do with the TA's desire to not display your regular phone number and email. Chances are that your link will be the one thing that they will display.
.

The only thing I saw that caught my eye when I read the T&C was that they only promise to display at least one of the three things that used be guaranteed. This may have to do with the TA's desire to not display your regular phone number and email. Chances are that your link will be the one thing that they will display.

So, for $3400/year, all I'm going to get is a link to my website!?!? Hell no! And even if you have a BL, there are still 4 or 5 other properties that come up on your page AND all of the OTA booking options. So what IS the advantage again? Someone please tell me.
.

I do struggle with understanding the true value of a BL. We use TripConnect and we are happy with what it does. It puts us in front of guests looking for dates we have open. IMO, it is a far better link than the BL. That's good. We don't use any OTA, so it's just us on there and it takes you right to our booking page.
The BL however, is a convenience. It doesn't help us in any way that I found to appear in the Just for You listings and it doesn't tamp down the obfuscation that goes on when we don't have dates open.
Most of our guests will do what we do when we come are looking at a property that we are interested in that does not have the convenience of our link. Copy and paste. I just finished arranging lodging for a big trip and found myself doing this regularly, since many places in Europe do not have a BL. so while the stats would suggest SOME benefit, the migration factor would likely temper those numbers significantly.
One other thing, we ran a TA special that was slightly better than our website, since we were a BL. We had very few book it. Although it's anecdotal, it did make me think that those that found us were heading right to our website and would be going there anyway.
.

I missed what a BL is. Back Link?

 

[happykeeper]

Have you been able to figure out which terms & conditions have changed?.

The only thing I saw that caught my eye when I read the T&C was that they only promise to display at least one of the three things that used be guaranteed. This may have to do with the TA's desire to not display your regular phone number and email. Chances are that your link will be the one thing that they will display.
.

The only thing I saw that caught my eye when I read the T&C was that they only promise to display at least one of the three things that used be guaranteed. This may have to do with the TA's desire to not display your regular phone number and email. Chances are that your link will be the one thing that they will display.

So, for $3400/year, all I'm going to get is a link to my website!?!? Hell no! And even if you have a BL, there are still 4 or 5 other properties that come up on your page AND all of the OTA booking options. So what IS the advantage again? Someone please tell me.
.

I do struggle with understanding the true value of a BL. We use TripConnect and we are happy with what it does. It puts us in front of guests looking for dates we have open. IMO, it is a far better link than the BL. That's good. We don't use any OTA, so it's just us on there and it takes you right to our booking page.
The BL however, is a convenience. It doesn't help us in any way that I found to appear in the Just for You listings and it doesn't tamp down the obfuscation that goes on when we don't have dates open.
Most of our guests will do what we do when we come are looking at a property that we are interested in that does not have the convenience of our link. Copy and paste. I just finished arranging lodging for a big trip and found myself doing this regularly, since many places in Europe do not have a BL. so while the stats would suggest SOME benefit, the migration factor would likely temper those numbers significantly.
One other thing, we ran a TA special that was slightly better than our website, since we were a BL. We had very few book it. Although it's anecdotal, it did make me think that those that found us were heading right to our website and would be going there anyway.
.

I missed what a BL is. Back Link?
.

Business Listing

 

[Kay Nein]

I just had a rep call and try to get us to sign up for BL. I gave him an earful about what I've been hearing from all of you - huge auto-renewal increases without notice, limited points of contact, etc. He said that must be from a few years ago, blah blah blah. I told him that it was just weeks ago. He said we could pay as little as $75 a month for the first year - asked for our room rate spread, our total # of rooms and one other question I could not remember. That's what he used to come up with $75/mo. Insisted that we'd get three points of contact. I wasn't convinced. I've heard enough from the rest of you to know that we don't want to get sucked into that. Besides, we're busy enough! I don't need any more work!

 

[April]

I just had a rep call and try to get us to sign up for BL. I gave him an earful about what I've been hearing from all of you - huge auto-renewal increases without notice, limited points of contact, etc. He said that must be from a few years ago, blah blah blah. I told him that it was just weeks ago. He said we could pay as little as $75 a month for the first year - asked for our room rate spread, our total # of rooms and one other question I could not remember. That's what he used to come up with $75/mo. Insisted that we'd get three points of contact. I wasn't convinced. I've heard enough from the rest of you to know that we don't want to get sucked into that. Besides, we're busy enough! I don't need any more work!.

tell him to call me - if he give me that deal I will take it!