Expedia and Marriott Claim Progress on Proliferation of Rogue Hotel Rates


Skift Take

Rogue wholesale rates on metasearch sites are the gifts that keep on giving — for travelers and the metasearch sites. Expedia and Marriott seem to be making some progress on the issue.
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Expedia Group and Marriott International both said this week that their partnership to curb the unauthorized distribution of wholesale hotel rates has resulted in around an 80 percent drop-off in Marriott’s rates of this type appearing on metasearch sites.

Skift reached out to both companies following Expedia's announcement Tuesday that it had signed up its first domestic UK hotel group, Village Hotels, which has more than 30 hotels across the country. UK-headquartered IHG enrolled in the program in February.

Despite the reported progress in limiting metasearch distribution to consumers of discounted wholesale rates that are designed to be hidden in vacation packages and tours, Skift found some of these unfettered wholesale rates on Kayak in the first search we tried.

Four Points by Sheraton, which is a Marriott brand, was offering through Kayak a stay tonight at its Punta Cana Village property in the Domini