Stopping OTA Undercutting: How to Fight Hidden Discounts on Expedia & Booking.com
- rob00494
- Jun 4
- 2 min read
Stopping OTA Undercutting: How to Fight Hidden Discounts on Expedia & Booking.com
Undercutting happens when an OTA shows a rate lower than you publish anywhere else. In 2025 it’s driven by three quiet engines:
Member Discounts. Expedia OneKey and Booking Genius slice 10-20 percent off publicly visible BARs.
Sponsored Benefits. Booking.com sometimes pays the price gap itself to win the booking.
Mobile-Only Coupons. Up to 60 percent of OTA traffic is mobile; app-exclusive deals rarely appear in desktop checks.

Why OTA Undercutting Hurts
For boutique hotels with thin marketing budgets, every diverted booking is a direct hit on profit. Worse, algorithms lower your ranking if your rate converts poorly—creating a vicious cycle.
How to Push Back
1. Renegotiate Contract TermsAsk your market manager to exclude your most popular room types from member discounts or cap discounts during peak seasons. OTAs prefer inventory at full commission over none at all—use that leverage.
2. Switch to Pay-at-HotelWhen Booking.com handles the credit card, it can manipulate end-user pricing. Tighten parity by requiring guest payment on arrival; Booking then has less room to subsidize.
3. Deploy Dynamic Value-AddsIf you can’t stop a fenced discount, trump it with value: add breakfast, airport pickup, or a beach massage to your direct rate. Market these perks prominently on your booking engine.
Measuring Success
Track “website conversion rate” and “OTA book-away rate.” A 1-point lift in direct conversion on 50 rooms at $300 ADR equates to ~$54 000 in annual profit at 0 percent commission—worth the effort.
This article is a shorter version of our recent Deep Dive. For a full exploration of this topic (typically 10–30 pages), click here. Read the Deep Dive →
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