How trivago Works
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Which trivago platform should I use?
As trivago is an accommodation metasearch engine available in more than 50 countries around the world, we recommend that you always check which local trivago platform you're browsing from. This way you can be sure that it's correctly localized based on the country you live in and prevent you from facing errors such as extra fees on the total price, wrong country policies, and the wrong price format (VAT included, or not).
Before continuing your search on trivago, select your country of residence below. If your country is not listed, please use the most appropriate location:
If you would like to know more about how trivago works, please have a look at the following articles: - How does trivago determine a property’s classification?
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What is the difference between trivago and a booking site?
trivago is a metasearch engine that compares accommodation prices and offers provided to us by many different booking sites globally, including online travel agencies (OTAs), accommodation chains and independent hotels. This means that while users decide on trivago which hotel best suits their needs, the booking process itself is completed through the booking sites, which are linked to our website. You can find out more about how our site works here.
Meanwhile, a booking site or Online Travel Agency (OTA) is a web-based marketplace that allows consumers to research and book travel products and services, including hotels, flights, cars, cruises, activities and more, directly with travel suppliers.
The hotel or booking site is mentioning a ‘Room Supplier’ - who or what is this?!
In order to facilitate customer booking requests, some booking sites will work with room suppliers. Room Suppliers are companies that purchase rooms from accommodation providers in bulk and, in turn, sell them on to booking sites, travel agents or tour operators. They sell directly to other businesses and do not have any direct dealings with consumers - this part is left to the booking sites!
It can sometimes happen that the reservation details will initially be recorded in the hotel’s booking management system under the supplier’s name and the guest’s personal details will not be released until closer to the arrival date. For any questions regarding the status of your reservation, it’s always best to contact the booking site you booked with directly.
Other frequently asked questions… -
What is trivago?
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How does trivago determine the ‘our recommendations’ sort?
The ‘our recommendations’ feature is based on a dynamic algorithm that shows you a range of attractive and relevant offers we think you’re going to love. In the ‘top position’ we display in green the offer which our algorithm recommends as a great offer. Our algorithm takes into account a number of relevant factors, such as your search criteria (for example your location and stay dates), the offer’s price, its general attractiveness and the accuracy of the rates provided to us by the booking sites. We also take into account the compensation booking sites provide us with when a user clicks on an offer.
To the left of the ‘top position’ offer and/or under the ‘more deals from’ tab, we display additional offers to allow you to compare other deals for the same accommodation. You may find offers under the ‘more deals from’ slide-out section with a lower price than the ‘top position’ offer. While price is an important factor when selecting our ‘top position’ offer, we believe other factors, such as those mentioned above, make offers attractive and relevant to you, and contribute to high levels of satisfaction by our users.
Ultimately, our mission is to give you the information and tools to help you find your ideal accommodation.
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What factors do trivago’s alternative sort filters take into account?
You can use alternative sort filters to help you explore the different accommodation offers on our site. You can sort your results thanks to the drop-down menu on our search results page which, in addition to ‘our recommendations’ sort, allows you to sort, according to additional or different factors, by: ‘rating & recommended’, ‘price & recommended’ and ‘distance & recommended’. These options combine ‘our recommendations’ sort (which is described above) with a focus on either ratings, price or location; it’s up to you!
If you have a preference for accommodations with strong positive ratings (over location or price) the ‘rating & recommended’ sort will boost the importance of ratings in your search results. If you’re all about location, location, location, you can boost the location factor in our algorithm by choosing the ‘distance & recommended’ option. Keep in mind though that the distance filter default is from the city centre. If you want to change this to a different point of interest, such as a top attraction, you can use the additional filter option under “Location” of our site to select your preference. Did someone say Eiffel Tower?
Alternatively, you can rank accommodation offers according to only rating, price or location. This removes the ‘our recommendation’ sort algorithm from the ranking process, except for offers which are the same based on your chosen setting, i.e. which have the same rating, price or location. In these cases we use ‘our recommendations’ sort to determine the order of these accommodations.
You can also apply other filter options to your search, such as ‘WiFi’, ‘spa’, or even ‘pet friendly’ if you fancy bringing pooch along on the holiday too. These options are found under the “More filters” tab.
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Why is it possible that there may be a different price on the booking site than on trivago?
We are a metasearch engine that compares accommodation offers, not a booking site. When you click on an accommodation offer, we transfer you to the booking site that is offering you the deal you have chosen.
trivago works with many different websites, and the rates and availability they provide us with change constantly. trivago frequently updates its site to try to ensure that the information you see on our site is correct. On occasion though, you may not find the exact same offer you clicked on when you land on the booking site. This can be for a number of reasons. Perhaps the booking site gave us inaccurate information, or maybe they have sold out of the rates they offered us – everyone loves a good deal!
- How does trivago protect personal information & why does trivago use cookies?
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How does trivago determine its guest ratings?
We scan many available guest review and rating sources across the web on a daily basis. We aggregate these reviews and ratings, and convert them using our Rating Index® that ranges from 0 to 10 (10 is the highest possible rating). You can find more details in relation to accommodation-specific ratings by clicking on the accommodation’s guest rating score.
For further information relating to our rating system, please see here.
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How does trivago forecast prices?
Our forecasted price for specific properties reflects the median price for the property clicked on by trivago users over the past six months, adjusted for seasonal effects.
Our forecast is based on prices for two guests, but does not consider different room types and amenities (e.g. free breakfast, free cancellation) that may be included in the group of prices used to determine the forecast.
We display the Less than usual badge when the price for the selected property is lower than our forecasted price as we believe it indicates that the price represents good value.
- More about trivago as a company
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How to contact trivago user support: email or phone-call?