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What are online travel agencies? The ultimate guide to OTAs

Love them or not, online travel agencies (OTAs) play a critical role in every property’s distribution strategy. According to Expedia Group’s 2023 Path to Purchase report, OTAs captured 51% of online hotel & lodging bookings and possess the visibility and marketing power that most individual properties cannot achieve on their own. 

Working with OTAs isn’t just a matter of signing up and hoping for the best. To take advantage of the opportunities and avoid the pitfalls, you need to actively manage your listings, pricing, and inventory and take a strategic approach to online distribution. 

If done correctly, adopting the right OTAs as part of your distribution strategy can actually help drive direct bookings through the “billboard effect.” Building a comprehensive channel mix incorporating different types of OTAs will ensure you reach your target audience and secure a steady stream of reservations. 

See which OTAs dominate globally, regionally, and across property types based on Cloudbeds customer data and how properties like yours use OTAs as part of their distribution strategy. 

At Cloudbeds, we know the world of OTAs and distribution channels can be complex. We’ve created the Big Book of OTAs to help demystify this process and explain how to create a recipe for success when working with third-party distribution channels.  

What is an online travel agency (OTA)?

An online travel agency (OTA) is a website that acts as a search engine for travel. They connect providers across the travel industry to help travelers easily plan their trips. On OTA sites, travelers can often access package deals with accommodations, airfare, cruises, rental cars, and more.

On average, travelers view 141 pages of travel content in the 45 days before booking a trip, with OTAs making up 67 of those pages. Therefore, properties must be active on as many channels as possible to increase brand awareness and drive bookings — both OTA bookings and direct bookings (more on this later). With the increased popularity of OTAs around the world, hoteliers now have access to markets once unattainable.

How do OTAs work?

Online travel agencies emerged in the 1990s, using the internet’s extensive reach to aggregate global travel supply into a single place so consumers could book their own travel online. These self-service tools reshaped the hotel industry and booking experience with functionality that allowed the general public to easily plan their trips and reserve their airfare, accommodations, vacation packages, car rentals, and tours on their own rather than rely on a physical travel agent.

Sites such as Expedia.com, Booking.com, Airbnb, Orbitz, Hotels.com, and TripAdvisor are often consumers’ first stop when researching and booking their next trip. These apps offer a seamless user experience at all stages of the buying process: problem/need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post-purchase behavior.

Properties of all types and sizes can connect to multiple OTAs through an integrated channel manager . A distribution system, like a channel manager, shares room inventory and rates from your property management system (PMS) to your booking engine and OTAs. Properties that use a channel manager can streamline hotel operations, increase hotel revenue via revenue management best practices , and increase occupancy across channels (all without the fear of overbookings). 

OTA business models

Hotels form partnerships with OTAs by basically outsourcing marketing to OTAs, who then make money through two business models: the merchant model (guest pays the OTA  in advance) and the commission model (guest pays the hotel at check-in or check-out). Most OTAs offer a blended model so that hotels can let guests choose which option they’d prefer. 

The merchant model

In this model, the online travel agency acts as the merchant of record and collects payments from guests at the time of booking. Once the guest has checked out, the OTA pays the hotel. Contracts exist between hotels and OTAs to provide a set number of rooms to the OTA at a favorable rate. The OTA then makes a profit off each room sold but must meet its contractual thresholds.

The agency (commission) model

In this model, the consumer books via the OTA but pays the hotel directly at the time of checkout. The hotel then pays the OTA a commission on the total value of the booking after checkout. There are no contracts, and rates are set by hotel management. 

The advertising model

This model has increased in popularity and exists on metasearch sites such as Google Hotel Ads, Tripadvisor, Trivago, and KAYAK. Metasearch engines work primarily on a cost-per-click basis where hotels can promote their rooms with links to their direct booking engine, and pay a fee based on the number of clicks they receive. Some of these sites, such as Google, also offer a cost-per-acquisition model (also known as “pay per stay”) where the property pays a percentage of the total reservation cost upon completion of the stay.

For hotels, it can be frustrating to watch distribution costs rise without getting more in return, but there are costs associated with direct bookings too. Demand doesn’t appear without at least some sort of distribution or marketing strategy in place, and those marketing campaigns, loyalty offers, special deals, and direct booking tools have a cost to the hotel. That’s why it’s important to use OTAs wisely and in conjunction with your own direct marketing strategy. 

Online travel agencies vs. online travel agents

Before the rise of OTAs, it was the role of a travel agent to book leisure and business travel. This is because travelers back then did not have access to hotel availability and rates the way we do today. While the internet has made it easier for travelers to book their own trips online, some segments like luxury, corporate, and group travelers still prefer to utilize a person, or online travel agent, to help plan and book a trip.

Travel agents are beneficial when planning complex trips such as a destination wedding, honeymoon, or corporate trip. They have the expertise and connections to find unique accommodations at better rates than most people can find themselves.

Travel agents such as Kuoni have a team of destination experts who work behind the scenes to curate tailor-made accommodations, experiences, and itineraries. Their in-person stores allow travelers to enjoy a glass of champagne while meeting with a travel expert to plan their dream vacation.

Travel agents usually have a portfolio of properties they recommend to travelers and take a commission fee, similar to OTAs. Strong relationships with travel agents can help properties drive more bookings in alternative segments than the OTA market.

Difference between OTAs and metasearch

With so many online booking channels available today, it can be challenging to understand the difference between certain channels.

Metasearch websites like Skyscanner act as aggregators and display hotel information and room rates from a variety of online channels, including OTAs like Agoda, Trip.com, Travelocity, or Priceline.com and a hotel’s website. It enables travelers to compare all of their hotel booking options in real time across the web so that they can book the best deal.

OTAs provide room rates and booking capabilities for only one channel — their own. Meanwhile, metasearch sites can display up to twenty or more results.

Properties can invest in hotel marketing efforts through metasearch engines. Metasearch sites rank listings and it pays off to be near the top. Paying to have your listing higher in the ranks to drive more direct bookings can drive serious results. 

Is Google an OTA?

Google is often a traveler’s first stop when looking for a hotel room. In recent years, Google has changed the hospitality industry with its products. Google offers Google Hotel Search, which acts as a hotel metasearch platform. When a traveler enters a property’s name into Google, it will show all of the rates and listing information from across the web.

Google also has free booking links , a game-changer for independent hotels as they can list their direct rates and links to their own website within the Google Hotel Search box. This option encourages potential guests to book direct.

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The Complete Guide to Booking Travel Online

What is an online travel agency, and what are the best sites and apps to use to search for hotels and flights we break it all down for you..

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There’s a lot to navigate when researching and booking travel online.

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My first travel adventure was to Venezuela. I booked the ticket with a travel agent over a pay phone. The agent searched a dozen flight itineraries over a few days, all so I could save $15.

Times have changed. Today, flight searches start online , often on your mobile device. Passengers book either directly with the airline or hotel or with online travel agencies. Rarely do we get on the phone. In fact, American Airlines and United Airlines charge $25 to make a domestic flight booking by phone. And pay phones hardly exist anymore.

So, what is the best way to book online? Here is our complete guide to online travel agencies, search tools, and the variety of booking options available on both mobile devices and desktops.

What is an OTA?

An online travel agency, or OTA, is a website or mobile app that allows users to search for and book travel services such as flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and activities. The booking is made directly with the online travel agency but confirmed by the service provider, such as an airline or a hotel. As a customer, your relationship is with the OTA.

What are the main OTAs?

Many online travel agencies nowadays are owned by two main companies: Expedia and Priceline. The Expedia Group is the largest online travel agency in the United States with 70 percent market share, according to travel data firm Phocuswright. Expedia Group operates Expedia.com , Orbitz, Hotels.com , Trivago, CheapTickets , Hotwire , Vrbo , and Travelocity .

Priceline is a major competitor to Expedia, with global revenues larger than the Expedia Group. The company owns Priceline.com, Booking.com, Cheapflights, Momondo, and Kayak—the latter two being metasearch engines (more on that below).

There are also independent newcomers such as Hopper (a mobile-only booking tool) and Kiwi.com (which allows you to book flights on air carriers that don’t normally have a commercial relationship).

Are OTA fares lower than booking directly?

Generally, no. The fares that are displayed by an OTA will be similar if not slightly more expensive when compared to an airline’s website. They’re usually only a few dollars higher or lower. The OTAs charge a booking fee to the airlines, and often that fee is passed directly to consumers. For example, Lufthansa tacks on an additional $18 to any booking made through an OTA for Lufthansa flights. The same flights are exactly $18 cheaper on the airline’s website.

Where you can score a good travel deal through an OTA is when booking a last-minute hotel and flight package. Many OTAs have cut agreements with airlines allowing last-minute travelers to access lower rates than are typically available when passengers book a flight alone.

Are all airlines available to be booked through OTAs?

No. Many OTAs do not display flights from some of the low-fare leaders. For example, Southwest and Allegiant flights are not available through OTAs; the same goes for Ryanair in Europe. And, earlier this year United Airlines threatened to pull out of Expedia altogether, only recently signing a multi-year agreement to stay in. The airlines would rather not lose any margin to online travel agencies in an already low-margin industry and would rather maintain a direct relationship with the customer.

Are smaller OTAs safe to use?

Expedia and Priceline are the two largest players in the online booking space, but there are dozens of independent OTAs, such as CheapOAir, OneTravel, JustFly, and SmartFares. Confusingly, you might actually stumble on ads for these OTAs while using Expedia or Priceline sites. That’s because the larger OTAs earn revenue through advertising, sending passengers to smaller OTAs and charging those OTAs for the favor.

Buyer beware: some of these lesser-known OTAs are masters at hidden fees. For example, a flight search on JetBlue allows for free seat selection in many instances. If you perform the same search on FlightNetwork, an independent OTA, and select a seat, you will be charged an additional $25—despite the fact that JetBlue doesn’t charge a seat selection fee if you book directly.

What if you need to change your itinerary?

Itinerary changes are often a pain. If your plans change, it won’t matter whether you’ve booked directly with an airline or with an OTA—you’re going to pay fees for the privilege, if you can even change your ticket at all.

For example, CheapTickets.com, which is part of the Expedia Group, charges $25 to change or cancel a ticket if that change is requested after 24 hours of making the booking—it is free if you do so within 24 hours of booking. However, the fees go up from there. JustFly, an independent OTA, charges a $75 fee for changes to domestic flights in addition to airline change fees, plus the difference in fare, for tickets that can be changed. For an international trip, the fee rises to $200. That means to change an international flight with Delta (which charges a $100 change fee) booked through JustFly, you’ll be assessed $300 in fees, plus the difference in fare. At that rate, you may as well book a new flight. FlightNetwork indicates in its terms of service that changes may incur a change fee but doesn’t specify what those fees are. That hardly makes the few dollars you saved by booking with the OTA in the first place worth it.

What is an OTA price match policy?

To assure travelers that they are getting the lowest fare possible, many OTAs have a price match policy. The rules vary and so do the benefits.

For example, if you book with Orbitz and find a less expensive flight, car rental, or activity on any U.S.-based website within 24 hours of your booking, Orbitz will refund you the difference you paid. And it works: I have personally found a flight in the same class, on the same airline, for the same origin and destination cities, and requested Orbitz to refund the difference of around $35. Within a few weeks, I received a check in the mail. A similar program applies for CheapOAir, but there’s a catch—the price difference must be found on a major OTA such as Expedia or Travelocity.

Expedia has a particularly good price match policy, but you have to pay extra for it at the time of booking. Expedia offers the price match option as an add-on that costs between $5 and $30 when you book. With the price match applied, if the airfare on Expedia drops between 120 days of the flight and up to six hours before the flight, Expedia will automatically refund you the difference in fare. Unfortunately, fares generally do not drop substantially as the travel date approaches, so while this might give you peace of mind, it’s probably not worth the expense.

How do Google Flights and other travel metasearch engines work?

Frequent fliers are likely familiar with websites such as Google Flights, Kayak, Momondo, or Skyscanner. On these websites, passengers search on the site but are redirected to the service provider to complete the booking, such as an airline, rental car company, or hotel.

Metasearch started with a product called ITA Matrix, which is a tool for searching airfares online but not for actually booking online. ITA Matrix allows for multi-city searching, such as setting two different departure or arrival airports, and for offering a calendar view of fares for easier comparison. That company was acquired by Google in 2011, and savvy travelers swear by it to help find the least expensive fares online. Most consumers are more familiar with Google Flights, which has gained traction more recently not least because it has the benefit of being displayed first in search results on Google.

Metasearch engines receive distribution fees from the airlines for sending traffic to the supplier websites. There are no additional hidden fees for using a metasearch engine because you’re booking directly with the airline or hotel.

A major benefit of the metasearch engines is their price tracking tool, which lets users know whether the displayed fares are low, average, or high for the flight, allowing travelers to make a more informed decision on whether to book a flight or not . Google Flights and Kayak, for instance, both have price tracking tools.

Why not just book directly?

The airlines would definitely much rather you book directly with them. Over the past five years, they have gotten much better at marketing and selling their product directly to consumers online and through mobile sites and apps. But in the past, they weren’t so good at it. In fact, Delta, Northwest, United, American, and Continental got together to invest $145 million to launch Orbitz in 1999 to counter the threat from Expedia. Now Orbitz is owned by Expedia.

The airlines also try to encourage customers to book directly so that they can maintain a closer relationship with them. It allows carriers to connect bookings with loyalty programs and create special offers and discounts catered to individual passengers.

There is another benefit to booking directly. The U.S. Department of Transportation requires carriers to hold a reservation at the quoted fare for 24 hours without payment or allow a reservation to be cancelled within 24 hours without penalty, so long as the booking is made at least seven days before travel. The law applies, however, only to U.S. and foreign air carriers that have websites marketed to U.S. consumers. This means that, in theory, an online travel agency does not have to offer such a policy, although most OTAs do.

What are the options for booking on your mobile device?

Airlines and the major OTAs all have apps to help you book and manage your trip on your mobile device, but their functionality is lacking compared to these websites’ desktop editions. For example, Expedia’s app doesn’t allow you to view flights on a month-view calendar. Kayak has an app with more bells and whistles and a better user interface, including a month-view calendar with color-coded pricing. It also has a handy “augmented reality” function to help you see if your carry-on bag will fit in the overhead bin (a feature originally developed by KLM). Point your phone’s camera at the luggage, and it’ll give you the dimensions.

While apps are improving and gaining in popularity, you still might find it easier to locate the best deals on flights and hotels by using your desktop, where you can have multiple tabs open and have all the available search tools at your disposal. Apps are fine for booking directly with an airline once you know which flights you want to book.

If you’re determined to use your mobile device, you may want to look into Hopper. Hopper is a mobile-first flight booking tool that has a solid price prediction tool. You can research travel options and book directly on the app. Another benefit of Hopper: Of its team of 300 employees, nearly half are dedicated to customer support and are based in Canada versus some OTAs and airlines that outsource much of their customer service further afield.

The bottom line?

Like many travelers, I enjoy a flight deal as much as the next person, but I also don’t like any added hassle. I typically start my travel searches using the ITA Matrix or Google Flights to get a general sense of the fares. It helps to know what is a good deal and what is expensive for a particular route. I do my research, typically on a desktop computer. When I’m ready to book, I’ll book directly with the airline. I’ve found that customer service is better when booking directly with the service provider. But I’ve also saved money by using OTAs and have booked with them, too. Whichever way you choose to book, you can be safe in the knowledge that finding and purchasing travel online is a lot easier today than searching for a deal with a travel agent on a pay phone.

>> Next: How to Get the Best Last-Minute Travel Deals

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Category: Travel

Date: May 31, 2024

Online Travel Agencies – A Brief Introduction

The role of an online travel agency (OTA) is becoming increasingly important in the accommodation industry as they provide a convenient way for travelers to arrange their stay. From the comfort of their home, travelers can compare hotel prices and book them over the internet. 

In this blog, we are going to discuss what an OTA is, the best OTA platforms, travel website development and how to do it right, and more.

Ready? Let’s go.

What Are Online Travel Agencies?

An online travel agency (OTA) arranges and sells accommodations, tours, transportation and trips on an online platform for travelers. They are third parties who sell services on behalf of other companies.

Usually, these OTAs offer many benefits with added convenience with more of a self-service approach. They also include a built-in booking system which allows instant bookings.

How Do Online Travel Agencies Work?

OTAs generally work on two models. They are,

1. Merchant Model

In this model, hotels sell rooms to OTAs at a discounted or wholesale price. Then, the OTA sells them to the customer at a markup price

2. Agency Model

This is a commission-based model where OTAs acts as a distribution partner. OTAs receive full commission after the stay has taken place. The hotel directly receives the payment from the end customer and does not wait for the payment transfer from third-party distributors.

What Are the Benefits of Partnering with Online Travel Agencies?

In one word – exposure! Online travel agents get thousands of website visitors from all over the world. Plus, they have positioned themselves as an authority on everything related to travel. So, people trust the recommendation they receive from OTAs.

By listing in OTAs, accommodation businesses like hotels not only reach a vast set of audience but will also find their service among many other reputable sources of information.

In addition, hotels that are listed on OTAs can also benefit from what is referred to as the ‘billboard effect’. This means that OTAs provide a form of advertising for service providers such as hotels on their platforms. Once the user gains this awareness, they may even go to the website of that particular hotel to make a direct booking.

What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Selling Through Online Travel Agents?

Accommodation businesses like hotels and B&Bs have pros and cons of getting listed in OTAs. Let’s take a look at them.

Advantages Of Online Travel Agents

• Low-cost method of selling accommodation services
• Reduced online marketing spend as OTAs invest in advertising to attract potential customers
• Impartial reviews give customers the confidence to book
• Users can easily compare various accommodation costs at one place

Disadvantages Of Online Travel Agents

• Commission rates are charged on every sale. It can range between 10-15% of the gross cost
• Restrictive cancellation terms
• Even if accommodation businesses use OTAs, the need for their own website and booking engine does not go away
• Investment in a balanced multi-channel strategy may be needed to boost sales

Even though OTAs can help to fill your rooms, accommodation businesses must try to maximize revenue through their own website. Consistent work on search engine optimization tactics and other digital marketing techniques is a must. Accommodation businesses must focus on customer retention techniques and directly target their existing customers through emails and direct marketing.

How To Start An Online Travel Agency?

Travel agencies no longer inform customers about the availability of flights and rooms. They issue rooms and get a commission from the respective accommodation businesses. That is why most of the new travel businesses follow the OTA model.

If you plan to enter the OTA arena, you can specialize in pilgrimages, leisure travel, business travel or any niche. But, focusing on how effectively you offer things is the key to success.

Here Are Some Points You Have To Consider When Starting An Online Travel Agency.

• Register the name of your agency and if applicable, take a license as per your local laws
• Try to get a membership in IATA or any other reputed travel organization
• Gain more knowledge about the travel industry and particularly the nice you want to concentrate
• Get your travel website designed by a professional company like ColorWhistle
• Offer deals that focus on a specific geography. Focusing on a particular niche will also bring more success
• Publicize your business in the online space
• Utilize the power of blogging
• Create a good social media presence

Why Do People Use Online Travel Agencies?

 here are some of the main reasons they prefer ota’s..

• Few OTAs offer reward programs which can be used for future travel needs
• Special rates which cannot be found elsewhere
• Some OTAs may have generous cancellation policies. For example, Priceline does not offer any penalty if the user cancels the ticket until the end of the next business day
• Most users may not have an idea on where to book other than an OTA
• OTAs make it easy to compare different rates

Which Are the Best OTA Platforms?

1. booking.com.

Booking.com is one of the largest accommodations websites which has now expanded to smaller markets such as family-operated bed and breakfast, vacation rentals and self-catering apartments.

Interesting statistics

• Every day, 1,550,000 nights are booked
• 68% of nights booked came from families and couples
• 42% of nights booked came from unique places such as homes and apartments
• 38% of reviews are given by guests which are useful for other travelers
• 75% of nights booked come from guests who booked more than 5 times

2. Expedia’s Hotels.com

Expedia’s Hotels.com is a popular brand which has a global audience and attracts diverse travelers. The company gained more power in the industry by acquiring Travelocity.

• Gets over 675 million monthly site visits
• Operates in 70+ countries and 40+ languages
• Attracts 75 million monthly flight shoppers

Airbnb revolutionized the travel accommodation industry by introducing home-sharing. The website has diverse listings and travelers get a sense of safety as they can know their guest’s identity.

• 2.9 million hosts are present on Airbnb
• Average of 800k stays each night
• 14k new hosts join every month

Apart from these major OTAs, there are many small ones such as OneTravel, Vayama, Tripsta, TravelMerry, ExploreTrip, Kiss&Fly, Webjet, GoToGate, Travelgenio, Bookairfare, Fareboom, Skybooker, Travel2be, OneTwoTrip!, and eBookers.

Drive Conversions and Boost your Business with Expert Travel Website Development.

What the future holds for online travel agencies.

It is clear that, in the near future, accommodation businesses are not about to back down from OTAs. They are enjoying the billboard effect and trying their best to retain website visitors and convert them into direct booking. 

Sure, there is a cost involved. The upside of this is that accommodation businesses are working hard to create a loyal customer base that will continue to seek direct bookings.

The chances of OTAs suffering in the long run are pretty slim. Smaller accommodation businesses have a lot to gain from the exposure they receive through OTAs. Plus, a large portion of the younger generation prefers OTAs. So their market will continue to grow.

If you need any help to design, develop or market an OTA website, contact our travel web design and development experts at ColorWhistle . 

We can create an amazing website with beautiful designs combined with dynamic content such as live rates and special offers. Contact us today for your free business analysis and consultation.

In quest of the Perfect Travel Tech Solutions Buddy?

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About the Author - Anjana

Anjana is a full-time Copywriter at ColorWhistle managing content-related projects. She writes about website technologies, digital marketing, and industries such as travel. Plus, she has an unhealthy addiction towards online marketing, watching crime shows, and chocolates.

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What is an OTA? Online Travel Agency Defined

In the ever-expanding realm of hospitality, the term ‘OTA’ is frequently tossed around. But what exactly does it mean, and why is it crucial for your vacation rental business?

Today, we’re demystifying the enigma of OTAs.

What is an OTA (Online Travel Agency)?

OTA stands for Online Travel Agency. These digital platforms, like Airbnb , Vrbo and Booking.com , act as intermediaries between hosts like you and travelers seeking accommodation.

Think of them as online marketplaces or booking platforms that connect your beautiful vacation rental property with a global , local or niche audience of potential guests.

Why OTAs Matter for Vacation Rental Hosts

OTAs play a pivotal role in the success of vacation rental businesses. They offer unparalleled visibility, putting your property in front of millions of travelers actively searching for unique and comfortable stays.

By listing your property on these platforms, you tap into a vast reservoir of potential guests, boosting your occupancy and revenue .

Benefits of Using OTAs

1. global exposure.

OTAs provide a worldwide platform, enabling your property to be discovered by a variety of traveler segments from every corner of the globe. This exposure can significantly boost your bookings .

2. Streamlined bookings for guests

OTAs offer user-friendly interfaces that simplify the booking process for guests. Travelers can easily view your property, check availability, assess your level of service, and secure their stay, enhancing their overall booking experience .

3. Credibility and trust

Being listed on reputable OTAs lends credibility to your vacation rental. Travelers often trust these platforms due to their – real or assumed — verification processes , leading to increased confidence in booking your property.

4. Payment security

Most OTAs handle payment transactions , ensuring a secure payment process for guests. This eliminates guest concerns about payment fraud and provides confidence to book.

How OTAs Make Money

OTAs operate on various business models, generally catering to both hosts and travelers.

Commission model

The most common approach, the commission-based model is where hosts list for free but pay a percentage of their booking amount to the OTA as a commission for every successful reservation. This incentivizes OTAs to promote your property as their earnings are directly linked to your bookings.

Many of the OTAs that use this approach also charge a commission from guests.

This is the model used by Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Expedia , etc.

Subscription model

In this model, the OTA charges hosts a fixed amount to list their properties on the platform, regardless of the number of bookings. This model is used by platforms such as Furnished Finder .

The platforms may or may not charge guests a booking fee.

Hybrid model

Some OTAs offer a hybrid model, combining aspects of both commission and subscription fees.

A few OTAs have their own distinctive model. For example, Hopper doesn’t charge hosts or guests a commission. Instead, it adds a dynamic markup to the rate provided by each property. Got2Go doesn't charge hosts either while guests pay a service fee per booking or an annual subscription.

Maximizing Your OTA Experience

To make the most of OTAs, optimize your property listings .

High-quality photos , detailed descriptions and competitive pricing can significantly enhance your visibility and attract more bookings . Moreover, prompt responses to guest inquiries and positive guest reviews can bolster your property's reputation and search rankings , leading to higher conversion .

Make sure you’re taking into account each platform’s unique requirements and preferences and optimize each listing accordingly.

OTAs vs Metasearch Engines

OTAs and metasearch engines serve distinct purposes in the online travel industry.

OTAs, as mentioned earlier, are platforms where hosts list their properties, and travelers can directly book accommodations. These platforms facilitate the entire booking process, including payment transactions and communication between hosts and guests .

Metasearch engines, like Google Travel and TripAdvisor , aggregate information from various OTAs and other sources, allowing travelers to compare prices and availability across different platforms. Metasearch engines redirect users to the respective OTA listings or direct booking websites to complete their reservations.

While both OTAs and metasearch engines contribute to a property's online visibility, OTAs offer a platform for booking directly while metasearch engines redirect to an OTA or direct booking listing.

Key Takeaway

Embracing OTAs is not a choice for most vacation rental property managers and hosts — it’s a necessity. By leveraging these platforms wisely and effectively, you open the door to a world of opportunities for your vacation rental business.

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Whats Is An Online Travel Agency?

An Online Travel Agency (OTA) is a web-based marketplace designed to help travelers research and plan their vacations. Online travel agencies help consumers book flights, hotels, cars, tours, or vacation rental homes directly from the supplier.  

Online travel agencies make reaching potential guests easier than traditional marketing and provide insight into the market and tools to help you get more bookings. These platforms also help to enable secure bookings, manage reviews, and communicate directly with guests. 

Top Online Travel Agencies for Vacation Rentals

The top online travel agencies for vacation rentals include: 

• Booking.com
• TripAdvisor

What Is the Best OTA for Vacation Rentals?

The best online travel agency for your vacation rental business depends on the specific features that you’re looking for. For example, if you’re renting out a single property, you might opt for Airbnb because of its lower commission fees. On the other hand, if you have a boutique hotel, Booking.com could be more suitable for your business.

While all the previously mentioned OTAs are leaders in the industry, each owner should decide for themselves what works best for their property. Ask yourself the following questions: What kind of audience would you like to be exposed to? Which OTA provides the user experience that you are looking for? What resources stand out? By knowing the demographic of each platform and the tools that they provide for both hosts and guests, you’ll be able to make an informed decision. 

What Is the Largest Online Travel Agency?

Airbnb is the largest OTA for vacation rentals with more than 6 million rental properties in 100,000 cities across 191 regions. Its popularity is primarily due to its user-friendly booking interfaces. 

How Do Online Travel Agencies Work for Vacation Rental Owners?

Most online travel agencies allow vacation rental owners to list and advertise their properties for free. Depending on the platform, the OTA may take a commission of 3% to 25% of each sale made on their site. 

Although every OTA varies, most of them will require a simple sign-up process. You’ll then be prompted to describe your property, including the location and size of the home as well as what amenities you offer. After uploading photos and setting your prices, you’ll be ready to accept bookings. 

Depending on the OTA and settings you choose, guests will either make direct reservations or request to make a reservation. 

Travelers find your home by searching for rentals in the location and the dates of their vacation. They can also apply filters like the number of guests they are searching for and property types and amenities offered. 

Guests can contact you directly through the OTA inbox or by phone or text message if the specific OTA allows you to share your contact info. Refer to our online travel agency list above to find the best OTA for your property.

• Read more: Vacation Rental Listing Sites: Comparison of Rates and Fees

What is an online travel agency?

Online travel agencies have become an essential part of doing business for many tour operators. But what is an online travel agency and what do they do?

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For a lot of tours and activity providers, working with online travel agencies is an essential part of doing business. These have strong, well-known branding, can reach guests in new markets and have marketing budgets that most operators could only dream of. But what is an online travel agency?

An online travel agency, or an OTA, is an online marketplace for travel that sells products to consumers. There are a large number of these, and many focus on specific segments or markets. The big 3 OTAs, according to Skift, are Trip.com, Booking Holdings, and Expedia . For tour operators, some of the main ones are GetYourGuide, Viator, Expedia and Musement.

A brief history of OTAs

OTAs have become the way that most consumers purchase travel products. The first were founded in the mid-90s, with Travelweb selling hotels, the Internet Travel Network for flights, and in 1995, Viator launched for experiences. Since then, the OTA market has grown to $475 billion and is predicted to be $1 trillion in 2030 . Two-thirds of all travel revenue is spent with an OTA.

Despite Viator being one of the first OTAs, tours and activities have always lagged behind airlines and hotels when it comes to online sales. In part, this is because many of the companies that operate in the sector are smaller and lacked the resources to come online. Cost-effective reservation systems changed that , as did the ability to stop and work on different parts of businesses during the pandemic. Phocuswright and Arival say that online bookings jumped from 17 per cent of all bookings in 2019 to 30 per cent in 2021 .

In 2019, OTAs only accounted for three per cent of all bookings for experiences, according to the same research. By 2021, this was four per cent, and by 2025, it is expected to be seven per cent. This represents a jump from $8 billion in revenue to $20 billion by 2025. In 20 years, OTAs have come a long way.

Travellers use OTAs for several reasons. In 2020, Arival found that these were because of price, ease, best ticketing options and where the consumer first found the trip . Operator websites performed better when it came to providing the best options and finding what they wanted. However, 45 per cent of travellers said that OTAs had the best price and, since the survey, their marketing budgets will have ramped up, meaning that these are where consumers will discover products.

Difference between online and offline agencies

The main difference between an OTA and a brick-and-mortar travel agency is that the consumer is expected to do some of the work. Offline agencies contain a huge amount of expertise and contacts that should give travellers a worry-free holiday. They will book the flights, hotels and sometimes experiences so that the traveller doesn’t have to.

OTAs are cheaper because they turn this on its head. They offer do-it-yourself travel to their customers. On an OTA, a traveller will find the contacts and content they need but must rely on their own ability to book the right trip. The traveller also uses reviews provided by others to judge the quality of their trip. All the knowledge and experience of the in-person travel agent has been outsourced.

OTAs are also able to reduce costs because they do not need to rent a high-street location or spend money on other associated costs. However, they do need to spend more on customer service for those customers who have problems and on marketing. The difference in cost is the main reason that most consumers are happy with a DIY approach to travel, although there are a lot of people who love researching and making their holiday plans.

Offline travel agencies still exist, and many of the larger brands have moved to a hybrid model. In this case, they offer the full-service, high-street experience while also offering their own OTAs. For example, TUI’s office can still be found in town centres, while their website offers packages and DIY options. TUI is also the owner of the European tours and activities OTA, Musement.

Types of OTA for experiences

There are as many different types of OTA for tours and activities as there are types of trips. Operators who work in the adventure or wellness spaces will be able to find OTAs that work specifically in their niche. Some OTAs focus on specific geographic markets or languages, such as Civitatis for the Spanish-speaking segment. KKDay and Klook have different approaches to the Asian market. Then there will be those that focus on a specific segment and language.

The largest OTAs do not do this. They cast their net wide — both in terms of the activities they offer and the customers they wish to sell to.

Operators wishing to expand their sales reach should connect to both the main players and choose other OTAs who fit their niche and market. This can be made easier with a channel manager, such as TourCMS, which offers a range of connections to different OTAs, resellers and a marketplace .

What OTAs do

OTAs will use different techniques to sell tours and activities and will take a percentage of each sale. These will include consumers searching for a tour on the OTA’s site, on a search engine, and targeted marketing on social media.

When a traveller searches for an activity on an OTA, they will be shown a range of results that have been decided by the company’s algorithm. This will be based on the type of search, as well as other factors such as review scores, relevance and popularity. A general search for experiences in Monte Verde, Costa Rica, will display the OTA’s ranking of all the experiences in that area for the guest to choose from. A more specific search for walking tours in Paris will do the same, but just for that segment. The traveller will be able to filter the results, but they will always be ranked by the algorithm.

However, that’s not how most searches made by those planning their travel begin. This will happen on a search engine, almost certainly Google. Because of their size, the large OTAs will often show up in the first results organically due to their search engine optimisation. Guests will click through and see the trips they offer. The OTAs will also feature in the Google Things To Do section for that destination.

The very first results shown on a lot of searches are sponsored. These are adverts where a company has paid to appear next to a certain set of words that have been searched for. OTAs target these words so that they appear as the very first link, with their price showing, on that search. The results of this will be constantly monitored and optimised. 

OTA advertising will work slightly differently on social media platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram. These have access to so much information about their users that it is possible to send targeted adverts that aim for a traveller to see exactly what they want when they want to buy it (which doesn’t always happen in practice). This traveller may also have visited the OTA’s site for research, in which case they will receive highly specific retargeting ads that are based on exactly what they have looked at.

This is why some tour operators consider the commission they pay OTAs, which can be 30 per cent of the total price, as a marketing cost. It means the operator can reach customers in source markets and in-destination that are actively looking for things to do, and who they would not have been able to advertise to themselves.

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OTA – Online Travel Agency

What is the meaning / definition of OTA , in the hospitality industry ?

OTA stands for: Online Travel Agency .

OTAs are online companies whose websites allow consumers to book various travel related services directly via Internet. They are 3rd party agents reselling trips, hotels, cars, flights, vacation packages etc. provided / organised by others.

Travel shopping via online agencies has become very popular nowadays. Especially in the last minute segment and also because of the frequent usage of the smartphones. Today consumers are on-the-go and the advantage of a booking engine and the reservation solutions provided by the OTAs is that it offers instant payment and booking confirmation.

Examples of the most commonly known OTAs are:

• The Priceline Group ( Booking .com, Priceline.com, agoda.com, KAYAK, rentalcars.com, OpenTable)
• Expedia, Inc. (Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Egencia, Hotwire, Trivago, Venere.com, CarRentals.com, Classic Vacations, Expedia CruiseShipCenters, Expedia Local Expert (LX), Wotif Group, Travelocity)
• TripAdvisor Inc (tripadvisor.com)
• Opodo (opodo.com)

Synonyms for OTA are Alternative Distribution System ( ADS ) and Internet Distribution System ( IDS ).

• Electronic Distribution ( ED )
• Distribution Strategy
• Channel Management
• Online Travel Agency

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Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) And Their Business Models

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Google (Google Travel)

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Key highlights of the business models from travel and accommodation platforms:

• Platform business model charging guests a service fee (5% to 15%) and hosts a commission (generally 3%) on reservations.
• Competes with other vacation rental platforms like Booking.com, VRBO, and FlipKey, as well as potential competition from Google Travel.
• Operates under Booking Holdings, controlling six main brands like Booking.com, priceline.com, KAYAK, agoda.com, Rentalcars.com, and OpenTable.
• Generates revenues primarily through travel reservations commissions, travel insurance fees, and advertising via KAYAK.
• Expedia (including Trivago):
• Trivago, part of Expedia Group, is a hotel comparison service monetized through a cost-per-click (CPC) model from advertiser listings.
• Expedia also owns other online travel agencies like Hotels.com, Vrbo, Orbits, CheapTickets, Travelocity, among others.
• Google (Google Travel):
• Originally part of Microsoft and later spun off, Google Travel provides travel-related information and services.
• Google Travel’s exact revenue model is not mentioned, but it likely generates income through advertising and possibly affiliate marketing .
• Online travel agency and search engine, acquired by Booking Holdings in 2013.
• Earns revenue through an advertising model based on cost per click, cost per acquisition, and advertising placements.
• An online restaurant reservation system acquired by Booking Holding in 2014.
• Generates income through subscription plans, referral fees, and potentially in-dining revenue .
• Utilizes a mixed business model , starting as a home aggregator in India and expanding into other verticals like leisure, co-working, and corporate travel.
• TripAdvisor:
• Matches travel demand with supply from partners, earning commission on a cost per click (CPC) and cost per thousand impressions (CPM) basis.
• Non-hotel revenue includes experiences, restaurants, and rentals.
• Part of Expedia Group, Trivago operates as a hotel comparison service, earning revenue through a cost-per-click (CPC) model from advertiser listings and also offers a Business Studio subscription for hoteliers to track data.

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Online travel agency (OTA)

An online travel agency or OTA is a business that allows users to search and book travel products such as air tickets, lodging, car rentals , tours, cruises, and more. In other words, OTAs are intermediaries between travel inventory suppliers (airlines, hotels, tour operators , etc.) and customers (usually they are travelers or other OTAs).

OTAs often act as tour operators making tour packages and also provide additional travel-related information like reviews, tips, and so on.

OTAs source most of their inventory either directly from end suppliers (via APIs or an extranet) or through such middlemen as GDSs , air consolidators , bed banks , hospitality marketplaces , other OTAs, channel managers , etc. (typically, via API integration). 

On the customer side, OTAs have an online search and booking interface for travelers to make reservations and often a set of APIs for efficient B2B connection with distributors.

The biggest OTAs today are Expedia Group (including Expedia, Vrbo, Travelocity, etc.) and Booking Holdings (including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, etc.).

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The Ultimate Guide To Online Travel Agencies

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Chances are, you’ve probably already heard of or even used an Online Travel Agency (OTA) before without even realizing it.  Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz are all OTAs.  Those are some of the big ones, but there are hundreds of smaller ones out there that all do the same thing. 

In essence, they act as an automated travel agent.  You do the work of searching for flights, hotels, car rentals, etc. via their platform (or via a search engine like Momondo ) and if you book through them, their system will go and complete the reservation for you (usually after a small delay).  

Seems kinda silly that they even exist if you’re still doing the work of searching for everything yourself, but in some cases, they can be cheaper than booking a flight from the airline itself so it’s useful to know your way around them. 

This guide will tell you the top 5 things you need to know about online travel agencies and also answer all the questions and concerns that you may have about them so that you know how booking a ticket from an OTA differs from booking one from the airline directly.

1. Your ticket isn't confirmed instantly

When you buy a flight ticket from an OTA, you won’t get your confirmation email immediately like you would if you buy it from the airline directly. 

This is because you aren’t buying a ticket that the OTA actually owns.  They don’t get access to a reserved amount of tickets on every flight (some might, but most don’t) so they actually have to buy the ticket from the airline separately.  

This means that the OTA’s system has to go and complete the reservation via the airline’s system which can take anywhere from a few minutes to up to 2 days, depending on the OTA.

Usually this isn’t much of an issue (assuming you’re not booking a same-day ticket) and you can rest peacefully knowing that the confirmation email will come eventually. 

However, in some cases, you may get an email telling you that the ticket you purchased can no longer be sold at the price you bought it for and that you can either purchase it again at the new, higher price, or have your transaction cancelled and your money refunded.  This happens more often when the price you were quoted was actually a mistake fare. 

So if you book with an OTA, just make sure not to book anything else until you get your confirmation email . 

Once you receive the airline confirmation number (also sometimes called a reference number, confirmation code, itinerary number, reservation code, or booking number) consisting of 5-6 characters (letters and/or numbers) which you can also cross-reference by using it to see your booking on the airline’s website, then you’re good to go!

If you still haven’t received the airline confirmation number after 48 hours, contact the OTA to see what the hold-up is.

2. Free 24-hour cancellation isn't guaranteed & cancellation fees are high

While airlines that operate flights beginning or ending in the US are bound by law to offer free cancellation (or holds*) within 24 hours of purchase for any ticket you buy through them at least 7 days before the departure date, OTAs are not.  

Some of them will provide a similar policy in an effort to gain your business, but most of them make their sales final or charge high fees to change or cancel your ticket.  Since you’re buying your ticket from the OTA and not the airline directly, there is no obligation for them to refund you your money within 24 hours.

To get your money back, you’d have to cancel your booking and this can some at a high cost.  This is one of the ways that OTAs are able to offer lower prices than airlines.  Airlines already charge high fees to change or cancel your booking, but OTAs tend to have higher ones.  

So if you decide to book your ticket with an OTA, make sure you’re definitely going on the trip or else you risk losing money . 

It’s also useful to check the OTA’s policies when it comes to changes, refunds, and other fees just so you know exactly what to expect.

*The law actually gives the airlines the option to offer a free hold instead of a cancellation so some airlines might choose to do this instead.  The way it works is that if you select to hold the reservation, the booking is created, but you don’t pay for it.  The airline then saves you a seat on the flight at the price they initially quoted you and if you let the 24 hours pass without paying for it, the reservation gets cancelled and your seat gets given up.   

3. Their customer service can be lacklustre at times

When you book with an OTA, especially a smaller one, the customer service they offer might be questionable.  Cutting corners on customer service is another one of the ways that they are able to offer lower prices than the airlines themselves.  If they do have a call centre, it might be outsourced and understaffed which can lead to long hold times and miscommunications.

If your booking and flight go without a hitch, you probably won’t even have to worry about dealing with their customer service, but if there’s an issue with either for whatever reason, you probably won’t be able to resolve it with the airline on your own.  

The airline might choose to tell you that you will have to figure it out with your OTA since they are the ones that actually made the booking with the airline which can lead to frustrations if their customer service isn’t up to par. 

3b. But at other times, it can be a lifesaver

I know it sounds hard to believe after what I just said in #3, but hear me out.  

Picture this scenario: You’re stranded at the airport in Beijing at 3am because there’s an issue with your Air China flight.  The airline’s customer service office doesn’t open until 6am and the ticketing agent on the phone who can barely speak English, if at all, is stuck working a graveyard shift and really doesn’t care about your predicament.  

Would you rather deal with this situation on your own or have someone else experienced in these situations do it?

Personally, I would welcome the added support because it sounds like it would be a nightmare to deal with it on my own. 

So while some OTAs might not have the best customer service, examples like the one I just gave show that there are times when you’d be thankful that you booked your ticket via an OTA because you’d have that extra avenue of support which you can call on to help solve issues like these.

4. Checked luggage and other fees might be more expensive

More and more airlines these days have started to charge for checked luggage, choosing your seat, and even carry-on luggage, and booking your ticket with an OTA doesn’t mean you get to escape those fees.  

In reality, there’s a good chance that you will actually be paying more for them than you would if you book your ticket from the airline directly.  When an OTA offers a lower price for the same flight, this could be one of the ways they make up the difference.

So the best thing to do when you find a lower price with an OTA and you know you’re going to be traveling with extra luggage or that you want to select your seat is to check what the total price of the booking would be if you booked it directly from the airline.  Compare that to what the OTA offers after all those extra fees and you may find that you wouldn’t be saving much more if you go with the OTA.

5. Their online reviews should be taken with a grain of salt

If you don’t recognize the OTA that you find the lowest price for and you choose to do a Google search for reviews from other people that bought tickets from them, you may be surprised at the state of some of them.  However, you have to take them with a grain of salt.  

If you look at the reviews, some of them are upset with how the flight itself was handled which is actually a complaint that should be directed to the airline, not the OTA.  Others are from customers that don’t understand how OTAs work and assume they can get whatever they want like free changes or cancellations and become upset when the OTA doesn’t give it to them.

Read the reviews carefully before judging the OTA and if you notice reviews that have legitimate complaints, then perhaps that OTA is not the best choice.  At the end of the day, it’s your judgement call to make.  

And don’t forget to think about airlines and the reviews that they get.  A lot of airlines already get the same bad reviews so there really isn’t much of a difference when you look at the big picture.  Not to mention that people in general like to complain about things more than they like to praise them so you’re more likely to see bad reviews than good ones anyways.

So should you book with an OTA?

That’s your decision to make.  The OTAs that you will find on Momondo are reputable so you don’t need to worry about being scammed and as long as you are vigilant and aware of all the differences that come with purchasing a flight from an OTA, then you won’t run into any of the issues that other people write about in their bad reviews. 

Make sure to read the policies for the OTA that you buy your ticket from and to double check that there aren’t any extra fees or that the price is in a different currency or something and you should have no problems using them to buy flight tickets.  And if you’d still prefer to play it safe, the safest thing you can do is to buy your ticket from the airline itself.

I personally don’t have an opinion one way or the other.  My priority is getting the cheapest price so wherever I find it, whether it’s from the airline or from an OTA, I go with that.  If the price is the same, I usually just go with the airline because it keeps things simple.

And that's it!

Let me know if this guide helped clear things up for you and if you have any other questions or experiences with OTAs to share, feel free to post them in the comments below!

And if you’d like to learn about the only major airline that will never be found on Momondo or any OTA, check out my Guide to Southwest Airlines .  If you plan to travel within the USA, you definitely need to know about them.

About The Author

Hi there,  I’m Sebastian , founder and creator of Travel Done Simple. Since I turned 20, I have lived in 5 different countries and traveled to over 40 others! You can learn more about me on my  About page   and find me on social media.

Hi there, I’m Sebastian , founder and creator of Travel Done Simple. Since I turned 20, I have lived in 5 different countries and traveled to over 40 others! You can learn more about me on my About page   and find me on social media.

I’m Sebastian , the founder and creator of Travel Done Simple! I was born in Europe and raised in Canada, but I now consider myself to be a citizen of the world. When I’m not busy exploring new destinations, I’m here giving you the best travel tips so you can do the same! 

You can learn more about me on my About page and if it’s your first time on my site,  start here !

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The Pros and Cons of Booking Through Online Travel Agencies

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You’re likely already familiar with online travel agencies, even if you don’t travel often. These companies — such as Priceline , Expedia and Orbitz — act as intermediaries between you and a travel provider.

Booking your travel through an OTA can be a good idea in some circumstances, but you’ll want to be wary of its pitfalls. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of online travel agencies, so you’ll know what to use to book your next vacation.

Pros of booking through online travel agencies

There are certainly advantages booking through online travel agencies, though you’ll find different experiences whether you’re using public OTAs — such as Kayak — or private ones like those offered by your card issuer, such as the Chase's travel portal .

✅ It may be cheaper

When searching for flights online, you may see different prices for the same routes that vary across websites. Although it may be a result of fare type — for example, some search results may not clarify that a fare is basic economy rather than main cabin or economy — other times, the difference comes down to competition for your business.

Online travel services will often offer slightly lower prices on flights in an effort to entice you as a customer. This is true for both hotels and airlines.

» Learn more: Best credit cards for online travel-booking websites

✅ It can earn you more rewards

Have you ever heard of shopping portals ? By logging into a shopping portal, you can earn rewards for purchases made with many online merchants. Some hotel chains, such as Hilton , Marriott and IHG , can be accessed through shopping portals while still booking directly on the hotel website. In this way, you can earn rewards with the hotel directly as well as with the shopping portal.

The same isn’t true for shopping portals and most airline sites. However, many public online travel agencies are accessible through shopping portals, which can then earn you rewards for airfare bookings. By opting to book in this way, you’ll be able to earn points or cash-back rewards through the shopping portal that you’d otherwise miss.

Some card issuers will also reward you heavily when using their online travel services. Clear examples of this can be seen with Capital One and Chase. With the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card , for example, you’ll get 10 miles per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel .

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is similar. With this card, you can get 10 Ultimate Rewards® points per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Chase's portal.

While these numbers are high, it’s important to remember that there are trade-offs when booking through an OTA rather than directly with a hotel or airline. We’ll get into that a little later.

Online travel agencies offered by your card issuer may not feature the same prices as booking directly; you’ll want to compare these before committing to a purchase.

Some card issuers will go so far as to give your points more value when redeeming through their online travel agencies.

This is true with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card . When redeeming points on Chase's travel portal, you’ll get 1.25 cents in value per point rather than 1 cent elsewhere.

» Learn more: How much are your airline miles and hotel points worth this year?

Cons of booking through online travel agencies

There are several downsides when it comes to using online travel services for booking travel. It mainly comes down to the fact that travel providers prefer that you book directly with them — and offer more perks to woo your business.

❌ It can be harder to change a booking

Ever needed to change a flight after it's booked? No matter the reason, attempting to alter or otherwise cancel a flight can be a hassle — especially if you’ve booked through a third party.

Generally speaking, rather than offering you direct assistance, both hotels and airlines will recommend you contact the online travel agency you’ve booked with in order to make any changes.

While you may be able to make changes or get refunds with the travel agency, airlines and hotels can — and will — offer much more flexibility when you’ve booked with them directly. You may also be subject to additional fees charged by the online travel agency, which can erase any savings you’ve received.

❌ You may not receive elite benefits

This is the real kicker for anyone wanting elite status. Although airlines will almost always recognize your elite status and allow you to earn miles even for bookings made through an online travel agency, hotels and rental car companies will not.

This is especially important for hotel chains. Earning elite status with hotels generally relies on elite night credits. Although these can be earned in a variety of ways — including having complimentary status by holding certain credit cards — the main method of acquiring elite night credits is by spending nights in hotels. Rooms booked through an online travel agency do not count toward elite status as elite night credits.

Additionally, you will not receive any of the benefits of your existing elite status if your booking is through a third party. This can mean the loss of perks such as room upgrades, complimentary breakfast and even free Wi-Fi.

» Learn more: The best airline and hotel rewards loyalty programs this year

❌ It may be more expensive

Did you know that many hotel chains have best price guarantees? Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott and IHG all have a guarantee that’ll give you either points or a discount if you find a better rate elsewhere.

These guarantees are generous; Hilton, for example, will match the rate and then discount it by a further 25%.

Although you’ll need to file claims for these guarantees and they face limitations — such as a 24-hour window from when you made the booking — you can save a lot of money on your stay if your request is approved.

Online travel agencies can be hit or miss

There are two sides to every coin and this is no different, as there are several benefits and limitations of online travel services. Depending on your needs and loyalty program status, you’ll want to choose whether to book directly with a travel provider or rely on OTAs to do the job for you.

Booking travel through credit card portals from issuers like Chase and Capital One can earn you big rewards. But if you anticipate altering your travel plans or aim to earn elite status instead, booking directly is the way to go.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2024 :

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

on Chase's website

1x-5x 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

60,000 Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

1.5%-5% Enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.

Up to $300 Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!

on Capital One's website

2x-5x Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options.

75,000 Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)

Table of Contents

For many travelers, Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) are the preferred way to search for and book package deals, accommodation, flights, tours, and other travel. Online travel agents like Expedia, Hotels.com and Booking.com are among some of the most popular websites in the world.

For business-savvy tour operators who recognize that organic search engine traffic alone may not generate enough revenue, OTAs are an important component of a successful distribution channel strategy. They can help you reach many more travelers and generate more bookings. However, the advantages of OTAs need to be balanced with the disadvantages, like having to pay a commission on every booking.

To help you figure out the best plan of action, here’s a rundown of the pros and cons of online travel agents, and how you can use them to benefit your business.

What is an Online Travel Agency (OTA)?

An OTA is a one-stop online travel marketplace where travelers can search for, compare, and book everything from flights and hotels, to tours and car rentals.

Think of an OTA as an Amazon.com for travel. OTAs like GetYourGuide and Expedia attract millions of visitors every day because of their convenience, price and product comparison capabilities, and their huge range of hotels, tours, and other travel.

From an OTA’s perspective, the typical business model involves making money by taking a commission from each booking. Many also offer display advertising or charge companies a “pay-per-click” fee to ensure their listing appears at the top of relevant search results. 

Advantages of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)

Expand your reach.

The main advantage of OTAs is their huge popularity, which enables tour operators to reach more travelers. It’s no secret why OTAs attract so many people:

• Breadth of choice: Just as consumers use Amazon for buyer research and price comparison purposes, OTAs offer a huge range of experiences and price points for travelers who are shopping for something specific or looking for ideas. 
• Price comparison and deals: OTAs are also popular among price-conscious travelers and bargain hunters. They let people search for travel within a set budget, and weigh their options in one place—comparing different options side by side. 
• Convenience and ease of use: Like other online retailers, OTAs are simply an easy and convenient way to shop compared to the offline equivalent. The ability to use filters to narrow down their selection according to their preferences makes OTAs an invaluable time-saving tool when researching travel.

Create marketing efficiencies

OTAs spend enormous amounts of money promoting their websites. If you have a limited marketing budget, it’s a cost-effective way to reach a much larger audience. Listing your tours on an OTA could also increase sales through your own website—a phenomenon known as the “billboard effect” . 

Many savvy buyers use OTAs as a type of meta search engine (a search engine within a website that surfaces results from lots of different search engines).  For example, a traveler searches for “things to do Waikiki” on Expedia. To explore their options and narrow down their preferences, they’ll skim through activities, read reviews, and compare pricing before switching over to Google. Now they have a better idea of what’s out there and what they’re interested in, so their search keywords will be very specific. For example, “Atlantis Submarines Waikiki.”

So how do you benefit from this buyer behavior and make sure your business takes advantage of the billboard effect on OTA websites?

• Have a strong direct pricing strategy. Consider all of your costs, including digital marketing, resellers commission, etc. to come up with a price that works for your audience, market, and business.
• Build a strong SEO and paid-search strategy so you show up prominently in search results.
• Protect your brand name with selective organic and paid keyword combinations.
• Thoroughly read through an OTA’s terms before signing on. Make sure you own your brand name in paid search.

Generate more low season bookings

If you experience a downturn in sales during the low season , listing your tours on an OTA lets you piggyback their marketing efforts—at a time when you may need to reduce your costs—to sell tours more quickly, easily, and cost-effectively (even factoring in commissions) than you might be able to do yourself. 

Gain invaluable insights

When you list your tours on an OTA, you may receive access to the analytics and data insights generated by the platform. Carefully consider how to measure your customers’ buying patterns. You can test different pricing strategies and use the platform’s analytics to spot potential new trends and opportunities, or use these insights to make better-informed business decisions.

Done correctly, all of these things allow business-savvy tour operators to use OTAs as a valuable tool for direct business.

Disadvantages of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)

Having to pay a commission.

While listing on an OTA is free, OTAs make their money by charging a commission on every booking. This can be as much as 20% of the cost of the sale or even higher. Of course, this cost may be offset by selling more tours, faster. 

Customer service issues and cancellation rules

One reason some travelers don’t like using OTAs is the customer service, or lack thereof. Post-sale, OTAs typically become the main contact for cancellation, booking changes, or issue resolution. If something goes wrong, such as a cancellation due to an unforeseen event, travelers can be left dealing with a large company and the impersonal and unsatisfying customer service that often goes along with that. This may also affect their impression of your business.

Risk of overbooking

Overbookings can be a common problem even if you don’t currently list on an OTA. You might already be taking bookings over the phone, at your office, on your website, and through resellers. Adding multiple online travel agents to the mix can create more work to manage overbooking your tours and activities. Doing it manually or using a number of different systems and processes can be unproductive, reducing the many benefits of selling through OTAs. The best solution for overbooking is a centralized booking system with a channel manager that lets you keep track of all your bookings.

Potential loss of business

It is actually possible to hurt revenues by using an OTA due to common OTA marketing strategies. For example, an OTA might favor some tour companies over others due to them receiving a higher commission. That means your business finds it more difficult to appear in searches, while a competitor appears prominently.

Loss of complete control

The moment you start using an OTA, you face limitations around how you can market your business on their site. This includes restrictions on how tour descriptions are presented, a limited ability to edit and update listings, and so on. The good news is that you can offset this potential disadvantage by connecting to an OTA via a centralized booking system that allows you full control over your content.

Examples of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)

Ready to get started with OTAs? Here’s an online travel agency list to check out—from huge global brands selling everything from flights to vacation rentals and experiences, to smaller, more niche OTAs. 

A leading booking site for the Asian market in particular, offering all types of travel bookings, especially accommodation. 

Part of the Expedia Group, which owns multiple OTAs, also including Orbitz and Travelocity.

One of the largest OTAs for tours and activities in the world.

GetYourGuide

A growing OTA specializing in unique experiences, especially for millennial travelers.

A growing OTA focused on selling tickets to museums and other attractions, but that does list other local experiences.

All of these websites have a section explaining how they work with tour companies, what their commission is, and how to get started.

Already selling through OTAs? Integrate Rezgo with Expedia, Viator, and GetYourGuide to manage your availability and revenues in one place and ensure a smooth customer experience.

Editor’s Note – July 2022: Updated to reflect the current percentages charged by OTAs.

Written By | Rob Mathison

Rob Mathison is a Vancouver-based freelance writer focusing on tech, travel, digital marketing, and education. He is a co-author of The Complete Resident’s Guide to Vancouver.

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What is a Travel Agency? Types, Purpose, Function, Services

Home » Blog » What is a Travel Agency? Types, Purpose, Function, Services

The travel agency business is now something that most people want to do.

The main purpose of a travel agency is to make planning a trip easier and more useful for their customers by giving them information and making reservations .

Flights, hotels, transportation, trips, and other events can all be booked through the travel company.

If you learn about tour-related ideas and get knowledge from these articles, you’ll be able to start your travel agency in the travel industry. 

Table of contents

What is a travel agency, 1. traditional travel agencies, 2. online travel agencies, 3. corporate travel operators, 4. consolidators, 5. franchise travel services, 1. convenience, 2. expertise and advice, 3. access to deals and discounts, 4. risk management, 5. customer services, 1. travel planning, 2. booking services, 3. customized itineraries, 4. travel documentation, 5. emergency support, 6. customer services, services offered by travel agency, 1. booking services, 2. information and advice, 3. customer services, 4. negotiation and coordination, differences between travel agency and travel agent.

A travel agency is a business that helps people and groups choose, plan, and book travel-related services . Flights, hotels, rides, trips, sports, and other things can be a part of these services.

Most travel companies know about a lot of different trips that their clients can take that fit their wants and budgets.

A lot of travel and tour operators also hire people called tour agents who know a lot about important things like visa rules, places to visit, and travel trends. 

They plan and organize everything so that their clients’ trips are as easy, fun, and stress-free as possible.

Explore the beginner’s guide to launch your travel agency

Types of Travel Agency

Several types of travel agencies meet the wants and tastes of different travelers.

These are the most common travel agencies related to the travel industry:

These agencies are physical office companies where customers can go and talk to the tour planners. They give specialized services and often a wide range of trip needs.

Online Travel Agencies(OTAs) run the online trip business, where their websites or mobile apps provide tourists with book flights, rooms, rental cars, and other trip services. Expedia and Booking.com are some examples.

The corporate travel service makes trip plans for companies and groups. They take care of bookings for businesses, make deals, and offer services like keeping track of costs.

Consolidators buy a large number of plane tickets at a discount, they sell them at a lower price to travel companies or directly to customers.

Franchise companies work under a bigger brand name and use marketing, technology, and support systems in the travel industry that have already been set up. 

Within the franchise network, owners of travel companies get the training and tools they need to run their businesses.

Purposes of Travel Agency

The main purpose of travel agencies is to facilitate and enhance the tour experiences for individuals and groups. 

Travel companies try to make planning a trip easier by letting people book flights, hotels, transportation, events, and other services related to travel all in one place. 

Trip planners hire knowledgeable agents who can offer expert advice and recommendations based on their suggestions of different places or destinations.

Similarly, travel agents shared their experiences of various destinations, travel trends, visa requirements and more.

Airlines, hotels, ship lines, tour operators, and other travel companies often offer deals, discounts, and packages that only travel agencies can get.

They can help customers get the most for their money and save money on their trip costs by taking advantage of deals.

Travel agencies help mitigate risks associated with travel by giving travelers information or knowledge on safety, health issues, and security in different places.

Travel agencies or companies make sure their clients are happy by giving each one of them high-quality service and individual care.

Overall, the travel company’s main goal is to make planning a trip easier, more fun, and less stressful for their costumes by giving them advice, making things easier.

What does Travel Agency do?

Many services travel agencies offer to make it easier and better for people and groups to trip.

One of the things that a travel agency does is the following:

Travel agencies support the client in planning their trips by talking about their tastes, hobbies, income, and any special requirements they may have.  

These companies are called travel agents that help people book flights, hotels, rental cars, airport transfers, trips, events, and other services related to travel. 

They can use online tools and scheduling systems to get reservations for their clients.

Most tour operators make personalized trip plans based on what their clients want and what they’re interested in. 

It supports you on trip documents like passports, visas, travel insurance, and any other paperwork that is needed is available from travel companies. 

Before a client leaves on a trip, they make sure that all of their paperwork is in order.

Travel companies are there to help their customers in case of accidents or other problems that come up during their trip. 

In this case, they might rebook flights, arrange alternative accommodations, or give advice on medical help or legal issues.

Tour Operators prioritize customer happiness first by giving each client great services and individual care.

There are a lot of services travel agencies provide to meet the news and preferences of travelers. 

Trip planner aims to ease the trip planning process, provide expert advice and support, and ensure a smooth and enjoyable travel experience for their clients.

These are some common services provided by travel agencies.

• Flight Booking
• Accommodation Booking
• Transportation Services
• Tour Packages
• Cruise Booking 
• Travel Insurance
• Visa Assistance
• Destination Recommendations
• Emergency Assistance

Overall, the travel agency’s purpose is to ease the trip schedule process, deliver expert advice and support, and provide smooth and enjoyable trip experiences for their customers.

Let’s launch your travel booking website today

Functions of the Travel Agency

The main function of a travel agency revolves around assisting and arranging various parts of travel and people and groups. 

The purpose of a travel agency is to ease the trip planning process, provide expert advice and support, and improve the entire trip experience for their customers.

Here’s an overview of the key tasks of a travel agency:

Travel agencies handle the planning process for flights, lodgings, transportation, trips, events, and other travel-related services.

Most travel agency provides guidance and formation on different parts of the travel, visa requirements, and health and safety measures. 

Travel companies put customer happiness first by giving each client great service and individual care.

The travel agencies deal with tour operator suppliers, including airlines, trip suppliers, and hotel and tour operators to secure good terms and rates for their clients.

A trip agency is a business company that offers other-related services, while a trip agent is a person hired by or connected with a tour operator who helps clients with their trip planning and bookings. 

These are some key differences between a travel agency and a travel agent:

In summary, travel agencies may have multiple trip agents working under their umbrella to help the clients, while a tour agent may work separately as a part of a bigger company.

Travel companies are essential businesses in the travel industry, acting as intermediaries between tourists and travel providers. They offer a range of services to ease trip planning and booking.

These companies can take the form of standard brick-and-mortar businesses, or online-based platforms. 

Each type of service responds to different tastes and wants, providing accessibility to a wide range of travel-related customers. 

Regardless of their form, the primary goal of travel companies stays consistent: to provide ease, knowledge, and support throughout the trip process. 

They give personalized systems to help, access to exclusive deals, and 24/7 assistance before, during, and after the trip.

By offering personalized solutions and reducing travel risks, travel companies play a crucial role in allowing enjoyable and stress-free travel experiences for individuals and groups.

There are two types of agencies, retail tour operators and wholesale travel agencies.  These travel companies, as well as tour providers, operate as intermediaries. The main goal is the buying and selling process in the travel business.

The global market size of the travel agency industry is estimated at nearly 296 billion U.S. dollars as of January 2024. ( Source )

Overall, roughly 589 thousand travel companies operated in the tourism industry, with employment reaching approximately three million.

Yam Bahadur Chhetri is a content writer and vivid contributor to the WordPress community and a WordPress enthusiast with an experience of 7+ years in the relative field. He also loves to develop WordPress Themes, Plugins, and custom WordPress development for clients.

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OTA vs. Metasearch: A Quick Vocabulary Lesson!

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Table of Contents

Online travel agency, metasearch engine, final thoughts.

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Let’s delve into a brief lesson on the basic concept of OTAs vs. metasearch engines.

Previously, these terms were fairly straightforward to define, but technology has progressed and there are now many ways in which these services overlap. We’ll do our best to make a decent distinction between them here, but we’ll warn you…it’s not always that simple!

Online Travel Agency : a website that traditionally offers both search and booking capabilities.  OTA services usually include flights, hotels, and rental cars, with some also offering vacation rentals, cruises, and events/activities. OTAs often offer bundles to secure greater discounts when booking multiple services together.

An OTA is a sort of “middle-man” between the user and the airline/hotel/etc. While they no longer make commissions on flights, OTAs may take a cut of 15%-20% of your booking fee from the hotel.

Additionally, OTAs also often have toll-free phone numbers for personal assistance with booking/re-booking reservations.

Big players you’ve likely heard of in the OTA industry include Expedia , Hotels.com , Travelocity , Orbitz , Priceline , and Booking.com , among others.

Metasearch Engine : one overarching search engine that aggregates data from various sources (including other third-party search engines, OTAs, hotel websites, etc.) to provide a more comprehensive results page. This tool basically does what you’d do yourself by checking multiple different websites to compare airfares; it just checks more sites much faster… and no offense, but it’s probably smarter!

In the past, metasearch engines only offered the capability to search, directing the user to a third party OTA or individual airline to book and charging a small fee for their services. That’s no longer always the case, as we’re seeing some metasearch engines emerge with the capability to book directly through their websites.

Similar to OTAs, metasearch engine services usually include flights, hotels, and car rentals; some even provide packages to rival OTA’s discounted prices when booking services together.

Big players you’ve likely heard of in the metasearch industry include Google Flights , Kayak , Momondo , and Hipmunk, among others.

Here’s where it gets confusing. Most OTAs now offer price comparison features that essentially stack their results up against other search results, providing a more metasearch-like result.  However, this option usually allows users a max of 3-4 comparison sites, whereas metasearch engines compare many more.

In addition, some metasearch engines like Hipmunk now offer assistance with travel planning, booking, canceling, etc., whereas before this was strictly OTA territory.

Things get even more convoluted when an OTA (ex: Expedia) buys a metasearch site like Kayak. Or when a metasearch site like Hipmunk uses an OTA (Travelocity, owned by parent company Expedia ) to power their hotel bookings. Or when a metasearch site like Skyscanner offers various OTAs (Kiwi.com, lastminute.com, etc.) through which to book your flight.

Lastly, we all know OTAs rank their results. How do they do that? Is it fair? Our friends at Duetto Research provide an eye opening report into the ins and outs of OTA search results.

The list goes on, but by now your head may be swimming!

The point is, whether you choose to use multiple OTAs or a certain metasearch engine is really personal preference, and truly depends on how much digging you want to do yourself.

We list both types in our travel resource post on flight searches  and go into our thoughts on the best of the best in a separate post.

Additionally, we’ve got an entire article dedicated to the best websites for booking hotels at the cheapest prices. 

After all, it is an extensive look into travel resources, and we wouldn’t be Upgraded Points if we didn’t go in-depth!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between an ota and a metasearch engine.

An Online Travel Agency is a website that traditionally offers both search and booking capabilities.  OTA services usually include flights, hotels, and rental cars, with some also offering vacation rentals, cruises, and events/activities.

A Metasearch Engine is one overarching search engine that aggregates data from various sources (including other third-party search engines, OTAs, hotel websites, etc.) to provide a more comprehensive results page.

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An experienced points hacker, Erin is Alex’s partner-in-crime and contributes to Upgraded Points with in-depth guides and relationship management. Erin’s work has been cited in multiple major publications.

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Online travel agencies (OTAs) offer users the possibility to book their holidays online. Well-known platforms such as Booking, HRS, or Expedia provide additional information like hotel reviews, travel tips, or package holidays. Often OTAs also act as tour operators. Hotels and tourism-related businesses can register to reach potential guests. In order to do so, information such as room availability and prices must be provided. If a stay is booked through the online travel agency, usually the hotel or tourism-related business has to pay a commission fee. Nowadays the majority of reservations are made via online travel agencies, transforming them into an important distribution channel for tourism businesses.

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Social Security Matters

Social security updates occupations list used in disability evaluation process.

June 24, 2024 • By Jeffrey Buckner, Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Communications

Last Updated: June 24, 2024

While the agency’s disability decision process remains sound, it continually seeks improvements to ensure its disability programs remain current and to ease the burden on customers. In determining disability claims for adults, Social Security may have to evaluate whether a person can adjust to other work that exists in significant numbers in the national economy. To make this determination, the agency considers a person’s capacity to do work-related activities, as well as consider their age, education, and work experience.

When making a finding of “not disabled,” for the purpose of benefit eligibility the agency must support the finding with evidence that an individual can adjust to work that exists in significant numbers in the national economy. The agency uses the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) and its companion publication, the Selected Characteristics of Occupations Defined in the Revised Dictionary of Occupational Titles, as reliable sources of information about such work.

The agency has identified 114 DOT occupations with jobs that exist in very limited numbers, if at all, in each of the nine U.S. Census divisions of the country.  Based on this finding, the agency will not use these occupations to support a “not disabled” finding at the last step in the evaluation process for disability determinations.

The agency also identified 13 DOT occupations where federal courts have questioned supporting evidence of a “not disabled” finding. The agency is implementing additional evidence requirements for these occupations.

“It makes sense to identify occupations that now exist in very limited numbers in the national economy,” said Martin O’Malley, Commissioner of Social Security. “By making this update, our decision makers will no longer cite these jobs when denying a disability application.”

On June 22, 2024, the agency published new public guidance and instructions about these changes. The agency anticipates that, as a result, it will only consider the most relevant occupations when determining if someone applying for disability benefits could perform other types of work.

In the longer term, Social Security continues to analyze data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Requirements Survey, which will inform future updates.

These changes add to a growing list of policy updates that Social Security is publishing to improve its disability programs.

For example, the agency recently announced it will reduce barriers to access the SSI program by updating the definition of a public assistance household (read our press release) . The agency also announced it will exclude the value of food from SSI benefit calculations (read our press release) .

Did you find this Information helpful?

Tags: Disability , Social Security benefits , SSI , supplemental security income

About the Author

Jeffrey Buckner, Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Communications

Related articles, understanding social security disability benefits, disagree with your disability decision we will take another look, social security administration expedites decisions for people with severe disabilities, apply for social security benefits online.

June 24, 2024 6:48PM

It costs more money each year for one person in prison to live than it does for a single mother with a disabled child put together. Those are the criminals- they get education, meals served to them, they can earn money and more than someone on SSI

June 24, 2024 5:29PM

As a former manager of a program that assisted (dis)abled adults in competitive jobs with 90 percent success, I speak with experience in saying that there are many people who can be employed, at least part-time with success. There are some who, even with accommodations, still struggle more than the employer is able to adjust to and they are the individuals who truly need this assistance. It is so easy for a fully abled person to sit back and say that everyone must work. However, even people who live their whole lives trying and trying to find appropriate work may always find it difficult to find work that fits their abilities. There are many wonderful employers who accommodate (dis)abled workers. There are also thousands of employers who have never employed a worker with special challenges and don’t know that it would be so easy and rewarding to do so.

June 24, 2024 11:26AM

If a person isn’t eligible for SS benefits would they be able to possibly receive SSI if they have no other income. Would they be able to apply for Medicaid if she is 70 and no Medicare insurance! They do have a SS number?

June 24, 2024 10:56AM

SSI programs should be completely abolished. It has always been a corrupt, deceitful program that is just stealing money from the few people who actually pay some Federal income taxes! We need to get all our factories, plants, jobs, money, investments, etc. back into the United States of America so we have great growth in the middle class and an abundance of all kinds of jobs so everyone can, easily, get some type of job and work for their own living in our USA! SSI and welfare programs are just forms of Socialism that has grown into Marxism and Communism now! Every person and family that gets SSI, or welfare benefits, including free Medicaid, have lied, cheated and misrepresented their status to get the benefits! This is all taxpayer money that is being taken from honest hard-working tax paying citizens who deserve to keep their own money rather than giving it to welfare programs and the government! Social workers and Welfare Eligibility Workers need to stop soliciting applicants for SSI and welfare programs; they need to stop telling applicants to hide cash incomes and cash stashes from applications. And, persons who are being fully supported by family members should not be allowed to get SSI or welfare benefits. We need honesty again in our Marxist USA. Lying and cheating has become acceptable, but is not a good attribute.

June 24, 2024 11:37AM

Why don’t you stay put of everybody’s business disabled people deserve ssi and ssdi and their insurance you you won’t get nothing accomplished you probably never paid a dime in taxes keep your opinion to yourself okay.

June 24, 2024 1:07PM

I just do not like, or respect, welfare benefit or SSI theives. You obviously are not educated, or smart enough, to talk. Nobody deserves welfare benefits or SSI! Any benefits anybody gets should be from some savings program or Social Security where they have paid into the system for years! You and everybody else that is leaching off us tax paying citizens is our business and we will eventually get all this welfare and SSI fully eliminated where all you guys have to work to eat and live in USA!

June 24, 2024 11:50AM

That’s not true. I’ve worked since I was 16 sometimes 2 & 3 jobs. I’m 64 and hv been on ssdi for awhile but now I can work a little, not the job I use to but I do something & I do hv fed tax taken out still. I’m happy to do it. I hv a physically disabled little brother who worked but now cannot. My dad paid into it for years before he passed away so my mom and little brother got survivor benefits he paid in so don’t tell me it should be taken away. Can you say it’s done anything good for your family. It’s sad you see it that way, to me

June 24, 2024 1:09PM

Yes, it should be taken away, if tax paying citizens are having to pay for it! But, if you pay into Social Security you should get the benefits of Social Security! SSI and welfare benefits are just corrupt proprams where people leach off taxpayers!

June 24, 2024 10:53AM

Is there a Social Security program or other government program that helps a disabled person find employment? I have a grandson who has Asperger’s and has difficulty with social skills. However, he graduated from college with honors and then obtained a master’s degree in science. His dad (my son) passed away in January 2024 and if my grandson could find employment, it would certainly help the family income.

Thank you for any help you can offer.

June 24, 2024 11:58AM

I went through Vocational Rehab to help me find something when I became disabled but could finally go to work doing something. I would look it up for your state. You can call the Vocational Rehab, and they can put in touch w the correct information if they can not help. They’re wonderful in helping. That’s what helped my little brother plus they gave transportation.

June 24, 2024 12:00PM

The college or university where he graduated should have an accessibility office or similarly named office for students who have disabilities. They should be able to povide some suggestions. My condolences on your loss!

June 24, 2024 12:01PM

My little brother worked for a company that had never hired a disabled person (Williamsyndrome). He was there 24 yrs!

June 24, 2024 1:12PM

Great, that is what USA should be doing so everyone can work. I have known many persons who were somewhat disabled but were able to be real productive in many different types of jobs! It is good for people to work and earn their own living; it gives them respect for life and for USA!

June 24, 2024 10:46AM

I receive ssdi because I can no longer work, it’s very hard to get by, I am single and having a hard time paying my bills, am I eligible for ssi to? Seems no one has been able to answer that question, I sent a message to Social Security several times,but never received a reply, can someone just tell me a answer please? Thank you

June 24, 2024 10:59AM

If you’re receiving SSDI, more than likely you will not be able to receive SSI. Hopefully they will allow you to receive other govt. assistance such as SNAP or help with your Internet and cable services. Your healthcare provider may also have OTC benefits. As far as SSDI or SSI, they’re going to give you whatever is the highest number…

June 24, 2024 11:42AM

Yes you should be eligible for ssi I recieve both ssdi and ssi okay.

June 24, 2024 1:52PM

That will change. Get ready to go to work. You will not be getting SSI if you get SS-DI in coming years. The U.S. debt, budget and Social Security System will all change and everyone will have to work for their own living. Tax paying citizens are maxed-out on paying taxes! Welfare recipients, SSI recipients, Medicaid recipients, SNAP, WIC and TANF recipients have stolen all the taxes they ever will be allowed to steal! We are having to reverse Socialism, Marxism and Communism now because the U.S. does not have any real money now; it is all borrowed from Federal Reserve, China and other foreign countries, so taxes will not even cover our U.S. Government expenses any longer.

June 24, 2024 3:27PM

Do you work at Social Security ? If not, this is nothing but drivel. You’re somebody who tries to shove his nonsense down the throats of people who could not care less what you think.

June 24, 2024 4:03PM

You will care what others think when you get investigated for lying and cheating to get welfare benefits, SSI, Medicaid, SS-DI, etc. We tax paying citizens are tired of welfare sucking people stealing our money through taxes, welfare programs, SSI, etc. Your time is coming. The good old USA is broke and now at a point of where there no more room to tax people and let the government employees spend more of our borrowed money! Get honest and go to work. We do not like loafers!

June 24, 2024 4:08PM

Are you sure you’re not a communist or some kind of weird terrorist person because you just are on a little tangent here I know the number to some good mental health places I’m sure there are many in your area We can get you help for all this anger that you are carrying around perhaps you can find a useful outlet

June 24, 2024 4:20PM

I am not angry at all but I am totally disgusted with the dregs of low-class people we have lying and cheating to steal money from tax paying citizens and act as if it is acceptable. It really gets to you guys when somebody who knows how you all have been lying and cheating to get welfare benefits, SSI, SNAP, WIC, TANF, Medicaid, government assistance at all the many pig feed troughs located throughout the USA! We are well aware that Social Workers and Welfare Eligibility Workers have been instructing welfare recipients, SSI recipients, Medicaid recipients to hide cash incomes and cash stashes from government applications for years! And, now it much, much worse due to illegals and immigrants coming in and hiding cash money jobs, cash stashes, and hiding identification of working individuals living in the family group, or in the group that lives together in one single house! We taxpayers are not fools, we have known, for years there are more and more cheaters getting on full disability, getting welfare benefits, getting Medicaid and all the other government freebies, free school meals, free schooling, free student loans, free internet, free housing, support for illegal aliens, etc. Like I said, your day is coming soon; get ready to be honest and work to earn your food and housing, etc.

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Watch CBS News

Passports can now be renewed online. Here's how to apply.

By Khristopher J. Brooks

Edited By Anne Marie Lee

June 13, 2024 / 11:24 AM EDT / CBS News

U.S. travelers can now renew their passport online under a pilot program the U.S. Department of State launched on Thursday. 

The State Department's new online system will allow U.S. passport holders to start a renewal application for a short window of time every day, closing once the system has reached a designated number of new applications, officials said in a statement . The agency is preparing a full launch of the renewal system at some point after testing, but didn't provide an exact date. 

If successful, an online renewal system could shorten the sometimes monthslong process travelers experience when trying to update their passport. 

"During the next several months, we plan to continue to limit the number of applications accepted each day so we can monitor the system's performance in real time," the department said. "If you are unable to start your application, try again on another day."

Processing passports has become a growing problem for the State Department ever since COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted, with the agency bombarded with an overwhelming number of applications  each week. The passport application backlog grew so heavy last year that federal lawmakers from California, Colorado and Oklahoma introduced separate proposals to the Senate to speed up the application process. 

Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma  proposed legislation  that would improve the online tracking of passport applications and allow the State Department to hire more staff. Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Ted Lieu of California introduced the  PASSPORT Act  to streamline the passport application and renewal process.

The number of Americans holding valid U.S. passports has grown at roughly 10% faster than the population over the past three decades, said Jay Zagorsky, an economist at Boston University. Just 5% of Americans had a passport in 1990, according to the State Department. That number grew to 48% in December.

The State Department issued a record setting 24 million passports in 2023. Wait times for passport applications and renewals  returned to their normal 6-8 week time frame in December , the State Department  said . 

Renewing your passport online involves a six-step process:

• Create a free MyTravelGov online account. 
• After the account is created, log in and start a renewal application by clicking on the "Renew Your Passport" button.
• On the form that appears, fill in all the boxes with the information currently printed on your passport.
• Enter your plans to travel internationally if your departure is within the next eight weeks.
• Upload a jpeg photo of yourself. No selfies. 
• Pay the passport renewal fee and digitally sign the application.

Visit the State Department's online renewal website for more details. 

Khristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. He previously worked as a reporter for the Omaha World-Herald, Newsday and the Florida Times-Union. His reporting primarily focuses on the U.S. housing market, the business of sports and bankruptcy.

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Dzerzhinsky in Moscow Oblast Destination Guide Russia

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Dzerzhinsky in Moscow Oblast, Russia

Safety Score: 4,4 of 5.0 based on data from 9 authorites. Meaning please reconsider your need to travel to Russia.

Travel warnings are updated daily. Source: Travel Warning Russia . Last Update: 2024-06-24 08:00:22

Explore Dzerzhinsky

Dzerzhinsky in Moscow Oblast is located in Russia about 13 mi (or 21 km) south-east of Moscow, the country's capital.

Local time in Dzerzhinsky is now 02:16 AM (Tuesday). The local timezone is named Europe / Moscow with an UTC offset of 3 hours. We know of 7 airports in the wider vicinity of Dzerzhinsky, of which two are larger airports. The closest airport in Russia is Bykovo Airport in a distance of 8 mi (or 13 km), East. Besides the airports, there are other travel options available (check left side).

There are several Unesco world heritage sites nearby. The closest heritage site in Russia is Church of the Ascension, Kolomenskoye in a distance of 7 mi (or 12 km), West. If you need a place to sleep, we compiled a list of available hotels close to the map centre further down the page.

Depending on your travel schedule, you might want to pay a visit to some of the following locations: Orekhovo-Borisovo Yuzhnoye, Moscow, Cheremushki, Ramenskoye and Vostochnoe Degunino. To further explore this place, just scroll down and browse the available info.

Local weather forecast

Todays local weather conditions & forecast: 19°c / 67 °f.

Tuesday, 25th of June 2024

21°C (70 °F) 15°C (59 °F) Overcast clouds, gentle breeze.

Wednesday, 26th of June 2024

22°C (71 °F) 18°C (64 °F) Few clouds, moderate breeze.

Thursday, 27th of June 2024

18°C (64 °F) 17°C (63 °F) Broken clouds, moderate breeze.

Hotels and Places to Stay

Master Hotel Kotelniky

Address 2,8 mi Novoryazanskoe sh 5a 140053 Kotelniki Russia

Mini-Hotel Komfort

Address 2,4 mi 2-y Pokrovskiy proezd 12 140055 Kotel'niki Russia

Checkout: 12:00 - Checkin: 12:00 Reception Weekday: 0:00 - 24:00 Weekend: 0:00 - 24:00

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Attractions and noteworthy things

Distances are based on the centre of the city/town and sightseeing location. This list contains brief abstracts about monuments, holiday activities, national parcs, museums, organisations and more from the area as well as interesting facts about the region itself. Where available, you'll find the corresponding homepage. Otherwise the related wikipedia article.

Ugresha Monastery

Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery is a walled stauropegic Russian Orthodox monastery of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Worker located in a suburb of Moscow formerly known as Ugreshi and now called Dzerzhinsky. It is the town's main landmark and is featured on the . The monastery is known to have existed as early as 1521, when the Tatar horde of Mehmed I Giray reduced Ugreshi to ashes. The old katholikon of St. Nicholas (later destroyed by the Soviets) was built in the 16th century.

Located at 55.6217, 37.84 (Lat. / Lng.), about 1 miles away. Wikipedia Article Russian Orthodox monasteries, Buildings and structures in Moscow Oblast, Christian monasteries established in the 14th century, Museums in Moscow Oblast, Religious museums in Russia, Biographical museums in Russia, Decorative arts museums in Russia

These are some bigger and more relevant cities in the wider vivinity of Dzerzhinsky.

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Local News | Good news for travel procrastinators: Passport…

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Local news | fdle confirms investigation involving orlando-area rep. amesty, local news | good news for travel procrastinators: passport agency to open in orlando, currently miami has the only such agency in florida, and central floridians must drive there for quick service.

The city is one of six in the U.S. to receive new passport agencies, U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Orlando, announced in a news conference Tuesday.

The result? Fewer 235-mile trips from Orlando to Miami, currently the site of the only passport agency in the state.

There are about 25 “passport counters” within 25 miles of downtown Orlando, ]usually in government buildings like post offices, but they can’t do what an agency can. As Frost explained, passport counters receive your information and dispatch it to the Miami agency for processing. It can take six to eight weeks to receive your passport, and if you want it faster, you may have to pay a private “passport expediter” to handle it for you.

But agencies like Miami’s have the authority to deal with emergencies, like a life-and-death situation with a family member when you need a same-day passport. Even lesser emergencies, like you forgot your trip is actually next month, are enough to get an agency to expedite. And if there’s a problem with your ID documents or background check, they often can tell you right away.

For the privilege, “people have to drive hours and hours,” he said. “A lot of people have to spend their own money to get a hotel to stay overnight because it’s so far from their home.”

Soon, that will be no more.

It may take up to a year for the U.S. General Services Administration to determine where the office should go. In the meantime, Frost said he wants recommendations from city leaders.

Frost said receiving approval for a passport office is difficult because of the amount of federal money required,though he didn’t know an exact amount at Tuesday’s conference.

“We’re really happy we got this,” he said, “but this is something that a lot of times can take years, if not decades to try to win in your area, but we had a good case for it.”

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Japan to launch online travel authorization system for visitors

On Friday, the government announced a plan to implement an online system for travel authorization of visa-exempt visitors.

The new system will have foreign visitors who are exempted from obtaining short-stay visas declare online their information such as the purpose of their stay before entering Japan.

The system's introduction aims to prevent illegal stays. The Immigration Services Agency will decide on details of the scheme by referring to the U.S. Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, which the United States operates partly in an effort to prevent terrorism.

The Japanese government initially compiled the comprehensive package in 2018 and has revised it annually since then.

The latest revision involved the addition of 218 measures, including supporting foreigners' Japanese language ability development. This is with an eye on the planned launch of a new on-the-job skill development program in the country that will replace the current foreign technical intern scheme.

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Elektrostal, visit elektrostal, check elektrostal hotel availability, popular places to visit.

• Electrostal History and Art Museum

You can spend time exploring the galleries in Electrostal History and Art Museum in Elektrostal. Take in the museums while you're in the area.

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• Places of interest
• Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center
• Central Museum of the Air Forces at Monino
• Peter the Great Military Academy
• Bykovo Manor
• Balashikha Arena
• Ramenskii History and Art Museum
• Malenky Puppet Theater
• Balashikha Museum of History and Local Lore
• Pekhorka Park
• Saturn Stadium
• Orekhovo Zuevsky City Exhibition Hall
• Noginsk Museum and Exhibition Center