Why Pay Reservation Fees?

Be Aware! There is a growing trend of third party Internet reservation companies that will attempt to reserve accommodations for you with lodging operators. They will charge you a non-refundable fee of up to 10% of the total reservation cost, which at times can amount to hundreds of dollars. The Internet was supposed to level the playing field for businesses. Quite frankly, in our opinion, we don't understand why anybody would pay these reservation fees when all you have to do is enter a keyword search for whatever business or service you may want: in our case, "Yosemite Lodging," "Yosemite Reservations," "Yosemite Cabins", etc. You will easily find most, if not all, of the Yosemite operators that are listed on these pay-for-reservation websites. Most, if not all, of the companies listed on these travel lodging reservation sites have their own websites so you can easily just call them and make your own reservation directly with the owner or operator of these properties thereby cutting out the middle man. Not only do these pay-for reservation websites charge you a fee, they also charge the business owners an additional 5-17% if the lodging operator accepts the reservation. The reason some people go along with this absurdity is because these big companies buy up all the top positions on the first page of your keyword search making it almost impossible for the smaller companies to be seen at the top of the page. For whatever reason, most people will click on the top listings thinking they're the most popular because they're on the top. THEY ARE ON TOP OF THE PAGE IN THE SPONSORED AREA BECAUSE THEY PAY A FORTUNE TO BE THERE! We, smaller operators, are forced to pay for these positions but really can't afford it and are slowly being pushed out of business. Take a moment and view at least the first two pages of the listings on the non-sponsored areas of the page. You will most likely find all the companies that are listed on these pay-for-reservation websites! The McDonald's ad "four bucks is dumb" is a classic! it's referring to the high cost of Starbucks coffee. PAYING RESERVATION FEES IS DUMB! It's almost like paying scalpers for tickets at the ballpark, but at least in that situation you really don't have a choice -- if you want to see the game, you have to pay the price. When it comes to finding a reservation though, all you have to do is take a moment, relax and search around. So why make your reservation through a third party when you can make your reservation directly with the source? WHY PAY RESERVATION FEES? The only possible reason anyone would use these sites would be for the possible discounts they claim to have. But who do you think gives the discounts? It's the owners of the business, of course. If you contact the business directly they will honor the same discount without charging you the reservation fees. Avoid the extra reservations service fees and confusion by simply making your reservation directly with the lodging operator of your choice. Hopefully you can find accommodations that suit your needs with Yosemite's Scenic Wonders! With our years of experience, our knowledge of Yosemite, our personalized attention and a great website full of information, we will make your Yosemite vacation a memorable lifetime experience. https://scenicwonders.com/rentals.html To help the consumer, The Los Angeles Times ran several articles on this subject: July 7, 2002 Reserving at a National park? Know Your Source August 1, 2004 Unofficial park sites can cost you August 15, 2004 Good guys deserve their due! Photo credit: mikebaird