Online hotel booking is a popular method of hotel booking. Travelers can book rooms on a computer using online security to protect their privacy and financial information, and use a variety of online travel agencies to compare prices and facilities properties of different hotels.

Before the Internet, travelers could write letters, call hotels directly, or use a travel agency to make reservations. Today, online travel agents have pictures of hotels and rooms, information on prices and deals, even information on local resorts. Many also allow travelers to register for reviews with an online travel agency. Online hotel booking is also very useful for last minute travel arrangements. Hotels may reduce room rates if some rooms are still available. There are several websites that specialize in finding deals on rooms. 

Connections to air travel

Large hotel chains often have a direct connection to the airline’s national distribution system (GDS). These systems in turn provide direct hotel information to the hundreds of thousands of travel agents associated with one of these systems. Individual hotels and small hotel chains often cannot afford these direct connections and look to other companies to provide connections. 

Large-scale travel sites

Some of the major online travel sites are actually travel agencies. These sites send hotel information and prices downstream to thousands of online travel sites, most of which act as travel agents. They can then receive commission payments from hotels for any business placed on their website.