Travelers Overpaid Millions for Hotel Rooms in 2011: Tingo Comes to the Rescue

BOSTON, March 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Smarter Travel Media today launched Tingo™, the first hotel booking site that automatically rebooks hotel rooms at a lower price if the rate drops — and then automatically refunds the difference to travelers' credit cards.  In 2011 alone, Americans could have saved nearly $314 million* if they had had access to a site like Tingo.

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The site provides its travelers with a simple proposition: Book a "Money Back" room and Tingo watches that room's rate to see if it changes. If the price drops, Tingo rebooks that same room at the lower rate and refunds the difference to the booking credit card.  Travelers do nothing but book, wait and save.

"Travelers could have saved millions last year had there been a simple system in place that automatically rebooked their rooms," said Smarter Travel Media General Manager David Krauter. "And that's what Tingo does, by taking the gamble out of booking and refunding travelers' money when rates drop.  It's a no-brainer.  And just to put it in perspective, $314 million would book the $2,000 per night Penthouse at The London NYC, straight through for the next 350 years."

Number of Hotels with Price Drops in Popular U.S. Markets February 2012:

• New York: 218 hotels. Prices dropped an average of $46
• Los Angeles: 105 hotels. Prices dropped an average of $35
• Las Vegas: 135 hotels. Prices dropped an average of $26
• Chicago: 87 hotels. Prices dropped an average of $37
• Orlando: 189 hotels. Prices dropped an average of $25

Recent examples of Money Back refunds:

• 2 nights Wynn, Las Vegas
  • Booked Jan 27^th 2012 at          $1,243
  • Check-in Feb 23^rd at                  $724
  • Money Back:                           $519
• 1  night Casablanca, New York City
  • Booked Jan 26^th 2012 at           $499
  • Check-in Feb 14^th  at                $365
  • Money Back:                          $134
• 1 night Chesterfield, London
  • Booked Jan 27^th 2012 at            $90
  • Check-in  Feb 24^th at                 $63
  • Money Back:                           $27

For examples of past price drops, go to Tingo. 

About Tingo

Tingo™ is the only site that automatically rebooks its travelers hotel rooms at the lower price if rates drop—and then automatically refunds the difference to their credit cards.  Tingo is part of Smarter Travel Media LLC, a subsidiary of TripAdvisor, Inc.

TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) manages and operates websites under 19 other travel media brands, and together the sites attract more than 69 million unique monthly visitors**.  TripAdvisor's travel media brands include: www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.everytrail.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.onetime.com, www.seatguru.com, www.sniqueaway.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.tingo.com, www.travel-library.com, www.travelpod.com, www.virtualtourist.com, www.whereivebeen.com and www.kuxun.cn.

Tingo and the Tingo logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of TripAdvisor, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

*Value calculated using data from PhoCusWright's U.S. Online Travel Overview Eleventh Edition and Tingo data. According to PhoCusWright, U.S. OTAs saw $15.2 billion in hotel and lodging gross bookings last year. 

**Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor, Inc. and its subsidiaries, Worldwide, January 2012

© 2012 TripAdvisor, Inc.  All rights reserved.

SOURCE Tingo.com