Loi Macron and OTAs like Booking.com

[Cassis]

Earlier this year the French competition authorities ruled that booking.com contract terms which demanded that owners offer rooms on their site at prices that were on a par or better than those advertised on any other site, were an abuse of its dominant market position.

Since April owners have been free to publish whatever prices we like on different third party sites, but we have still been required to advertise on booking.com at prices that are on a par or better than those offered on our OWN websites.

According to this article from Gites de France, the Loi Macron which came into force in July releases us from that obligation; section 7 of their summary of the new law says that "The Loi Macron closes this final loophole; hoteliers once more have full control of their pricing policy: they can advertise their best prices on their own site ...".

[la vache!]

Yes, this is great news. I stayed in a chambre d'hote this weekend and the owner said he now increases his own prices by 15% on the Booking site to take account of their 15% commission. Thanks to the law.

[Cassis]

I wonder where this leaves their "best price guaranteed"?

That said, there were always obstacles to guests claiming any price difference:

If you find your reservation on another website at a lower rate, contact our customer care team without delay. We will match the rate of the other deal if the following conditions are met:

1. You have contacted us immediately after booking with all the details of the other deal including a link to the offer on the website and the exact price being quoted.
2. The other deal is bookable online and is still available when we check.
3. The other deal is subject to the same booking conditions you’ve opted for with Booking.com. This means:
It is the same property
It is the same room type, apartment type, etc.
It is for the same check-in and check-out dates
It has identical room conditions attached (including the meal plan, cancellation policy, package offer, etc.)
4. The conditions of your booking with us still allow penalty-free cancellations and modifications.

[Ecosse]

That's great news - we've held off listing with bc as 15% off our already low prices would mean we were working for nothing. Good on the French authorities... sometimes they get things very right!

[La Chouette]

If we can charge different rates, depending on how guests made the booking, where does that leave B&B owners in terms of having to display rates in the room and outside the property?

[Cassis]

We display rates "from ... to".

Alternatively you could post your rate for direct bookings and add a note saying it excludes any third party booking fees.

TBH those notices are a waste of space for us as we only take reservations in advance, not passing trade. I don't know if anyone even sees them.