Is Agoda Safe and Reliable?
Agoda.com is famous for booking travel accommodation online. However, there are many users that show their concerns related to Agoda’s safety, reliability as well as trustworthiness when it comes to making bookings, payment security, or the stay.
This guide will help you know whether Agoda is safe and legit or not so that you can make a booking without any second thoughts.
Why Agoda Is A Reliable Site?
Agoda is known to be one of the travel websites that is owned by Booking Holdings Inc.
Booking Holdings owns booking.com, kayak.com, cheapflights.com, rentalcars.com, and many more. It is publicly traded since 1999 and is known to be one of the world’s biggest travel companies. It generated around $15 billion in revenue in the year 2019.
No wonder Agoda is known to be Booking’s biggest asset and the first one it acquired in the year 2007. Since that time, Agoda is famous to be known as a place where customers can find discounts on various accommodation options. Over the past years, Agoda has included amazing features which can help save money like AgodaCash, AgodaVIP, as well as Promo Codes for a better customer experience.
Given its proven track record, Agoda is a legit company. As of 2021, the company has more than 4000 employees in around 30 countries. Also, its site and mobile app are available in around 39 languages.
How Trustworthy Is Agoda?
Agoda is legit but when it comes to its reliability, one needs to think.
Reliability concern 1 – Hosts not getting Agoda’s reservation notice
A confirmation email is sent to every guest as well as the host of Agoda when reservations are done. As a guest, you have access to every booking made inside the Agoda account. Whereas, the host has access to its booking from within their account. Agoda sends the same email to the guest as well as the host a few days prior to the check-in.
Reliability concern 2 – Hosts not accepting the booking of Agoda
One can sell listings on Agoda only with the permission of the host. In case the host doesn’t accept Agoda reservations on arrival even after showing the identification or proof of booking, you need to report the situation with Agoda.
How Does Agoda Implement It’s Policies?
Agoda mediates the issues of guests and hosts. If the host is agreeing to Agoda’s policy page condition while publishing any listing then the guest agrees to every condition as well as its host’s policy when booking.
In case the host is at fault, for example, canceling the booking of a guest or publishing any listing with misleading photos then Agoda penalizes the host as per its policies. However, if the guest is at fault then Agoda penalizes him as per the policy to which he agreed.
Agoda is known to be a legit company but here are some of the concerns related to its safety.
Safety Concern 1 – Payment safety
No one likes to worry about the security of their card details while doing any online transaction. Fortunately, you don’t need to fret about this with Agoda. It operates via the merchant model as well as the agency model.
Via the merchant model, the guest pays Agoda for the booking, and later Agoda forward some percentage to the host. Agoda is known to charge guests’ credit cards directly without passing any other information to the host.
Via the agency model, Agoda plays the role of a broker between the guest and the host. Instead of charging directly from the guest, it collects and passes the details of the guest’s card to their host later who charges the complete payment. The host pays some percentage of their guest’s total to Agoda.
Concern #2:
Safety Concern 2 – Safety of the guest at the property
Safety is a big concern for all. If you are new to Agoda.com then it is better to check the listings with more than 30 reviews and outstanding review ratings. Also, check the listing’s complete description as well as customer reviews from the last 6 months.
In case you are worried about the safety of the neighborhood then you can check the local neighborhoods before booking. Also, you can filter the neighborhood with the help of ‘location’ under the search bar. Otherwise, you can easily contact Agoda.
Concern #3:
Safety Concern 3 – Booking scams as well as fraud
Agoda.com has various systems to avoid scams or fraud in bookings. The systems are designed to protect the customers. For instance, Agoda holds the host’s initial payout for 30 days after the first guest checks out. The payment is done if everything went smoothly.
Also, hosts should offer documentation as well as photos to prove their association with the property. Agoda has the right to ban any host no matter what.
How to avoid issues when booking on Agoda?
Here are some of the simple ways to avoid any negative things while traveling or booking on Agoda.
While searching for a listing-
- Establish the destination, dates, or budget before searching
- Use search filters of Agoda to narrow down the results
Consider listings –
- That has recent, positive reviews from the guests
- The property that shows clear photos of the entrance or rooms
Select and finalize the booking –
- Try to book the rooms that are not in a remote area so that you can spend some time exploring local landmarks as well.
- Read the complete description of the listing and ensure that the amenities are fitting you well. A full description shows the effort of the host as well.
- Check the cancellation policy before doing the booking.
- The booking confirmation email arrives within 10 minutes after making the reservation.
Endnote
This review covers everything related to Agoda’s background, reliability, enforcement of its policies, safety concerns, etc. Hope this helps and you have a great travel.
Find discounted hotels on Agoda
To get the best deals on various accommodation options you can use the Agoda widget. You just need to add your destination, and dates and then check the results.
