Direct booking strategy
Rate Parity in the US: Can You Offer a Lower Price on Your Own Website?
Usually not on your public website. Booking.com's standard terms put the US among its wide parity countries, so your Booking.com rate must match or beat what you offer on your own website, by phone, at the front desk and on other booking sites. Member rates are the main exception. Expedia does not publish its terms.
Many owners would like to show a lower price on their own website than on Expedia and Booking.com. Whether you can depends on the contracts you signed. This guide explains what Booking.com's standard terms say for US hotels, where they leave room, and what is public about Expedia. It is not legal advice: your own agreement decides, and a lawyer can tell you how it applies to you.
What is rate parity?
Rate parity is a contract term that asks a hotel to give a booking site the same or better price and conditions as it offers elsewhere. Booking.com describes three versions on its Partner Hub:
- No parity. The hotel has no obligation to match its other channels on Booking.com.
- Narrow parity. Booking.com must get the same or better rates and conditions as the hotel offers on its own online channels.
- Wide parity. Booking.com must get the same or better rates, conditions and availability as the hotel offers on any channel, online or offline.
Which kind of parity applies to US hotels?
Wide parity, under Booking.com's standard terms. Its General Delivery Terms name the narrow parity countries (Armenia, Australia, Brazil, China, Georgia, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and New Zealand) and the no parity countries (the European Economic Area, Russia, South Africa and Switzerland). Every other country and region is a wide parity country. The United States is on neither list, so the wide parity wording applies to US properties. Booking.com says that where its explanatory note and the clause in the terms differ, the clause wins. Parity also touches its paid programs: Preferred Partner asks for competitive prices in parity countries (see how much Booking.com charges hotels).
What does Booking.com's wide parity clause cover?
The wide parity wording has two parts. Rate parity means Booking.com gets the same or better rates for the same room, dates, bed type and number of guests, the same or better amenities and add-ons, and the same or better restrictions and policies, such as cancellation terms. Availability parity means Booking.com gets rooms to sell on terms at least as good as any competitor gets.
The comparison covers more places than many owners expect:
- your own websites and apps
- your call center and reservation system
- bookings made directly at the hotel
- any competitor of Booking.com, online or offline
- any other business partner connected to the hotel
The clause names free breakfast, wifi and early or late check-out as examples of amenities and add-ons. So under the standard US wording, a public offer of free breakfast for direct bookers only is a parity question, not just a price question. Read your own agreement before you advertise one.
Can you offer a lower member rate?
Yes, within limits. Booking.com's wide parity wording says rate parity does not apply to rates for a closed user group, as long as those rates are not made publicly available. The terms define a closed user group by four conditions:
- Guests actively opt in to become members. Membership is not automatic.
- Any website or app members use to see the rate is password protected.
- Members have completed a customer profile.
- The guest offered the rate has already made at least one booking as a member.
The last condition matters most. Under this wording, a member rate is for returning members, not for first-time visitors who sign up at checkout. And if a member rate shows up publicly anywhere, including on a metasearch or price comparison site, Booking.com is entitled to the same rate.
What about Expedia?
Expedia Group does not publish its standard hotel terms, so we cannot quote them. Its 2024 annual report, filed with the SEC, describes where it has changed parity clauses. It says Expedia Group companies waived certain rate, conditions and availability parity clauses with European hotel partners in 2015, that France, Austria, Italy, Belgium and Portugal have passed laws against parity clauses, and that it waived certain parity clauses in Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand. The United States is not on that list. Your Expedia agreement is the only reliable answer, so read its parity section.
How do narrow and wide parity differ?
| Item | Narrow parity | Wide parity (US) |
|---|---|---|
| Your own website and apps | Covered | Covered |
| Phone and front desk | Not covered, if the price is not published or marketed online | Covered |
| Other booking sites | Not covered | Covered |
| Lower rates for some guests | Allowed if unpublished and not marketed online | Allowed for a closed user group that meets four conditions |
| Where it applies | Countries such as the UK, Australia and Japan | Every country not on the narrow or no parity lists, including the US |
Source: Booking.com General Delivery Terms, read on October 1, 2026. Your own agreement may differ.
What can a US hotel do within parity?
Price is not the only reason a direct booking is worth more. At the same price, a booking on your own website still costs you far less than one through a booking site, and the guest's details stay with you.
- Read your agreements. Find the parity section in your Booking.com and Expedia contracts, and note which channels and perks it covers.
- Match the price, then win on cost. A booking site usually costs 20% to 30% of a booking once add-ons are counted, while a direct booking through MarginStay usually costs 8% to 12%. See direct booking vs OTA: what each booking really costs for the sums.
- Build a real members program if you want lower rates, following the closed user group conditions above, and ask a lawyer to check it.
- Invite past guests back by email. Guests who booked with you directly can come back with no commission on the next stay. Our guide to email to past guests covers whose addresses you may use.
- Show your own price on Google. Google's free booking links put your booking page next to the booking sites at no cost per click.
To see what moving bookings direct is worth even at the same price, enter your numbers in our calculator.
MarginStay helps independent hotels bring in direct bookings, so we have a stake in this topic. We are not lawyers. The parity wording comes from Booking.com's General Delivery Terms and Partner Hub, and the Expedia facts from its 2024 annual report, all read on October 1, 2026. Terms change, so check your own agreement.
Rate parity: quick answers
Is rate parity legal in the United States?
We cannot give legal advice. What we can say is that Booking.com's standard terms still treat the US as a wide parity country, and Expedia Group's 2024 annual report lists no US waiver among the countries where it dropped parity clauses. Whether a clause can be enforced against your hotel is a question for a lawyer.
Can I offer free breakfast only to guests who book direct?
Check your contract first. Booking.com's standard wide parity wording, which covers US hotels, names free breakfast, wifi and early or late check-out as amenities and add-ons that Booking.com should get on the same or better terms. A public perk for direct bookers only may therefore be a parity issue.
Can I give members a lower rate than Booking.com?
Under Booking.com's standard terms, yes, if the rate is for a closed user group and is not made publicly available. Members must opt in, log in with a password, complete a profile and have made at least one booking as a member. If the rate appears publicly, Booking.com is entitled to it.
Does rate parity apply to phone and walk-in bookings?
Under Booking.com's wide parity wording, which applies in the US, yes. It compares your Booking.com rate with your websites, apps, call center and rates given directly at the hotel. Under narrow parity, used in countries such as the UK and Australia, offline rates are excluded if they are not published or marketed online.
Why should a guest book direct if the price is the same?
For the guest, the price is the same. For you, the booking costs less. A booking site usually takes 20% to 30% of a booking once add-ons are counted, while a direct booking through MarginStay usually costs 8% to 12%. The guest's contact details stay with you, so the next stay can carry no commission.
See what direct bookings are worth at the same price
Enter your booking-site bookings and commission in our calculator, then talk to us about bringing guests to your own website.