How do I stop paying commission on my own website bookings?

Why your own website matters

Your website is the one place where you set the terms. A booking there can reach you in full. The same guest booking through an OTA costs you that OTA's commission, so every booking you move to your own site cuts your commission bill.

Direct booking is still a big part of hotel business in Europe. HOTREC's 2024 European Hotel Distribution Study found that direct channels (phone, email, walk-ins and the hotel's own website booking system) brought in 50.9% of overnight stays in 2023.

OTAs have grown, though. Their average share of overnight stays went from 19.7% in 2013 to 29.6% in 2023. Small hotels feel it most: among hotels with under 20 rooms, 27% get more than half their bookings from OTAs.

Guests are booking on hotel websites more, too. Bookings through hotels' own booking engines made up 12.3% of overnight stays in 2023, up from 7.4% in 2013.

How your own website can still cost you commission

A guest booking on your site doesn't always mean a commission-free booking. Check these four things.

1. A per-booking fee. Some booking engines take a percentage of every reservation. That fee grows with your revenue, so a good year costs you more.
2. A hand-off to another site. If your "Book now" button sends guests somewhere else to finish, the booking may not count as yours.
3. Missing rooms or rates. If a room type or a cheaper rate is only on the OTAs, guests who want it will book there.
4. A slow checkout. If your site takes more steps than an OTA, some guests give up and book where it's quicker.

Questions to ask any booking engine vendor

1. Do you take a percentage of each booking? Get the answer in writing, payment fees included.
2. Does the guest stay on my website? Ask to try the booking steps on a test page.
3. Can I choose which rooms and rates sell direct? You should be able to change this yourself.
4. Does a website booking update my other channels? A room sold on your site has to come off sale everywhere else.
5. How long is the contract? If the booking engine doesn't work out, you want to be able to leave.

How HAIP PMS Cloud handles website bookings

HAIP PMS Cloud is hosted by Telivity and built on HAIP (Hotel AI Platform), our open-source PMS.

No commission. Guests who book on your website through HAIP PMS Cloud pay you the full rate. Telivity doesn't take a percentage.

It runs on your website. The booking engine is a widget. You add it to your current site with a short embed snippet and a publishable key for your property. Guests search, pick a room, enter their details, pay and get a confirmation without leaving your site.

You choose what sells direct. In Settings, the Booking Engine tab is where you pick which room types and rate plans guests can book and set your branding. You also choose the deposit: none, first night, a percentage or the full amount.

One reservation, one inventory. A website booking lands in the PMS as a normal reservation. The price is checked again on the server, and availability updates for your other channels.

Links for your marketing. You can make links that open your booking page with dates, guests and a room or rate already picked. Use them in emails, ads and social posts.

Keep your channel manager. HAIP PMS Cloud works with the one you already use, including Channex, SiteMinder, DerbySoft, Beds24 and others. Channel fees pass through at cost.

Plain terms. HAIP PMS Cloud costs from $199/month per property, billed month-to-month. Moving from your current PMS is free, and you get an overlap month to run both systems. If something goes wrong, you talk to a real person, not a bot.

FAQ

Does Telivity take a cut of bookings made on my website? No. There's no commission on bookings through your HAIP PMS Cloud booking engine. Guests pay you the full rate.

Will this stop the commission I pay to OTAs? No. Each OTA sets its own commission, and it applies to bookings made on that OTA. What a commission-free booking engine does is make your own website the cheaper place to take the same booking. HAIP PMS Cloud works with the channel manager you already use, including Channex, SiteMinder, DerbySoft, Beds24 and others, and channel fees pass through at cost.

Can I choose which rooms and rates guests can book on my website? Yes. Open Settings, then the Booking Engine tab. You pick the room types and rate plans guests can book, set your branding and choose a deposit policy.

Do I need to rebuild my website? No. The booking engine is a widget. It goes on your existing site with a short embed snippet and a publishable key for your property.

What does HAIP PMS Cloud cost? From $199/month per property, billed month-to-month. Moving from your current PMS is free, and you get an overlap month to run both systems.

See it for your hotel

Book a 15-minute intro. Bring your room count, your current booking engine and the channels you sell on, and we'll show you how direct bookings would work at your hotel: Book a 15-min HAIP PMS Cloud intro

Sources

1. HAIP PMS Cloud product page — pricing, commission, channel managers, migration, support.
2. How much does a PMS cost — booking engine: no commission; related FAQ wording.
3. Do I need a separate channel manager — channel wording and CTA pattern.
4. HAIP open-source README — Direct Booking Engine, commission-free; Apache 2.0.
5. HOTREC, European Hotel Distribution Study 2024, Executive Summary (II), p. 4: direct channel share, booking engine share, small-hotel OTA reliance
6. HOTREC, European Hotel Distribution Study 2024, Executive Summary (III), p. 5: OTA share 2013 to 2023