> In general hotels are more expensive when booked directly and not through an aggregator
This is because the aggregators have "most favored nation" clauses in their deals with hotels that forbid hotels for undercutting the aggregator's prices, either on their own site, or on other aggregators.
One of the workarounds is that these clauses don't apply to customers with whom the hotels have a preexisting relationship, which is why you can sometimes get better rates by just signing up for a loyalty program, and searching a hotel's own site while logged in using that program. Another is that amenities aren't necessarily covered in that agreement, so it's possible that you can book the same room for the same price on the hotel's own site, but get later checkout, a free breakfast, cheaper parking, or whatever.
This is because the aggregators have "most favored nation" clauses in their deals with hotels that forbid hotels for undercutting the aggregator's prices, either on their own site, or on other aggregators.
One of the workarounds is that these clauses don't apply to customers with whom the hotels have a preexisting relationship, which is why you can sometimes get better rates by just signing up for a loyalty program, and searching a hotel's own site while logged in using that program. Another is that amenities aren't necessarily covered in that agreement, so it's possible that you can book the same room for the same price on the hotel's own site, but get later checkout, a free breakfast, cheaper parking, or whatever.