Booking.com denies price inflation allegations amid mass legal action

Booking.com is rejecting allegations that it kept hotel prices artificially high for over a decade, as a surge of interest in a new mass claim against the company caused the Consumers’ Association’s website to crash on Thursday morning.

The statement came the same day the Dutch Consumers’ Association (Consumentenbond) and the Consumers Competition Claims Foundation (CCC) launched legal action accusing the popular hotel platform of violating competition and consumer laws since 2013. According to the claimants, Booking.com used illegal pricing agreements and deceptive tactics to prevent hotels from offering lower prices elsewhere, reportedly costing Dutch consumers hundreds of millions of euros.

In a written response, Booking.com said: “We have always fought to provide the best possible prices and transparent booking experience to travelers and strongly contest any allegations to the contrary.” The company added that it is reviewing the contents of the claim and “will respond accordingly.”

Booking.com also said it has changed its practices in recent years. “We have removed price parity clauses across Europe, but believe that they did help ensure consumers could access great prices everywhere,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the Consumers’ Association’s registration website went offline Thursday morning due to unexpectedly high traffic. A spokesperson confirmed the outage, saying technical teams were working to restore access. “We urge consumers to try again later. The more people who register, the stronger the claim will be,” the spokesperson said.

The mass legal action follows years of warnings. In May 2024, the Consumers’ Association publicly accused Booking.com and its sister platform Agoda.com of misleading customers with fake discounts, hidden costs, and false scarcity—despite earlier promises to address the issues.

Researchers found that Booking.com advertised a hotel in New York for “from 211 euros per night” without disclosing an additional 75 euros in unavoidable taxes and fees. It also falsely claimed 84 percent of accommodations in Nunspeet were fully booked, a figure inflated by including unavailable private homes. Agoda.com, meanwhile, told users only one room remained for two people—yet allowed a booking for 10 at the same property on the same night.

“These are deliberate tricks to give consumers the feeling that they’ve found a good deal and have to decide quickly,” said Sandra Molenaar, director of the Consumers’ Association, in last year’s report. “They are riled up with lies.”

CCC chairman Bert Heikens said Booking.com’s behavior has likely impacted every Dutch consumer who booked at least one hotel room since January 1, 2013. “Our research shows Booking.com has been violating competition rules for years,” he said. “They prevented hotels from offering better conditions or cheaper prices through other channels. Multiple European regulators have already found these practices unlawful.”

Consumers who used Booking.com or similar services—including Agoda or even a hotel’s own website—may be eligible to join the claim. There are no upfront costs to participate; if the claim is successful, up to 25 percent of any awarded compensation may be withheld for legal fees.