This month of March, I have been doing staycation around Manila for the third time. My mom is here all the way from Bicol and it is always a "tradition" to treat her to a cozy hotel. Whether it is the most basic or with a dash of luxury, we don't care at all. We just want to have the best bonding moment outside our abode. It's my task to hunt the best deals, promos and discounts for hotel stays. Our most recent discovery is Traveloka - a travel app that lets you book hotels and flights in the Philippines and selected countries around the world. It's kind of funny how we found our way to Traveloka's Facebook fan page. Our friends used to share Traveloka's memes usually filled with hugot lines about love, family and travel. We love it! We had no idea that later on we'll be having our next staycation via Traveloka.
Always download the mobile app
This is what I learned from stalking travel brands. Aside from the usual promos they offer from their official website, usually users of mobile apps are rewarded with much more discounts. For the past years, there is a tremendous shift of connecting online from desktop to mobile devices. That's the reason why more companies are pushing their presence on mobile through apps. I downloaded Traveloka App via Google Play (totally free) since my phone is android. The icon of Traveloka is an image of a white bird inside a light blue square. It will show up on your mobile screen along with the rest of your apps once you are done downloading.
Traveloka App is very user - friendly
You don't need a guide or step - by - step instructions on how to use it. The main screen shows all the services they offer: Flights and Hotels. Clicking any of these show deals offered in the country where I am based which is the Philippines. There's also a tab: What's new for you where you can choose International Flights, International Hotels, Price Alerts and Ongoing Promos.
My mom is just staying for a week. We want more time spent relaxing than taking a bus for hours. What we want is a hotel that is cheap and near our apartment which is in BLISS, Guadalupe. Actually, I have been checking Traveloka App for the past few weeks just to be familiarized on how to use it before I book our stay. Really love the fact that every now and then they got promos! Who wouldn't want that? I mean for a backpacker who travels on a budget having Traveloka is gift from above. We are talking about really pocket-approved discounts hotels and flights here.
Mystery Deal Madness: a "secret" I have found out
Also one thing I notice that really caught my attention and I don't know if other competitor travel brands have this kind of feature is the Mystery Deal Madness. You can book a completely anonymous hotel for a discounted price! Traveloka provides all the information you need to decide - how many stars, Tripadvisor rate, address, photos, how near it is to tourist spots in the area and even the complete address!
I tried to book halfway to one of the hotels offered for Mystery Deal Madness. Before checking out, I applied the current promo code on top of what is offered by Mystery Deal Madness , it worked! I will definitely do this again til I check out but for now I have to find the cheapest one on the app. I clicked the Hotels, from Search Hotel button, then destination is Hotels Near You. The Room 498 in Bonifacio Avenue, Mandaluyong has the least offer which is Php 601 all - in. For that price, I think it is not bad at all so I chose it. What's the best about Traveloka is that the amount that it displays is already the total amount. After checking out, no other fees added! The photos were fine and location is super accessible.
Fill in Details
This is the next window that showed up. It shows the following information: check in time, check out time, room type and contact details (email & mobile phone). It also has a reminder that this booking is Non - refundable.
Select Payment
I have given up my credit card just when I started freelancing. It was a good choice for me to cut my impulsive online buying. At the same time it became a burden whenever I have to pay online since most online shops accept credit cards only. With Traveloka, I am so glad that they accept many options: debit card, online banking through Dragon Pay and over the counter (7-11, M Lhuillier and Cebuana Lhuillier). I hope they add Paypal as well since it is also a major form of payment online. I used my PayMaya account to settle the bill.
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