A travel hack that went viral on TikTok teaches users how you can get monetary savings on hotels and Airbnbs by booking directly with the properties themselves. Now, a latest startup, Simplewill help travelers find the same deals using Chrome Extension which can take you to the property’s website, where you will often find discounted prices because the property doesn’t have to pay a commission on the sale.
On social media, creators and influencers post various money-saving hacks that teach users how you can find a cheaper strategy to book a room or stay at home. This often involves using a reverse image search on the listing’s photos to search out the property’s website – something that could be especially useful when booking longer stays, where you possibly can really save.
Of course, booking direct could be dangerous. You may not have the same travel guarantees and protections as larger sites like Booking.com, Expedia, or Airbnb. But when travelers are looking to avoid wasting lots of of dollars or more, they often take the risk.
The idea for Directo got here after observing this latest behavior among Gen Z users and realizing it could possibly be higher automated while adding its own security, says co-founder and co-CEO Pierre Becerril.
“We try to work with professional inventory and great software — so at least you know that part is secured,” said Becerril, whose background in the travel industry inspired him to enter the tech industry after attending a TechCrunch hackathon. The Madrid-based third-year founder recently sold his startup Transparent, a software company focused on the vacation rental market, to Lighthouse, where he worked before founding Directo.
Becerril explains that many hotel web sites today use what he calls “very good technology” and offer powerful reservation engines like google, but they are not the first place people go to make a reservation. Instead, consumers are likely to use online aggregators and larger sites where they will search a wider range of offers.
“Large websites like Expedia, Booking.com and Airbnb have a monopoly on search and distribution,” Becerril said. “It’s a shame because they take a commission and you can book directly on these great websites where there is no commission – and maybe there are some benefits.”
Some enterprising travelers have already figured this out and discovered that they will avoid surcharges and cleansing fees on Airbnb by booking directly on the website of a property they found using a reverse image search.
Directo’s goal is to facilitate direct booking by identifying those properties that it knows use a modern technology stack that ensures a secure checkout process. This could at least allay users’ concerns about whether the sites will function properly and their bank card transactions shall be secure. It also relies on its community to submit other web sites for consideration and flag those where they’ve found great deals.
The Chrome extension works on many top travel sites, including Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO, Expedia, and Abritel, with more to come back. It identifies properties that are bookable directly with a yellow-and-black “D” icon. Those where users have reported getting a good deal will even have a cheering hands emoji. If users report that the deals aren’t great, Directo can pass that information on to hotels and use it to try to barter a coupon or discount for their customers.
“It’s a bit like Honey,” Becerril says, referring to the transaction-search browser add-on that PayPal bought for $4 billion in 2019.
Like Honey, enlargement It is free for consumers who can download it from the website Chrome Online Store. The startup generates revenue by selling the subscription to hotels, which might improve their connectivity with Directo by presenting special offers to their users and members. These funds are now being reinvested in marketing to extend its consumer install base.
Directo has reached 115,000 users in testing and now covers almost 200,000 hotel brands, each with at least one property in its inventory database. This means hundreds of thousands of properties and rooms worldwide.
The startup itself was co-founded by digital nomad and co-CEO Marina Guastavino, CTO Julian Toledo, and Sofia Canepa (Growth and Product Development). Becerril wasn’t in a position to join full-time until a few months ago on account of commitments following the sale of his previous company.
Directo has $1 million in pre-seed funding from French VC firm Kima Ventures; Calafia, an angelic group of world female technology leaders; specialist tourism fund Derive Ventures; and 26 travel industry veterans.