Directo Browser Extension Review: Is it Safe? Features and Alternatives

We like to analyze travel browser extensions. You can find our take on another popular travel browser extension, Travel Arrow, here.

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How does Directo work?

Directo's idea relies on a popular travel hack that booking directly through a hotel is cheaper than booking through third-party websites. 

It’s a free browser extension that finds direct hotel booking websites, so travelers can bypass booking on such websites as Airbnb, Booking, Vrbo, and Abritel. It automatically matches the properties on your favorite travel site to their own website.

Simply put, you scroll, say, Booking.com, find a hotel you’d like to book, and Directo starts scanning the internet to find the hotel’s website so you can book through there instead of Booking.com. 

We installed it and gave it a try. 

BUT. Before diving into the pros and cons of Directo, let’s find out for once and all…

Is booking hotels directly really cheaper?

While booking some hotels directly may really result in savings, this hack is more of a myth nowadays. Hotels can rarely compete with the big booking websites, especially if they’re listed there, as pricing restrictions by contract apply. 

We highly recommend not relying on this hack only and doing more research before making that final hotel confirmation (find the hacks we offer below). 

Now, back to Directo. 

DIRECTO ADVANTAGES

• Directo finds most of the bigger hotel chain websites in a few seconds.
• It has a reward system where you can get through different traveler levels (although we didn’t entirely find out what you can get with it?)
• You can invite your friends and get +25 reward points for that. 
• It doesn't pop up at all if it doesn’t find the direct hotel website link. 
• Works on Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Brave, and Firefox.

DIRECTO DISADVANTAGES

• When the direct hotel website is found, Directo lands you on the main website, meaning you have to do your search (number of travelers, dates, room type, etc.) all over again.
• The big hotel chains are easily found, but almost none of the smaller accommodation websites are found. From 12 Airbnb searches worldwide, it found only 2 direct websites. 

• On Safari, Directo is available only as a beta app for iPhone.
• From the pop-up, it’s unclear whether you’ll get the savings. You have to go to the website, fill in all the information again, and double-check it yourself. 
• Small yet very triggering thing: the pop-up can’t be moved around. When it pops up in the right corner of the screen, it stays there, covering some of the crucial hotel information (for example, hotel ratings on Booking.com). 

Overall, it’s a browser extension with an excellent idea, but with its current implementations, it’s just not there yet. While you will find the direct websites for the major hotel chains quicker, you’ll have to do the whole search all over again by yourself. Even then, there is no guarantee that you’ll get a lower price. 

So what do you use instead of Directo if you want to save not only money (that’s still the most important) but also time? 

DIRECTO ALTERNATIVES

The price differences between third-party booking websites & direct hotel websites aren’t THE BIG money-saving secret in 2024. 

The biggest hotel price differences (and, automatically, savings) lie in between different 

1) booking websites

2) devices, and 

3) countries.

Whaaaaat? 🥴

Relax, we’ve got you covered. 

From our practice, these hacks result in way bigger & frequent savings than booking directly:

Alternative #1

Check hotel prices on different booking websites. The commissions booking websites apply for hotels vary highly, and that’s your best shot to score the biggest savings. 

Alternative #2

Check hotel prices on different devices. Mobile and desktop prices differ a lot (especially if you’re booking on Booking.com). 

Alternative #3

Check hotel prices in different countries. Did you know hotel prices vary depending on the country you’re booking from? Well, now you do. 

Is Directo Worth Installing?

Here’s what we found after trying Directo:

• Big hotel chains — Directo finds their own websites within a few seconds.
• Smaller places to stay — it turned up a direct website for only 2 of our 12 Airbnb searches.
• Checking the price — you still type your dates, travelers, and room type again on the hotel’s website to see whether it costs less.
• Bigger savings elsewhere — in our experience, comparing booking websites, devices, and countries saves more than Directo’s direct links.

Directo only helps with the place you stay, not with your flight. RatePunk keeps track of what flights from your home airport usually cost, and we alert you when one drops below that price.

Need more info? Read more about the tricks booking websites play:

Tricks OTAs are playing in 2024 to skyrocket their revenues (+ how to avoid being cheated)