Families looking to go away during the October half-term could save hundreds of pounds on their accommodation if they book on their mobile phones, MailOnline can reveal.
Customers of Booking.com will be charged close to £200 more to stay in London for four nights if they booked through the company’s website on their computer, instead of using their smartphone app.
We also found that families-of-four could find discounts on the app for stays in hotels and apartments in Edinburgh, Madrid, Rome and Lisbon.
It comes after a Mail on Sunday investigation compared 35 hotels listed on Booking.com in popular half-term destinations in the UK and abroad, including Tenerife and Majorca.
The prices of rooms in the UK and Europe during half-term were an average of 16 per cent more per night – nearly £50 – if the booking was made on a laptop or desktop computer.
Families planning half-term breaks face paying up to 50 per cent more on Booking.com if they use a computer rather than the travel firms smartphone app
Prices of rooms for a family of four in the UK and Europe during half-term were an average of 16 per cent more per night – nearly £50 – if the booking was made on a laptop or desktop computer.
The greatest differentials could be found in England’s capital. with The Cumberland hotel in London charged a family of four £388 for booking two rooms via the Booking.com smartphone app, but £588 on its website – a 52 per cent hike.
In the same time frame in Scotland, Staycity Aparthotels Edinburgh West End could be booked for £1,149 on peoples mobiles, but £1,277 on their computers.
The Mail On Sunday investigation looked at the rates for a family of three booking one room, and a family of four booking two, for the night of October 31.
In total, 30 out of the 35 increased prices between 4 and 52 per cent, with a family of four booking two rooms forking out an average of £49 more per night through the website, while a family of three booking one room paid an average of £36 more.
For two adults with no children, just six hotels charged an average of 10 per cent more on the website.
Although some of the cheaper app prices were labelled mobile-only, many were not. And there was no indication to website customers that app prices could be cheaper.
Those looking to stay at the Park Plaza in London Waterloo from October 31 until November 1 being charged £878 on the Booking.com smartphone app, but £1,084 on their website - a hike of 23 per cent
In the same time frame in Scotland, Staycity Aparthotels Edinburgh West End could be booked for £1,149 on peoples mobiles, but £1,277 on their computers.
We also found that families-of-four could find mobile discounts for stays in hotels and apartments in Edinburgh , Madrid and Rome (pictured)
A four-night stay at an apartment in Lisbon cost £85 more when booking it on a computer
Experts said the pricing system meant families were unwittingly and unfairly paying over the odds.
Consumer expert Helen Dewdney, of The Complaining Cow website, described the practice as utterly bizarre.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, warned: Families are unwittingly – and unfairly – paying higher prices for their holiday.
A Booking.com spokesman said hotels set their own prices, adding: Our accommodation partners offer mobile-only rates as a way to appeal to customers.