As a hotel owner or manager, you know how crucial it is to keep your business running smoothly. But are you aware that your booking engine might be costing you more revenue than you think? In 2025, your booking engine needs to be simple, fast, and easy to use—if it’s not, you’re losing potential guests.
Let’s walk through the 10 most common booking engine mistakes that could be hurting your revenue and what you can do to fix them.
1. Not Optimizing for Mobile: You’re Losing Guests!
In 2025, most people book hotel rooms using their phones, not computers. If your booking engine isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re losing out on a big chunk of your bookings. Imagine someone finding your hotel online, clicking to book, and then getting frustrated because your booking system doesn’t work well on mobile—they’ll leave and book somewhere else.
- Quick Fix: Make sure your booking engine works smoothly on mobile devices. It should look good and be easy to use on phones and tablets.
Mobile Optimization Checklist:
2. No Real-Time Availability: Big Problem
When guests want to book a room, they expect real-time availability. If a room is booked, it should be shown as unavailable right away, across all channels. If you don’t have PMS Integrations (syncing your booking engine with your system), you risk overbooking or showing rooms that aren’t actually available.
- Quick Fix: Sync your booking engine with your PMS to show real-time availability and rates. Keep everything accurate and updated.
Real-Time Availability Checklist:
3. Complicated Checkout Process: Too Much for Your Guests
Do you ask your guests to fill out long forms or jump through multiple hoops before confirming a booking? That’s a big mistake. If the checkout process is complicated, guests may abandon their booking before it’s confirmed. Keep it simple!
- Quick Fix: Simplify your checkout process—keep it to 3-4 steps and only ask for the basics. This makes it easier and faster for guests to book.
Booking Flow Tips:
4. Hidden Fees: No One Likes Surprises
Imagine this: A guest sees a great rate on your booking engine, but when they get to the checkout, the price suddenly jumps up due to hidden fees. That’s frustrating and can lead to abandoned bookings.
- Quick Fix: Be upfront with pricing. Show the total price, including taxes and fees, early in the booking process.
Transparency in Pricing:
5. Not SEO-Optimized: You’re Not Easy to Find
If your booking engine isn’t showing up on Google, you’re missing out. SEO is important, not just for your website but also for your booking engine. If your booking pages aren’t ranking on search engines, potential guests won’t be able to find you.
- Quick Fix: Optimize your booking pages for search engines. Use the right keywords, meta tags, and clear URLs to help your booking engine show up in searches.
SEO Optimization Tips:
6. No Upselling Opportunities: Missing Revenue
Would you like to add breakfast or upgrade to a better room? If you’re not offering these upsell options, you’re missing out on extra revenue. Upselling isn’t pushy—it’s just a way to give guests more options that improve their stay and your revenue.
- Quick Fix: Add upsell options like room upgrades, breakfast, or late checkout during the booking process.
Upselling Opportunities:
7. Not Offering Multiple Payment Options: You’re Limiting Your Guests
Not all guests want to pay with a credit card. Some might prefer Apple Pay or PayPal. If your booking engine only accepts credit cards, you’re excluding a lot of potential customers.
- Quick Fix: Add multiple payment options (PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay) to give guests the flexibility they want.
Payment Options Checklist:
8. Lack of Analytics: How Do You Know What’s Working?
If you’re not tracking how guests interact with your booking engine, how do you know what needs fixing? Analytics help you track which features are working and where guests are dropping off.
- Quick Fix: Integrate analytics into your booking engine. Track metrics like conversion rates and abandoned bookings to make informed improvements.
Key Metrics to Track:
9. Poor User Experience (UX): Guests Want Simplicity
Your booking engine should be easy to use, not complicated or frustrating. If guests can’t easily find what they’re looking for or feel lost while booking, they’ll leave. Simple, clear navigation is key.
- Quick Fix: Improve UX by making sure the design is clean, simple, and easy to navigate.
UX Best Practices:
10. Not A/B Testing: Are You Sure It’s Working?
Without A/B testing, how do you know which design or feature works best? You might think a booking button looks great, but what if a different color or text would lead to more bookings?
- Quick Fix: Start A/B testing to see which version of your booking engine gets the most conversions.
A/B Testing Focus Areas:
Product Focus: AxisRooms Channel Manager—Simplifying Your Booking Engine Integration
With AxisRooms, you get a centralized control panel that allows you to manage room availability across multiple OTAs, all in one place. This ensures that your rates and availability are synchronized in real-time—reducing the chances of double-bookings and improving your overall revenue strategy.
Conclusion: Don’t Let Your Booking Engine Be a Cash Cow That’s Leaking Money
So, there you have it—the top 10 booking engine mistakes that are probably costing you more than you realize. But don’t stress—fixing these issues is totally doable, and once you do, you’ll see a significant increase in bookings and revenue. Just remember to focus on user experience, mobile optimization, and keeping everything simple and transparent.
If you’re still struggling with your booking engine in 2025, it’s time to make some changes. Don’t wait until you’ve lost too many bookings—act now and turn your engine into the revenue-driving machine it’s meant to be.