Get cheap hotel deals via Working Advantage

Since this blog mainly focuses on hotel loyalty programmes, we don’t often cover online booking platforms unless there’s something particularly noteworthy (such as Badazhou or Gondola). Recently, though, I came across an interesting platform called Working Advantage that’s worth mentioning.

Working Advantage is an employee benefits platform aimed primarily at corporate clients. Employees of participating companies can purchase discounted gift cards, earn cashback on shopping, and book travel, including flights and hotels. There are quite a few similar platforms out there, as you may already be familiar with names like Perks at Work and Perkbox.

Working Advantage mainly targets the US market, and after browsing through it, I’d say most of the employee benefits aren’t especially relevant for those of us outside the US. The exception, however, is its hotel booking service.

I assumed it would simply be another standard online travel agency, but to my surprise, many hotels – particularly in major cities – are genuinely much cheaper than both the hotel’s own website and other booking platforms.

Here are a few examples, with Working Advantage prices listed first, followed by Ctrip / Trip.com:

• Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London: £189 / £265
• Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, Amsterdam : £338 / £428
• Hotel Liabeny, Madrid: £195 / £245
• Radisson Blu Plaza, Helsinki: £83 / £106
• The Lexington Hotel, New York: £188 / £229
• Hilton San Francisco Union Square: £107 / £134
• The Murray, Hong Kong: £251 / £355
• The Puli Hotel & Spa, Shanghai: £276 / £325
• Rosewood Beijing: £254 / £300
• Kimpton Shinjuku Tokyo: £326 / £464
• The Shilla, Seoul: £319 / £364
• The Peninsula Bangkok: £186 / £248

Most of the standout deals seem to be at upper-upscale and luxury hotels. The UK and the US appear to offer the greatest savings, although it’s possible to find attractive rates (20% to 30% cheaper than other channels) in destinations all over the world.

I haven’t personally booked a hotel through Working Advantage yet, but based on reports from other users, the service appears to be reliable (unsurprisingly, given the number of companies that work with it). One thing to note is that reservations don’t seem to be created until it’s closer to your travel date – my guess is that Working Advantage has negotiated group / bulk rates directly with hotels and thus processes reservations in batches.

Finally, a quick word on eligibility. You simply enter your company email address on the homepage to check whether your employer participates. I had a look and found that many major US companies – such as Google, Microsoft, Oracle, Bloomberg, Cisco, and Deloitte – are all supported. I didn’t get asked to verify my email address though.

And here’s the amusing part. Out of curiosity, I tried entering a QQ Mail address, and it told me I was eligible through a partner platform called Plum Benefits, which looks a white-labelled version of Working Advantage.

QQ Mail, backed by the same company that owns Wechat (Tencent), is a popular and public mail service provider in China.