Tingo, New Hotel Booking Site, Promises Users Hotel Refunds

A new booking site from TripAdvisor launches Wednesday, promising users an instant refund of the price difference if the rate at which they reserve a room drops.

Tingo allows users to book almost any hotel available on Expedia and then automatically tracks the rates at the property, meaning consumers don't have to watch prices on their own to get a better deal. It's a clever solution to the problem of trying to time a booking to get the lowest possible rate.

The company says about a third of rooms drop in price between booking and check-in, with discounts in the order of tens of dollars. In one real-world example provided by Tingo, a room booked on Hilton Head Island for $264 dropped by $35 before that guest arrived.

If rates on a Tingo-booked hotel don't drop, nothing happens and guests check in as usual.

While there's not yet a Tingo loyalty program -- like Welcome Rewards at Hotels.com -- Tingo does offer integrated TripAdvisor reviews and the possibility that consumers can save money for doing, well, absolutely nothing.