Agoda – Get Ready To Go!

The name is something that leads someone to think – what does it mean? And the answer – that’s creativity at its best! Although the word doesn’t mean anything, the duo was looking for a word that started with ‘a’, with the intentions of it being a quick find on the internet. With a ‘go’ in the name, that surely spells motivation for the potential tourist!

Origins
Founded in 2005 in Singapore, Agoda is the brainchild of Robert Rosenstein and Michael Kenny.The partnership’s foundation goes back to the 1990’s, when Michael invested in an early travel startup which Robert created while in Phuket, Thailand. Guided by the values of humility, technological innovation, and best-in-class innovation, Agoda was created to make travel simple and cost effective for travelers around the globe.
In 2007, Agoda was acquired by Booking Holdings, and is a sister concern of Bookings.com, RentalCars and Kayak. Among the subsidiaries, Agoda services the consumers of Asia-Pacific region primarily.

Why ‘go’ with Agoda?
As an all-in-one platform, Agoda offers a travelermultiple options to choose from, across flights, airport transfers, car rentals, and activities. In terms of stays, private or hotels, they offer nearly 3 million options in more than 200 countries. With the mission to “empower everyone to be a traveler”, Agoda provides affordable deals and a “hassle-free” experience on their app or website.
Agoda launched their flight booking services in 2019, and in the 3 years has grown to include numerous airline partners. For example, while booking a ticket from New Delhi to New York, a traveler can choose from more than 45 partners and at their preferred price point.
In partnership with their sister company, RentalCars.com, Agoda offers car rental and airport transfer options for travelers in 160 countries, in all the continents. They have partnered with at least 900 rental service providers, with popular names including Avis and Hertz.

Agoda Stats
In its 17 years of experience, Agoda has made its mark in different markets and destinations as demonstrated by its factsheet:

Top global markets, i.e. markets with most accommodations, hosted on Agoda (leading location first): Italy; United States; France; China; Spain; Germany; United Kingdom; India; Japan; Croatia
Top global destinations, i.e. destinations with most accommodations, hosted on Agoda (leading location first): Bali (Indonesia); Rome (Italy); London (United Kingdom); Shanghai (China); Beijing (China); Majorca (Spain); Guangzhou (China); Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia); Tokyo (Japan); Crete Island (Greece)
Top Asian markets, i.e. markets in Asia with most accommodations (leading location first): China; India; Japan; Thailand; Indonesia; Vietnam; Malaysia; South Korea; Philippines; Taiwan
Top Asian destinations, i.e. destinations in Asia with most accommodations (leading location first): Bali (Indonesia); Shanghai (China); Beijing (China); Guangzhou (China); Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia); Tokyo (Japan); Phuket (Thailand); New Delhi/NCR (India); Bangkok (Thailand); Shenzhen (China)

Benefits offered
The Agoda VIP program allows customers to get access to exclusive deals, which are marked by the “VIP Deals” badge. As an account holder advances from the VIP Bronze, to Silver, to Gold, to Platinum levels, they get access to benefits such as best price guarantee, insider deals, VIP deals starting at 12% upto 25% off, and finally, free breakfast and other perks on selected properties. The VIP Platinum holder gets all the benefits listed here, with VIP deals at 25% off. To make a customer’s enrollment to the program easier, it just takes a booking to kick off their journey in the VIP program!
Another program on offer is the PointsMAX program. While making a booking, account holders of Agoda can choose to select a points partner from the PointsMAX program and earn rewards upto 6,000 points after completing the hotel stay. This is applicable only on hotel stays. Points partners are listed below:

Asia Miles
Asiana Airlines
BonusLink
Etihad Guest
Flybuys
Bangkok Airways – Flyer bonus
Flying Blue (Air France, KLM)
Fortune Wings Club
L. Point
Enrich
Mabuhay Miles
Singapore Airlines – Krisflyer
The 1
United Airlines – Mileage Plus
Velocity Frequent Flyer
Yuu Insure

An important for using PointsMAX bookings is that the membership ID of the intended beneficiary of the third-party points should belong to the lead guest staying at the hotel.

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