Earny, the app that refunds users for price drops on retail buys, is now helping travelers save on hotel stays. Earny Hotels, launched on Wednesday, January 30, helps monitor and rebook hotels if the price drops ahead of the scheduled stay. Unlike platform-exclusive price guarantees, Earny works with a number of different booking platforms while also booking from the hotel website directly.
Earny works by monitoring hotel prices after booking, and notifying users if the price drops. Travelers can then cancel the original booking and rebook at the lower cost. Earny says the new hotel program saves an average of $75 a stay and that about 70 percent of reservations are refundable through the program. The company says the average traveler books around 42 days in advance and during that time, some prices see significant drops.
Run via a partnership with Priceline Partner Network (part of priceline.com), the service works with a number of different online booking platforms. While some platforms offer similar programs, Earny allows travelers to rebook lower rates while still comparing prices from multiple sources. The app also offers data on average price trends over the preceding few months.
The expansion is the first move into travel for the retail-based company, and Earny says similar expansions are planned for the future. Earny’s app works with credit card companies and major retailers to refund the difference if the price on an item drops after purchasing.
“At Earny, we’re committed to making sure that consumers never overpay for their purchases, regardless of the type of transaction,” Oded Vakrat, co-founder and CEO of Earny, said in a press release. “We’ve been leading the ecommerce space with retail and credit card price protection, and we’re really excited to provide our users the confidence to book hotel rooms at any given time. We’re working on adding more services like Earny Hotels to our network. It’s going to be a year of expansion and personalization for Earny.”
Earny currently has more than three million active users — the company says users have saved in the “tens of millions” since the company first launched in May 2016. The free app takes a percentage of the refund.
Earny is available to download from the App Store and Google Play.
