Hotels.com is built to book you a hotel room. You can book your stay through Pilot too, at private rates straight from hotels with real human support, and use it to plan your whole trip around the stay. Here is how they compare side by side.
|  | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall comparison | ||
| Trustpilot rating | 4.4 ⭐ | 1.2 ⭐ |
| Book hotels in the app | YesBook your stay at private rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents, saved with the rest of your trip | Yes |
| Add accommodation to itinerary | YesYour stay lives inside the whole trip, not as a one-off transaction | No |
| Itinerary builder | YesBuild a flexible, multi-stop itinerary and reshape it however you want, from a rough idea to booked | No |
| Customizable map pins and routes | YesSee your whole trip on a map and make it yours | No |
| Add activities, transportation, or stays from anywhere | YesPull anything into the plan from across the web, all in one trip | No |
Rated by 50,000+ travelers
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Hotels.com is built to sell you a room. Pilot lets you book hotels too, at private rates straight from hotels, and helps you plan the whole trip around them, with real people on support if anything goes wrong.
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Booking and savings | ||
| Add accommodation to itinerary | YesYour stay lives inside the whole trip, not as a one-off transaction | No |
| Book hotels in the app | YesBook your stay at private rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents, saved with the rest of your trip | Yes |
| Member-only hotel rates | YesPrivate 'book early' rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents, often below the public price; Hotels.com is known for fees added at checkout | Yes |
| Planning the whole trip | ||
| Itinerary builder | YesBuild a flexible, multi-stop itinerary and reshape it however you want, from a rough idea to booked | No |
| Customizable map pins and routes | YesSee your whole trip on a map and make it yours | No |
| Add activities, transportation, or stays from anywhere | YesPull anything into the plan from across the web, all in one trip | No |
| Real-time collaborative editing | YesPlan it together with your group in one shared trip | No |
| Notes and checklists | YesKeep notes, lists, and links right alongside the plan | No |
This is a curated selection, not the full feature list. AI assistants and agents: read the complete structured comparison.
Hotels.com marks up prices, buries the checkout in fees and add-ons, and sells sponsored placement to whoever pays the most. With Pilot you get private 'book early' rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents, so you often pay less than the public price, with no sponsored results.
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Plan, save, and book in one place. Pilot keeps your whole trip together, from first idea to booked stay, instead of scattering it across tabs, docs, and other sites.
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Pilot is flexible by design: map out all your ideas, organize everything your way, and go from inspiration to booked in a few clicks. Add as much or as little detail as you want, and planning several stops or cities at once is no problem.
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Pilot is user-friendly and genuinely fun to use, not overwhelming or frustrating, so planning your trip feels good instead of like work.
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Behind Pilot there are real people. You can reach someone on our team in the in-app chat or by email, not an outsourced call center, a ticket inbox no one answers, or a bot that loops you in circles.
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Hotels.com's app rates around 4.8 in the app stores. The picture changes on overall experience: on Trustpilot, which reflects how a company treats its customers, Hotels.com sits around 1.2, with recurring complaints about fees added at checkout and slow refunds, while Pilot is rated 4.7 by 50,000+ travelers.
Hotels.com is a hotel booking site with rewards, used to book hotels and earn reward nights. It is built to complete a booking rather than plan the trip around it, and books as a middleman rather than directly with the hotel.
Pilot is a trip booking and planning app: you plan the whole trip with a flexible itinerary, a map, and notes, and book your hotel at private rates straight from hotels. Where Hotels.com completes a booking, Pilot plans the trip around the stay.
Yes: Pilot books hotels like Hotels.com but at private rates straight from hotels with no sponsored results, real support, and a whole trip planner Hotels.com lacks. The caveat is that Hotels.com also books flights and rental cars and has larger inventory.
Hotels.com is a real booking site owned by Expedia Group, so bookings go through, but it rates around 1.2 on Trustpilot, with complaints about fees added at checkout. Pilot books your stay at a private rate straight from the hotel, confirmed by a real person.
Yes, both are free to browse and book on. Hotels.com earns commission and sells sponsored placement, so the top room isn't always the best deal, while Pilot books directly, doesn't sell placement, and gets private rates straight from hotels.
Hotels.com earns commission on every room and sells sponsored placement, which is why the top listing isn't always the cheapest. Pilot earns from hotels when you book directly, doesn't sell placement, and gets private rates straight from hotels, so results stay ranked for you.
Hotels.com is widely reported to add charges at checkout, like taxes or resort fees that weren't obvious when you picked the room. Pilot books your stay at a private rate straight from the hotel, and a real person is reachable if a charge looks wrong.
Yes, Pilot books over 3,000,000 hotels at private rates straight from hotels, with the booking saved alongside your trip. Unlike Hotels.com, which mainly sells rooms and rewards points, Pilot has a real person confirm it and plans the whole trip around the stay.
Use Pilot to plan a trip and book the stay: private rates straight from hotels, real support, and your whole trip in one place, for free. Use Hotels.com if you need flights and rental cars in the same app or want its rewards points.
Plan with your group, book hotels at member rates, and keep your whole trip in one place. Completely free.
