Booking.com strives in its selection algorithms to provide travelers with the best possible ride experience, within this, Booking.com prioritizes those Partners who:
(1) demonstrate both good quality (based on the metrics mentioned below); AND
(2) provide the most competitive pricing.
With this in mind, we highly encourage our partners to strive for the very best quality and price (and qualify for the Preferred Partner Programme), as it enhances the likelihood of receiving a higher volume of Bookings. We also encourage those Partners who are qualified into the Preferred Partner Programme to still be conscious of whether they are providing the most competitive pricing too, as this will also enhance the likelihood of you receiving a higher volume of Bookings.
The relative importance of each of these above factors can change from time to time, to make sure we are recommending the most suitable rides for our mutual customers. We also reserve the right to undertake ongoing experimentation and development of the algorithm, which may include adding in extra factors to the above, including, but not limited to:
- Genius or promotional offers;
- availability;
- a forecasted conversion rating specific to new Partners, vehicles or product types;
- a diversity ranking aimed at providing Customer’s variety in their search results; and/or
- a mixture of or components of those listed at above over shorter or longer timescales.
The Partner may also participate in programs or promotions that Booking.com makes available from time to time which may be included as factors within the selection algorithms, such as, the Genius Programme. The range of programmes available may change from time to time and further details of these programmes are available to the Partner on request.
Booking.com further reserves its right to de-rank within the selection algorithm in specific Partner default circumstances, such as the Partner’s failure to meet minimum quality standards (as described in Clause 20.7 (Suspension and Restriction by Booking.com) of the General T&Cs and/or paragraph 3.5 (Failure to meet quality standards) of the Partner Operating Document).
What is the Preferred Partner Programme?
The Preferred Partner Programme is an eligibility-based programme that gives top-performing partners greater preference for securing a Booking in reward for offering our customers the best service.
See this article for more information on the Preferred Partner Programme.
How do you determine ‘good quality’?
We review quality based on various criteria, including:
- Supplier Survey Score is high - this is the average score rated by our customers (we would recommend that a Partner aims for equal or greater than 4.60*)
- Supplier Incident Rate is low - this is the percentage of bookings with an incident, such as driver no shows, driver delays, etc (we would recommend that a Partner aims for lower than 1.5%*)
- Supplier Decline Rate is low - this is the percentage of declined bookings you have had in the last month (we would recommend that a Partner aims for lower than 1%*)
- Driver Events are high - this is the percentage of rides with Driver Events, which are provided through the Booking.com Driver App or by API connection (we would recommend that a Partner aims for equal or greater than 90%*)
*Please note we are providing these figures as suggested metrics for best quality (i.e. qualification into our Preferred Partner Programme) as guidance, but the actual metrics of eligibility may be adjusted by Booking.com from time to time and across different geographical locations.