EU: Booking and Expedia accused of breaking antitrust law

According to a report from Bloomberg Nustay has filed a complaint to the European Union’s antitrust regulator, claiming Expedia and Booking are trying to “kill off” the startup for offering lower prices and punishing hotels that appear on its site.

The Danish company said the online travel giants were in breach of competition rules by trying to maintain “artificially high price levels” for hotel rooms, thereby potentially trying to keep their commissions high, by preventing Nustay from offering lower prices.

Founded in 2014, Nustay advertises rooms booked at a block rate, as well as direct on-demand booking, in a bid to provide customers cheaper offers than often appear on rival sites. The Danish website also charges low commissions, resulting in better prices for customers but the same earnings for hotels, it says.

“We really have the possibility to give a better product to the consumers at a lower price, but we are seeing a tremendous effort from Expedia and Booking.com to kill us before we even get a chance to get a foothold, “ Nustay Chief Executive Officer Mathias Lundoe Nielsen said in an interview, adding they decided to file the complaint to try to get fair terms and “show how big of a problem it actually is.”