Free bike for booking on the hotel website: how to turn it into direct bookings

Direct answer: offer the electric bike free only to guests who book on your hotel's website, and have guests who arrive through an OTA pay a daily price (for example, €10 a day). To win direct bookings, guests have to see it before they book, next to the price.

If they discover it in the lobby, it's too late: they've already booked. That's what this article is about: where to mention it, what to say on each channel and which mistakes cancel it out. How the service works (the room key, who maintains the bikes, what reception does) is covered in the guide to electric bikes for hotels.

Why does a free bike persuade more than another discount?

Because it doesn't touch the room rate. A discount for booking direct gets compared with the OTA rate and is forgotten as soon as the guest pays. The bike is something else: something they use during their stay and don't get on the OTA.

Three reasons:

• It's visible. A photo of bikes carrying your brand at the hotel door is understood without reading the small print.
• It gets used. In our accommodation operation, the median rental lasts 8.3 hours and each booking takes 1.2 bikes on average. It's the day's transport, not a one-hour ride.
• It gets used again. 38.8% of guests rent more than once: almost 4 in 10 take one again.

And there's an effect that doesn't show up in any rate: every guest who books on your website instead of an OTA is a commission you don't pay.

Who pays for the bike if it's free for direct guests?

The hotel pays Cityflow a monthly fee per bike, on request. What guests who arrive through an OTA pay helps recover it. How much they pay is up to you: €10 a day is only an example. That price appears on their screen before they confirm the rental.

The model works from both sides at once. The channel that charges you commission helps pay for the bikes, and your website has something to offer that isn't another discount. Maintenance, charging, insurance, GPS and support are included.

Where should the free bike appear?

Before booking, above all. This is the list we suggest, from most to least important:

What you put inside the OTA, on your listing or in its messages, depends on your contract with it: check it first. Your website, your emails and your hotel are yours.

What do you tell a guest who came through an OTA?

The truth, framed positively. The bikes are for all your guests: those who booked on your website don't pay and everyone else pays a daily price. A line that works for the sign and for reception:

“The hotel's electric bikes are right at the door. Today they cost you €X a day; next time, if you book on our website, they're free.”

This is the most powerful moment. The guest is at your hotel, sees the bikes and knows exactly what they'd gain by booking with you next time.

Reception isn't involved in the rental: guests pick up the bike on their own, with their room's NFC key, and if they have to pay, the price appears on screen. All your team needs is to know how to say that line.

Which mistakes stop it from working?

1. Only mentioning it at the hotel. By the time guests see the bikes at the door, they've already booked. It works for the next stay, not this one.
2. Hiding it under “amenities”. If it isn't next to the price, it doesn't compete with the OTA.
3. Messages that don't match. A real complaint from a guest: “At reception they told me it was free and I've been charged.” The website, the emails, the sign and reception have to say the same thing.
4. Promising a bike per person. Say “free electric bikes during your stay”, not “a bike for every guest”. They're shared; if there aren't enough, more are added.
5. A price nobody explained. If an OTA guest finds out at the door, it feels like an extra charge. Tell them in the pre-arrival email.

How do you know if it's working?

Nobody can tell you how much your direct bookings will grow without knowing your hotel. What you can measure yourself:

• The share of direct bookings versus OTAs, compared with the same months last year. You have it in your PMS or your booking engine.
• How much the bikes are used. In the Cityflow dashboard you see your hotel's rentals in real time.
• How many reviews mention the bikes.
• Whether guests who came through an OTA come back booking on your website.

Give it at least a season before drawing conclusions. To compare with usage across our whole network, the figures, with their methodology, are in our operating data.

How do you get started?

1. Tell us how many rooms you have and whether your keys are NFC.
2. We suggest how many bikes to start with, the fee and an example price for OTA guests. You set the final one.
3. We put your branded bikes at the door.
4. You update the booking engine, the emails and the sign. Running the bikes is on us.

The whole service is on electric bikes for hotels. If you want the numbers for your hotel, talk to sales.

Frequently asked questions

Can I advertise the free bike on Booking.com or another OTA?

It depends on your contract with each OTA: check it first. Where you can always say it is on your website, in your emails and at the hotel itself.

How much should a guest who comes through an OTA pay?

You decide; for example, €10 a day. It helps recover the monthly per-bike fee the hotel pays Cityflow, and the guest sees the price on screen before confirming.

What does reception have to do?

Nothing with the operation: guests pick up the bike on their own. The one thing worth doing is making sure reception gives the same message as the website: free if you booked on our website; otherwise, a daily price.

How much do direct bookings go up with a free bike?

It depends on your hotel and on where you mention it. Measure it yourself: compare the share of direct bookings with the same months last year and check how much the bikes are used in the Cityflow dashboard.