Nonrefundable-hotel-room auction site gets funding
Everyone knows that non-refundable hotel rates are the cheapest way to go. Until you have to cancel.
Enter GoRoomer.com, where travelers (or travel managers) can resell nonrefundable reservations they cannot use, recouping some of their money and avoiding cancellation fees. Buyers get a nice room and a really low price.
It seems like a good idea, and indeed it was good enough to secure $2 million in funding from venture capital fund The BRM Group.
The Tel Aviv-based site is first targeting the US market, launching in New York, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. US travelers cancel tens of thousands of pre-paid hotel reservations every night, the company said.
Roomer was founded in 2011 as part of the Zell Entrepreneurship Program, a university program for aspiring undergraduate entrepreneurs.
By Cheryl Rosen
Dozens fall ill in P&O Cruises ship outbreak
Turkish Airlines flight in emergency landing after pilot dies
Boy falls to death on cruise ship
Unexpected wave rocks cruise ship
Storm Lilian travel chaos as bank holiday flights cancelled