Business Travel Startup Arbitrip Will Arbitrage Your Trip

Ever worry that your hotel room price will drop after you booked?

Tel Aviv-based Arbitrip, operated by Arigato Advanced Travel Technology Ltd., ensures travelers won’t lose out in the event of a change in their hotel’s pricing.

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Arbitrip develops a platform for companies booking hotel rooms for their employees. The company uses machine learning algorithms to study user preferences and booking requirements, and scours the web for matching accommodations. Arbitrip's economic model is not based on payment for the use of the system, but on fees from hotels and suppliers with whom they work, similar to travel agencies.

"A familiar phenomenon is that when you book a hotel room, its price can drop as the time of travel and occupancy approaches due to changes in the supply and demand of the rooms in that area as well as many other factors," Benny Yonovich, CEO and co-founder of Arbitrip, said in an interview with Calcalist last month.

"Prices are just as volatile as stock prices, so we decided to leverage this phenomenon for our users," Yonovich said.

According to Yonovich, if a traveler has booked a room for a specific date and at some point after booking there was a decrease in the price, Arbitrip’s system can cancel and re-book the room at a lower price even if it is a no cancellation booking. Moreover, if a more luxurious room or a better hotel becomes available for the same price, Arbitrip will upgrade the traveler’s booking at no extra cost.

"The system knows how to offer company employees rooms according to common parameters used in most tourist sites, such as star rating, proximity to a convention center, etc. It also takes into account the internal rating of colleagues who visited the same hotel in the past and their recommendations," Orel Jossef, the company’s co-founder, said in an interview with Calcalist last month.

In June 2018, The Teddy Sagi Group invested $4 million in Arbitrip, and the company has raised $5 million to date.

Arbitrip co-founders Orel Jossef (left) and Benny Yonovich. Photo: Israel Hadari