Is It Smart To Book A Hotel Through TikTok? What Travelers Need To Know About This New Service

Instead of traditional travel books and blogs, young travelers are, by and large, using TikTok to plan and book trips. From short-form aesthetic inspiration to longer travel vlogs and in-depth tips, it's a great way to gather information for your trip. Unlike traditional travel blogs, TikTok leads with visuals. But is it smart to book your hotel through TikTok?

TikTok has a new partnership with Booking.com that lets travelers book hotel rooms directly through the app after seeing it in a video. See an influencer in a spot that looks perfect for your trip? Now, you may be able to simply click on the tagged location to view available rooms, dates, and prices. Simply click on the location pin in the bottom left corner and the hotel's page is pulled up where you can view photos and booking information. The only catch is that creators have to pin the hotel's location, which happens less often than simply pinning the city they're in.

While you book via TikTok, you're not booking with the app itself, but Booking.com. However, your confirmation arrives in your TikTok inbox for easy access. While it's smart to do your own research about hotels and the region you're booking in outside of TikTok, the process itself is no different from booking a hotel online and is a safe way to book. Use caution as you would with any third-party booking service to avoid falling prey to this troubling hosting scam that's exploding on sites like Booking.com.

Hotel bookings are not the only thing you find on TikTok, which, if you want it to be, is an endless stream of new inspiration for your next trip. TikTok is great for those short bursts of inspiration, scenic shots, and beautiful 15-second clips of landscapes you save and probably not visit. If you use it right, however, it can also be a great network for word-of-mouth travel information.

Backpacking the world looks easy in a 15-second video, and there are plenty of those on TikTok, but the app also has creators who show the not-so-pretty side of travel. Solo travelers double as content creators, giving tips for packing light, safety when traveling alone, the best hostels to stay in, and game-changing hacks for getting through TSA. While a lot of suggestions of places to hit are tourist traps, there are gold nuggets floating around. If you've just landed in a new city, for example, it's easy to open the app and find dozens of restaurant suggestions for dinner, with a fully visual menu.

Like a blog thread or Airbnb review page, TikTok comments are also full of opinions from travelers who have visited the city you're eyeing. While not the best (or most complete) way to make up your mind, you usually get a good sense of places that are worth visiting with the time you have (or that may not be a good fit for you). While there are pros and cons to planning your next vacation with TikTok, it's a great tool to have. Just be sure to supplement with other sources once you've got that hit of inspiration.