I was watching ‘Wild Boys’ on Hulu last night. I don’t pay the extra for commercial-free viewing. Since I don’t have cable and watch little OTA, I’m curious about what’s being presented via commercials. I like seeing how the styles change, and enjoy mocking their messages.

Trivago was a big advertiser. Do you know of them? Trivago.com is another travel booking site. They begin by noting that the average American views seven travel sites before making their reservations. This is, they claim, because prices vary so greatly.

That is advertising bullshit.

After seeing the commercial five or six times, I decided to prove it this morning.

I’m not doing anything scientific or deeply insightful. I simply used Trivago, Travelocity, Expedia, Coast Hotels and Priceline to compare prices. My dates would be January 17th-19th, one room, no children, two adults. I would check one of my preferred hotels when staying in Portland, Oregon, the Benson Hotel. The Benson Hotel is a Coast Hotel, and that’s why it was included.

Did the prices vary widely, as Trivago claimed?

Hell, no. All of them quoted $152 per night.

Hotels.com: $152.

Hotwire.com: $152.

That’s what I expected. I’ve traveled for years. I’ve listened to the spiels through the years and I’ve tried every travel site. I’ve risked the auctions of Hotwire and Priceline. What I’ve learned is that there are not great deals; the prices are all the same. If anything, I think I could make a case that the travel site industry is colluding to price fix. I might be able to sue them for fraud for their claims.

While checking Travelzoo.com’s pricing, I saw their hot deal for the Mark Spencer: $134 a night on my travel dates. Hurry! they said. This sells out fast.

So I went to Hotels.com. Their special deal is the Mark Spencer: $134 a night on my travel dates. Eleven hours was left on this ‘Daily Deal’, which was twenty-five percent off.

Well, let’s look at the Mark Spencer on Priceline: $149.

Damn. That throws my theory out the window.

I went to the Mark Spencer Hotel site and discovered they would charge me $140. Then I circled back around to the Trivago.com site, to see what they presented me for the Mark Spencer.

Their deals, from Expedia.com, CheapTickets.com, and Hotels.com, showed $140. Booking.com offered a room for $149 through Trivago. Odd, then, that Trivago didn’t manage to find and offer the great deal that Hotels.com and Travelzoo offered.

What I’m curious about is whether I’m an exception, and whether others have noticed these things. Because, frankly, I’m tired of the Trivago ad selling their myth.

All of this demonstrates to me that once more, buyers beware.