EaseMyTrip bought 55% of cheQin, a marketplace where travellers bargain with hotels

cheQin runs a real-time hotel-booking marketplace where travellers bargain with hoteliers, see the top five lowest offers, and can pay at the hotel directly via web, Android and iOS apps.

Letting travellers bargain — with hotels' five lowest real-time offers on screen — can win hotel bookings, and EaseMyTrip's traffic can scale it.

Founder Venu G Somineni built cheQin's bargaining algorithm to bring in the top five lowest hotelier offers, giving hoteliers real-time booking requests and more control over their inventory.

On 25 January 2023 EaseMyTrip acquired a 55% stake (cost undisclosed), saying it would strengthen its hotel channel in tech, adaptability and personalisation, and enable bulk bookings, long-stay and last-minute reservations. CEO and cofounder Nishant Pitti called cheQin's options 'unparalleled in all segments' with potential to scale and strengthen cross-selling. The same week, EaseMyTrip announced a franchise-model entry into offline travel.

Bargaining is a genuinely differentiated booking mechanic: five live lowest offers per request, not fixed rates.

Hoteliers get free signup, demand data and pricing control, lowering supply-side resistance.

EaseMyTrip could plug group bookings, long stays and last-minute needs straight into its existing traffic.

It kept the deal majority (55%) rather than full ownership, with the cost undisclosed.

For a listed OTA under pressure to diversify beyond air tickets, buying a majority of a differentiated booking mechanic is faster than building one in-house.

EaseMyTrip positioned cheQin as a way to gain customers 'at the most competitive prices' and deepen cross-selling; Somineni expected the partnership to strengthen the market in the years to come. No integration results or deal value were disclosed as of the report.