"MakeMyTrip pe sasta hai": scripts for the seven objections

A client asks for a Bangkok package. You send a quotation. Three hours later: "MakeMyTrip pe sasta hai." You've felt the drop in your stomach. Not because the client is wrong to compare prices, but because you know your quote and the OTA screenshot aren't pricing the same trip, and you have about two WhatsApp messages to prove it before they book elsewhere.

This happens on nearly every enquiry, for a simple reason: the average traveller checks close to 38 different websites before deciding where to book, according to Expedia's own research. Every prospect you talk to is comparison shopping, usually with an OTA tab open in another window while they're messaging you.

You don't need to beat MakeMyTrip's price. India's online travel market is real and growing (roughly USD 23.1 billion in 2025, headed to USD 33.9 billion by 2030), but offline channels still account for roughly half of all bookings. That half exists because a human who answers the phone at 11 pm in Bangkok is worth paying for. This post gives you the exact reply for the seven objections that show up on that comparison, without bad-mouthing the OTA once.

The reframe: you're not fighting a price, you're proving a service

Never trash MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip, or any OTA by name in a client conversation. It reads as defensive. Clients know these platforms process millions of bookings without incident, and attacking them makes you look like the party with something to hide.

The winning move is narrower. Show that the two prices aren't for the same thing, and sell what an OTA structurally can't offer: a named person accountable for this specific trip, a package built around what this client actually wants, and someone reachable when the itinerary breaks at 11 pm in a country where the client doesn't speak the language. That's the pitch behind every script below.

"It's too expensive" and "MMT shows it cheaper": the inclusions test

These two objections are really one objection: the client is looking at a number, not a package. Before you defend your price, get the OTA screenshot and put the inclusions side by side. Most of the time the gap closes, or even reverses, once you match what's actually included.

Line item	OTA "package" (often)	Your quote
Flights	Basic economy, no seat selection	Selected seats, checked bag confirmed
Hotel	Lowest-rated property meeting the star tag	Vetted property, checked for location/reviews
Transfers	Shared or self-arranged	Private, confirmed
Changes if plans shift	Rebooking fee + fare difference	You call the hotel/airline on their behalf
Support during the trip	Ticketed helpdesk, queue	Your number, answered

Example: A client shows you a MakeMyTrip Bangkok package at ₹38,000 versus your quote of ₹46,000. You pull up the OTA inclusions: shared airport transfer, a 2-star hotel outside the city, no seat selection. Your ₹46,000 includes a 3-star hotel on Sukhumvit, private transfers both ways, and a phone number that answers if their flight gets rescheduled. The gap is ₹8,000 for two nights (about ₹4,000 a night) for a materially better hotel and someone accountable if anything goes wrong. Said that way, most clients stop treating it as a discount conversation.

The script: "Send me the OTA link. Let me match it inclusion for inclusion so you're comparing the same trip. If it really is identical, I'll tell you honestly to book it there. If it's not, I'll show you exactly where the ₹X difference goes." Offering to send them elsewhere, sincerely, is what makes the rest of the conversation credible. Build this comparison into the quotation itself rather than explaining it after the fact. See a quotation format that actually converts for how to lay out inclusions so the gap never needs defending in the first place.

"Discount do na": the two moves that protect margin

A flat discount request is the easiest objection to get wrong, because giving in feels like it closes the sale today and costs you on every trip after. Cutting your margin to match a lower quote doesn't just cost you this booking's profit. The maths of matching the cheapest quote shows how a habit of discounting compounds into a much bigger hit over a season, not a one-time concession.

Instead of a price cut, offer a value add that costs you less than it's worth to the client: a room upgrade you can get at cost from your hotel contact, a free airport pickup, or an early check-in you can negotiate. The script: "I can't move on the package price. That's built on real costs. What I can do is get you [specific add-on] at no extra charge, because I have a direct relationship with this hotel." If the client pushes further, ask what they're comparing to. Often "discount do na" is a reflex, not a real objection tied to a competing quote, and asking surfaces which one it is.

"Send me the itinerary, I'll decide" and "let me check with one more agent"

Both of these are stalls, and both usually mean the client is about to shop your itinerary around to two more agents, using it as their reference document. You've done the planning work for free, for someone else to quote against. The fix is to never send a fully worked itinerary before some commitment, even a small one.

The script for "send me the itinerary first": "I'll put together the full day-by-day plan. That usually takes me an hour or two of real work with the hotels and local contacts, so I ask for a small token amount to hold your dates while I build it. It comes off your package cost when you confirm." This isn't a trick; it's charging for planning work the way you'd expect to be paid for any specialised time. If a small planning fee feels like a big shift for your business, the case for charging planning fees instead of giving them away free walks through how to introduce it without losing the enquiry.

For "let me check with one more agent," don't chase or pressure. Give them a reason to come back to you specifically. "Absolutely, do check around. Just make sure whoever else you ask is quoting the same hotel category and inclusions, not a cheaper substitute with a similar name. I'll hold this quote for 48 hours; message me if you want me to match anything they show you that's genuinely comparable." The 48-hour window is doing real work here: it converts a vague stall into a deadline you control.

"Let me ask my spouse" and "last year it was cheaper"

"Let me ask my spouse/family" is often genuine, not a stall. Respect it, but don't let the conversation go cold. "Of course, take your time. Want me to send a one-page summary you can forward, so you're not retyping everything I told you?" Doing the forwarding work for them keeps you in the loop instead of leaving it to memory.

"Last year it was cheaper" is usually true and worth acknowledging rather than arguing with. Hotel rates, airfares, and the rupee itself move year on year. This isn't a case you need to dispute, just explain plainly: "You're right, and that's mostly the hotel and airline pushing their own rates up this year, not anything I've added. I can show you last year's quote against this year's if that helps, so you can see exactly what moved." If the increase is currency-driven on an outbound trip, be specific about it rather than vague: clients trust a number over a shrug.

The TCS objection is dead: "I'll book it myself to skip the tax"

This one used to be a genuine reason for a client to unbundle a trip: book flights and hotel separately, or pay vendors directly, specifically to avoid Tax Collected at Source on the package. As of July 2026, that argument mostly doesn't hold up any more.

From 1 April 2026, TCS on overseas tour packages is a flat 2% on every rupee, replacing the earlier structure of 5% up to ₹10 lakh and 20% above that during FY 2025-26 (Budget 2026 announcement). The 20% tax shock that made "book it myself" worth the hassle is gone.

Example: A family of four books a ₹12,00,000 Dubai package. Under the FY 2025-26 slab, TCS would have worked out to ₹50,000 (5% on the first ₹10,00,000) plus ₹40,000 (20% on the remaining ₹2,00,000): ₹90,000 collected upfront. Under the flat 2% rule now in force, it's ₹12,00,000 × 2% = ₹24,000. That's a ₹66,000 swing for the exact same trip, purely from the rate change.

The script when a client raises this: "That workaround made sense when the tax on a package like this could hit 20%, locking up a big chunk of your money until you filed your return. Now it's a flat 2%, so on your trip that's just ₹24,000, and it's not even a real cost to you: it's adjustable against whatever tax you owe, or refundable when you file your ITR." That last point matters: TCS collected is not a final tax: it's adjustable against liability or refundable on filing ITR, so framing it as money the client loses is simply inaccurate. If they want the full mechanics of claiming it back, forward them the TCS refund guide written for clients. It's built to be sent on WhatsApp. For the collection and filing side of your own compliance, see the flat 2% TCS playbook.

Common questions

Should I ever match an OTA's price exactly?

Rarely, and only after you've confirmed the inclusions are genuinely identical: same hotel category, same transfers, same cancellation terms. If they're not identical, matching the price means giving away the extras that justified your margin in the first place.

What if the client's OTA screenshot really is a better deal?

Say so. Telling a client "you're right, book that one" costs you this trip but builds the kind of trust that brings them back for the next one, and for referrals. That's worth more than one booking's margin.

How do I bring up planning fees without sounding like I'm charging for something that used to be free?

Frame it as the cost of a properly built itinerary, not a barrier to enquiry: a token amount that's adjusted against the package once confirmed, not an extra charge.

The short version

• The average traveller checks around 38 sites before booking. Assume every client is comparing you to an OTA right now, not eventually.
• Never bad-mouth MakeMyTrip or any OTA by name; match inclusions side by side and let the gap (or lack of one) speak for itself.
• Sell what an OTA can't: a named person accountable for this trip, customisation to what the client actually wants, and a phone number that's answered at 11 pm abroad.
• For "discount do na," offer a value add you can get at cost instead of cutting margin. Chasing every competing quote down compounds into a much bigger loss over a season.
• For "send me the itinerary first" and "let me check with one more agent," use a small planning-fee hold and a time-boxed quote to stop your work becoming someone else's reference document.
• The flat 2% TCS on overseas packages (as of July 2026, replacing the old 5%/20% slab) has largely killed the "I'll book components myself to dodge the tax" objection: the maths no longer favours it.
• Rates and thresholds referenced here reflect the position as of July 2026; confirm current figures with your CA before finalising a quotation.