Booking.com has accommodation in the illegally occupied territories of Palestine. Booking.com charges accommodation providers 14-40% for bookings through its site. There are two ways you could book accommodation without rewarding Booking.com, you could use other online platforms/book direct, or you could find the accommodation provider through booking.com and then book direct, at the same time negotiating a discount on the price quoted on booking.com, which would be a win.win.
As well as being complicit in the genocide/occupation booking.com indirectly drives up accommodation prices for consumers, providers increase their prices to factor in booking.com's cut. Providers are not allowed to advertise a price lower online (even directly through their own website) than the one published on booking.com, but obviously if you contact them directly they can offer a lower price and still earn more than through booking.com.
I owned a hospitality business with accommodation, and unfortunately booking.com was a necessary evil, because otherwise you'd lose too much potential business. Unfortunately most people just book through booking.com, rather than ringing/emailing direct. I would've always offered a lower price on a direct booking than a booking.com commission loaded booking. We were charged 14%, but if you wanted to be in pole position on the site, with all the bells and whistles, then charges were as high as 40%.
I don't think most consumers realise that they and business' are effectively taxed by booking.com and airbnb. Not only are these companies acting unethically, supporting occupation and apartheid, but they have driven up prices for consumers, such is their almost monopoly on bookings there is little to preventing them hike their commission charges in the future.
