There have been a lot of changes for vacation rental guests in the last few years. With the advent of AirBNB, the market changed radically almost overnight. With seemingly a lot more options for guests, AirBNB also introduced … guest Service Fees.
To compete, in 2016, HomeAway announced that it would also begin to charge a traveler fee on bookings made on VRBO and HomeAway and their other family of sites, mimicking Airbnb, FlipKey, and TripAdvisor.
For vacation renters, this can add a lot to the cost of your trip. What’s the big deal with these fees, though? How big are they really?
Here’s a quick comparison:
What are those new Service Fees paying for? They are directed to operating the vendor’s websites and fees such as marketing, and and customer call centers.
What does all this mean for vacation renters? It means you can save a lot by booking vacation rentals directly, and skipping these fees. Especially when you are a repeat guest or a seasoned vacation rental traveler, you should be able to skip these fees and book direct with confidence. Return guests can also frequently get discounts by contacting owners
What about extra protection, like travel insurance? Is that available working directly with the owner? Yes. Vacation rental travelers and owners can get the same travel insurance booking directly that is available through the broker sites.
If you are concerned about booking directly if you don’t have a pre-existing relationship with a vacation rental owner, look for non-fee or new listing sites that aim to replace the former VRBO/Homeaway model, such as: Vacationhomerentals.com (note that this is related to Tripadvisor but doesn’t currently charge service fees), new sites such as Tripelli.com, Homeescape.com, vacationstayz.com, Houfy.com and regional vacation rental sites.
