Airbnb and Vrbo offer travelers an affordable alternative to staying in hotels, enabling them to rent private homes or condos at a fraction of the cost, making these popular with families or anyone searching for something more homelike than traditional hotel rooms.
Vrbo, owned by Expedia Group since 1995, provides access to properties across 190 countries. HomeAway also exists under Expedia Group’s umbrella but with a slightly different emphasis focusing more on single room rentals.
Vrbo provides more than just an extensive listing of properties; they also offer guests and hosts tools designed to enhance their stay. For guests, the “Book with Confidence Guarantee” promises help in bookings that materially misrepresented themselves or have serious health and safety issues. Hosts can use this site’s welcome guide feature to provide guests with important details like Wi-Fi passwords and parking instructions.
Vrbo offers several payment methods for owners, such as commission and subscription models that allow them to charge guests 5% reservation fees and 3% payment processing fees respectively. Hosts may also take advantage of point-of-sale credit services like Affirm that allows travelers to spread out the costs over multiple monthly payments beyond their trip dates.