Reservation via Vrbo And Airbnb has many advantages. The sites are well known and offer a ton of variety of accommodations for your travel plans. When traveling with a larger group, platforms can help you save money. In some cities, Airbnb turns out to be even cheaper than staying in hotels. But despite all the advantages of booking your stays via these platforms, social networks is sure to share the downsides as well.
Horror stories of the water does not flow, double-booked rooms and disappearing reservations abound on platforms like Reddit and maintained and managed by individuals who do not have as much space. consistency like big hotels do. In Message from the editor about their own Vrbo nightmare, in which they arrived at a property that had been double-booked, forcing them to find other accommodations much more expensive than their original listing, an unexpected hack for saving money emerged over time. growl of the mill.
While not all of the problems associated with vacation rentals can be magically solved by avoiding booking through the two biggest platforms, Redditors say you can at least save some money. According to Reddit comments under this double-booking story, you can find much better deals on vacation rentals by leaving Airbnb and Vrbo behind. So what is this tip?
“We found that it was MUCH cheaper to find the property's website and book through them,” one Reddit user commented on the post. “So we use Airbnb or Vrbo to find places to stay, then search for the property's website to book on. It's a good third to half the price cheaper than booking through Vrbo or Airbnb.”
So how does this hack work? As the Reddit the articles describe, you can always use Vrbo and Airbnb as starting points. When you find a listing you like, go to the posting and see if there is any information about the rental company responsible for the property. This can be found in the host information or the About section of the listing. Then you can use that information to find the small business's website, which often lists reservations without the service fees and price increases common on Vrbo and Airbnb.
If you cannot find specific information on the name of the company that manages the rental, you can also use the name of the accommodation and the name of the municipality where it is located for an online search. This search will list other platforms the property is on, which can, at the very least, help you compare nightly booking rates. This hack won't work on all properties, mind you. Some rentals will be independently owned and listed exclusively on Airbnb or Vrbo; in these cases, you will not be able to find other ad placements.
There may be disadvantages to booking with a lesser known company. While Airbnb and Vrbo certainly have flaws, we also get some guarantees when we book with an established company. You know the refund and cancellation policies, there are ways to hold companies accountable if something goes wrong, and you're less likely to encounter scammers with their verified listings. If you try this Reddit workaround yourself, you'll need to be a little more vigilant to make sure you don't expose yourself to a scam or a situation where you end up in a vacation rental that doesn't exist. Be sure to check the cancellation and refund policies for Airbnb and Vrbo and that the listing is on a website with reviews, a phone number, and other information to verify its authenticity.
Overall, this tip can be time-consuming, but if done correctly, it could help you save up to 50% on your next vacation rental. Sounds like it's worth taking the extra steps.
