Hotels Are Actually Cheaper Than Vacation Rentals on Airbnb and Vrbo, According to a New Report. A new study says hotels are the more affordable option over Airbnbs and Vrbos — across 50 global markets.
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scanned the globe and found hotels were cheaper than Airbnb or Vrbo rentals in 38 of 50 international destinations including New York and San Francisco.
Booking FeesBooking with Vrbo, guests are charged a 6% to 15% service fee of the subtotal (minus taxes), so this can be cheaper than Airbnb in some circumstances.
Vrbo's map looks a bit outdated by comparison. However, aesthetics aside, Vrbo offers far better filter and sort functionality than Airbnb. For example, Vrbo lets you filter by user reviews, including properties rated highly for cleanliness and properties rated 4 stars and above. Vrbo's filters are also more intuitive.
A 5% commission fee is charged on the rental amount and any additional fees you charge the traveler (such as cleaning, pet, and boat fees). Bookings that originate from our expanded distribution partners may have higher fees.
Vrbo Commission StructureThe pay-per-booking model has a commission and payment processing fee. The commission fee is five percent of the rental amount and any additional charges. This percentage may be higher if bookings originate from Vrbo's expanded distribution partners.
Although both VRBO and Airbnb take precautions to guarantee the protection of their visitors, Airbnb poses more potential dangers for guests simply because it allows visitors to remain in shared spaces.
However, we often encourage potential guests to “book direct.” In other words, we advise guests to forego platforms like VRBO, Homeaway, or Airbnb. Trust us – there's a good reason for this! It's because these platforms charge guests an additional fee for their services.
Why is Airbnb more expensive than Vrbo? Airbnb charges guest service fees typically under 14.2%, but when searching for properties, we found consistent service fees of 16%. There are no guest service fees for experiences. Booking with Vrbo, guests are charged a 6% to 15% service fee of the subtotal (minus taxes).
Vrbo adds hotel inventory to meet travel demandIn the past, Vrbo has included two-star hotels and other forms of inventory that were alternative to whole home vacation rentals, on which the platform has placed a strong focus to differentiate from other OTAs.
The VRBO family of websites have over 44 million monthly visitors. Looking at all the Expedia Group properties in the first quarter of 2022, the average length of stay in hotels is 2 days, and short term rentals is 5.5 days.
The short answer is yes, you can negotiate your Airbnb stay. To do so, simply contact a host to ask for a discount or propose a lower price. Then the host has an opportunity to provide a special offer that's only available to your account.
Airbnbs are usually cheaper than hotels for longer stays and large groups, but they don't offer the same services. Sally French is a travel rewards expert who joined NerdWallet in 2020. She previously wrote about travel and credit cards for The New York Times and its sibling site, Wirecutter.
While Airbnb is publicly traded and owned by a variety of shareholders, including its co-founders and venture capital firms, VRBO is a subsidiary of Expedia Group, a publicly traded company that also owns other popular travel brands.
Airbnb is regarded as one of the best vacation rental sites. It has the largest community of vacation rental hosts. As one of the largest vacation rental companies, Airbnb offers over 6 million listings to guests in more than 100,000 cities and towns across 220 regions and countries around the world.
Keep in mind, however, that while VRBO offers fewer rentals, they only list whole houses, condos, or apartments. Users can rest assured that they will not be sharing space with the homeowner or other guests.