I know what you’re thinking... aren’t you a vacation rental company? Why are
you telling me how to get the best deal with you? Call it karma, call it crazy, we believe in
doing the right thing by our guests. Even if that means less profit in the short
term. So here you go, 6 ways to save
money on Airbnb (or wherever you book your vacation rental)
#1.) Book Direct
FACT: Airbnb charges you a whopping 13% for using their platform (they charge
another 3% to the host). Homeaway/VRBO
charges 11%. So how do you avoid
that? Book Directly! Many
listings on Airbnb leave a clue on the listing that will help you find the
company. We put ours right in the title.
A quick google search for “Loma Homes” will take you right
to our website where the nightly rates are the exact same as Airbnb but don’t
include the 13% “service” fee. If you
don’t find the company in the title, try looking at the host information. Many times, a property management company
name will be there. You can also try
googling “vacation rental” in the specific area of the Airbnb. A smart host will register their business
with Google.
#2.) Last Minute
Bookings
Hosts hate empty rentals.
If they don’t fill the home, they still have to pay a mortgage, basic
utilities, and other sunk costs. A last-minute
booking is usually anything within 3-14 days of the stay (depending on the area). So, how do you get a discount? Try messaging the host by sending them an
inquiry for the dates you’re interested in.
Just tell them what your budget is and ask them if they would be willing
to accept that amount. This can get you
discounts of up to 50% depending on the host.
A quick word about
pricing algorithms: Some hosts (like us) use pricing algorithms that
discount the property little by little leading up to the day of the stay. If the host uses a pricing algorithm, they
will be less likely to negotiate a lower price (since it is already figured
into the listing price.)
#3.) Orphan Day
Bookings
Orphan day bookings are the one or two days between bookings
that no one really wants. See example
below:
In this example, you could book two nights (The night of the
7th and the night of the 8th) and checkout the morning of
the 9th. The host knows that these dates
are very unlikely to get booked because weekdays are usually much less popular
than weekends and most people book at least 3 nights in this area. So, what do you do? Send the host a message and ask them if they
are willing to provide a discount for those dates. In addition, if you make a booking and you
notice that you have created an orphan day, message the owner and ask them if
they would be willing to provide a discount for extending your stay by a day or
two. A 20-30% discount is very reasonable
for this kind of scenario.
#4.) 7 Day bookings
Airbnb and Homeaway ask owners to provide a discount for bookings of 7 days or
more and recommends 20% (we do 10%). If you are looking for a
5-6 day booking, try plugging in 7 days into the system and see if the discount
populates (see below). If the discount
is 20% then you might just get those extra days for free.
#5.) Check more than
one platform
Like I mentioned above, a lot of hosts use pricing algorithms
to set their prices. Unfortunately for
hosts, some platforms like Homeaway don’t
allow this feature for hosts that have less than 5 properties. So what you are
left with is different prices between Airbnb and Homeaway. Make sure you check both platforms for the
cheapest one.
#6.) Choose
Non-Refundable
Airbnb has recently given hosts the ability to offer a
non-refundable option (See below).
Choosing this option automatically grants the guest 10% off. As long as you are sure on the dates, this is
a quick and easy way to save some cash.
So there you have it. You have everything you need to book like an Airbnb pro. Happy booking!
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