This is an unconventional strategy, and one many would consider dangerous because you're steering customers to websites that just as often as not then want to steer those customers to book properties OTHER than yours. Remember, they don't care about you. They only care that 1) a booking is made through their site so they collect their fees and commissions, and 2) that booking is made with whatever property can make them the most money.
As far as the OwnerRez Rate Checker including the VRBO service fee, there is no way to do that, as the service fee is not a straight percentage, and varies tremendously from one guest to the next, based on the site algorithm's expectation of how the particular guest will be willing to pay, the property, time and date of the stay, time and date of the booking, and other alchemy. I'm pretty confident the Rate Checker never includes the VRBO service fee.
You're lucky if you have success with VRBO and AirBnB. The $1100 per year in bookings they bring us aren't enough that we would ever steer anything towards them.
We have used that strategy for 20+ years and done A/B test. We have had several VRBO bear stays. I am ok if a guest books another property, it always works out. There are 20,000 STR units in our market, second largest destination market in the US. AirBNb and VRBOs success is our success. In sales 15% might be some of the lowest SG&A on earth. We are excited for the VRBO pay for placement coming soon, with our units I could boost my commission rate to 20% for placement and still perform well. A higher placement means you can charge more too. When wealthy people book trips, have private jets, they are not looking for a deal. They are looking to get the booking done. When they search, I want to show up first. We have regular meetings with our VRBO and AirBNB account manager. They are great.
>When wealthy people book trips, have private jets, they are not looking for a deal. They are looking to get the booking done. When they search, I want to show up first. We have regular meetings with our VRBO and AirBNB account manager. They are great.
Sounds like you're in a different demographic than I am. I've never seen another host refer to AirBnB as great. If I had known how short they fall from delivering what they promise, I would never have gotten into this business. Their greedy ineptitude is why I'm exploring ways to shift bookings away from their platform.
AirBNB feels like a perfect ten compared to managing any W2 employees for sales, marketing, advertising, debt collection, etc. AirBNB has very little drama compared to our staff. We even have return guest book on platform and pay the service fee, it’s a guaranteed five star review that you can buy for 15% When I travel I use full AirBNb and don’t even hunt down direct websites.
>AirBNB feels like a perfect ten compared to managing any W2 employees for sales, marketing, advertising, debt collection, etc. AirBNB has very little drama compared to our staff. We even have return guest book on platform and pay the service fee, it’s a guaranteed five star review that you can buy for 15% When I travel I use full AirBNb and don’t even hunt down direct websites.
lol. Airbnb doesn't do all of that.
Glad you're happy with it, in your private plane world. The rest of us resent their expensive and hidden fee structure, failure to deliver on aircover's promises, refusal to hold guests accountable, and the cumbersome workings of their site.
They do all of that.. Do they market our properties.. yes.. do they run Super Bowl commercials.. yes.. do they authenticate users with government I’d.. yes…. Are the fees full transparent.. yes.. should they be compensated.. yes.. do they spend money on public policy and lobbying.. yes.. do they donate to local lawsuits and government regulatory issues.. yes.. do they handle payment processing.. yes.. do they facilitate sales tax remittence.. yes.. did they massively scale a global industry to become a household name like Tylenol, Windex, Kleenex, band-aid, yes..
I can’t speak for AirCover, we don’t use it.. we use Safely and sell every guest a policy for $150 bucks and 25k of damage protection…. We have lots of regular guest too who drive up from Denver to Vail or Breckenridge.. AirBNB delivers more than a bargain..
I missed a lot more.. what are you saying they don’t do that I mentioned… There is probably more.. do your W2 employees get paid time off.. yes.. do they call in sick.. yes.. etc..etc..
. do your W2 employees get paid time off.. yes.. do they call in sick.. yes.. etc..etc..
Most private owners do not have employees, let alone W2 employees. And most do not cater to private plane clientele that does not care about out-of-the-door rental cost. In the market where my properties are, people are already turning to hotels because they are finding "extra fees" to be excessive. Mind you, most hosts only have a cleaning fee; all the other "extra fees" are what platforms add, plus local taxes. Of course, now Airbnb shifts to owner-only commission, but that is just a cosmetic update that does not change the out-of-the-door cost to the traveler. In my market, most travelers will balk at $150 damage protection cost on top of everything else. Your reality is not the absolute majority of the hosts' reality. In my personal experience, I find Airbnb marginally useful - to get anything out of them is an uphill battle because you have to interact with overseas hourly employees who just tend to read or copy/paste some canned script. I am puzzled about the Super Bowl commercial reference - I am not aware of anyone booking a property because of the Super Bowl ad. Also, I am not sure what lobbying is needed. Maybe in some markets where "Airbnbs" are illegal. In my tourist market, Vacation rentals are legal and a main driver of the local economy and employment. I would be perfectly happy if Airbnb ceased to exist - they have distorted the rental markets and facilitated the creation of entitled, never-satisfied, messy, "rules don't apply to me" type of guests who know how to "game" the Airbnb system.
Most private owners actually have more margin to work with than you suggest. Owners who self-manage typically retain an extra 30–50% of revenue compared to those paying a professional property manager. In Colorado, for example, it’s standard for management fees to run 30–50% of lodging revenue.
Regarding the Super Bowl — while I agree nobody books directly “because of” a TV commercial, in our market it has a ripple effect. Super Bowl weekend is consistently one of the busiest booking times of the year because friends and families are gathered together, and the conversation naturally shifts to planning spring break or a ski trip. We see a measurable spike in reservations during that week, and national marketing helps drive that.
On the regulatory side, I’d strongly encourage you to get involved with a local advocacy group. Short-term rentals are under pressure in many destinations, including ours. We operate in the second most dense STR market in the U.S., and local governments here have capped or outright banned STR growth in many areas. There is even a stated objective to reduce the overall number of STRs by as much as 30% in order to limit tourism — despite the fact that tourism is the only real driver of local employment. We’re not unique in this; Hawaii and Barcelona are going through the same thing. For property managers, every time a property sells, it risks being lost as a vacation rental permanently. Our business has zero opportunity for growth, and we have had no choice but to cut staffing. Not to mention we now have to pay $800 per bedroom per year for our permits and 4x the sewer cost due to STR's generating more waste. A six bedroom permit cost $6000 a year now in Breckenridge and Aspen is proposing $5000 per bedroom per year. https://coloradohardmoney.com/one-colorado-city-proposes-5k-room-in-short-term-rental-fees/. You have to assume your local town council is watching to see if they can use this as a revenue stream as well.
This is why lobbying matters. It’s not just about “illegal vs legal markets,” it’s about preserving our ability to operate where STRs are legal but under threat. For every direct booking we take, we make a contribution to COSTRA (Colorado Short-Term Rental Alliance) to help with that effort.
Here are a couple of relevant resources:
That said, if Airbnb is “marginally useful” at best in your experience, it begs the question: why continue relying on them? Many hosts use Airbnb strategically — as a visibility tool or for price steering. If guests are consistently “unhappy,” sometimes it has less to do with Airbnb itself and more with how the experience is managed. A little proactive relationship-building goes a long way: calling guests before arrival, setting expectations clearly, and making them feel welcomed often reduces the chance of them “gaming the system.” A strong guest experience attracts better behavior and repeat business.
Balking at $150.00 for a damage policy is all relevant. Safely has cheaper policies with less coverage, $150 is for $25,000 damage. Their $10,000 in damage is like $95.00 and I am sure they have smaller policies for smaller properties. Our properties range from 1.5m to 10m in value so we go with $25,000 in damage, 1m/1m liability/structure.
That said, if Airbnb is “marginally useful” at best in your experience, it begs the question: why continue relying on them? Many hosts use Airbnb strategically — as a visibility tool or for price steering. If guests are consistently “unhappy,” sometimes it has less to do with Airbnb itself and more with how the experience is managed. A little proactive relationship-building goes a long way: calling guests before arrival, setting expectations clearly, and making them feel welcomed often reduces the chance of them “gaming the system.” A strong guest experience attracts better behavior and repeat business.
Balking at $150.00 for a damage policy is all relevant. Safely has cheaper policies with less coverage, $150 is for $25,000 damage. Their $10,000 in damage is like $95.00 and I am sure they have smaller policies for smaller properties. Our properties range from 1.5m to 10m in value so we go with $25,000 in damage, 1m/1m liability/structure.
I never said that I was relying on them. I do not. I am A SH and I have hundreds of 5-star reviews across all popular platforms. Guests being unhappy does not mean they are indeed unhappy. What I mean is that Airbnb guests tend to act unhappy and come up with nitpicky stuff to extract refunds because Airbnb has trained them to act that way - refunding 30% for just a phone call alleging something is wrong, most of the time requiring no proof from the guest and just taking their word for it. Not my experience necessarily (as I have very few Airbnb bookings), but other hosts whom I know personally. Some hosts I know even refuse to list on Airbnb altogether because it is more trouble than it is worth to them. In my market, there are 1M + properties, but not the norm. I am sure there are a few 10M ones, but they are exceptions, not the rule. Different clientele. the $150 was just an example of the price sensitivity of my local market. As mentioned above, some travelers are fed up with "extra fees" and are going back to hotels. Now, Airbnb will "hide" commission in the rate, but the out-the-door price is still not palatable to many nowadays. Middle-class / lower middle-class travelers do not have much extra money to pay extra, nor the desire to.
This convo has seemingly gone off the rails. Everyone's business model and structure is different. Let's circle back to the point of this feature request: Regardless of anyone's particular appraoch, a native price comparison widget for hosted or integrated websites would be a beneficial feature for those who would like to utilize it.
