Here is a comparison, of sorts, that we hope you will find thought-provoking. It’s a story of how two travel provider companies, (whom you’ve surely heard of over the decades first started way back when,) how they’re different, and how they started and thrived in offering stays for holiday goers. As a primer, VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) and Airbnb are both platforms that connect travelers with property owners looking to rent out their homes or accommodations. While they share similarities, there are also some key differences between the two: VRBO Primarily focused on entire homes, condos, and apartments. It tends to cater more to property owners who want to rent out their second homes or vacation properties. Whereas Airbnb offers a wider range of accommodations, including entire homes, private rooms, shared rooms, and unique spaces like treehouses or boats. Of course it’s not quite as cut and dried as that, but the comparison is still relevant.
VRBO: Traditionally, it was more common for properties to be rented out for longer durations (weekly or monthly stays). And, being an older and more established company, historically, it has often involved a more formal booking process, with many listings requiring approval from the property owner before the reservation is confirmed. And it might be true that VRBO renters are of a mature age and look for choices like that, that will appeal to their demographic.
Airbnb: Initially gained popularity for shorter-term rentals, often appealing to travelers looking for a more local and immersive experience for a few days. They tend to have a more streamlined booking process, often allowing instant bookings without requiring host approval.
The choice is yours, of course, but we put our money and choice on VRBO? Why? Well we’re older now and like the idea of our rental provider having history, too. Vrbo is short for Vacation Rental By Owner, and as the name suggests, it focuses on vacation rentals of any type: houses, apartments, condos, villas, etc. The site was founded in 1995 and allows homeowners to advertise property listings to renters.
In 2006, Vrbo was acquired by HomeAway, and joined the HomeAway network which includes other sites like VacationRentals. And, VRBO is owned now by Expedia. Vrbo is the vacation rental division within Expedia Group, the world´s travel platform. As part of Expedia Group, they are part of a global network of sites that operate in 70+ countries and reach 750 million monthly visits. We like that. So, for us, having Expedia in the background is a reassuring partnership. And that’s also why we solely feature VRBO products on our site. But, as we always say as well, to each their own.
And, to sweeten the pie, in addition to Expedia.com and VRBO, they also own Hotels.com Travelocity, Hotwire.com, Orbitz, Ebookers, CheapTickets, CarRentals.com, Expedia Cruises, Wotif, and Trivago. That’s quite an arsenal of products for you. And, we’ve actually worked for Expedia companies and know how they operate. We would spend our money with them.
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