Airbnb Follows HomeAway’s Lead By Not Requiring Full Payments in Advance

First came split payments for groups. Now it's flexible payments. Today, Airbnb announced a new and more flexible payments policy called Pay Less Up Front. Now, when people book an accommodation on the Airbnb platform that costs $250 or more, they have the option of first paying a deposit — generally 50 percent — and then paying the remainder closer to their check-in date. To qualify, bookings must also be made at least 14 days prior to the check-in-date. If a guest can't fulfill the second payment, his or her booking will be automatically cancelled. Before this new feature, users had to pay 100 percent of the cost of their Airbnb accommodation up front. Flexible payments in the homesharing and vacation rental space, however, aren't anything particularly new. For instance, sister companies HomeAway and VRBO, both Expedia-owned, offer this type of flexible payment option. But by adding this feature, in addition to offering split group payments, Airbnb is making its plat