HomeAway to Hike Rates for Rental Owners Despite Talk of Blowback
Photo Credit: A photo showing how to prepare a guest room to maximize the likelihood customers will book your property. HomeAway touts that using its services gives owners unique access to data that can help them increase bookings. HomeAway
Skift Take
HomeAway’s fee hike spotlights the shifting economics of the vacation rental business. Property owners are weighing how much of a cut technology companies deserve when making it easier for them to put heads in beds.
Despite some opposition, HomeAway will level a big fee hike next month for property owners who opt to make flat subscription payment instead of opting to shell out a commission when a vacation rental gets booked.
Beginning January 12, HomeAway will increase the subscription cost that U.S. property owners pay to list on its platform. The cost will rise 25 percent to $499 annually per listing.
Airbnb wasted no time and conducted a media call Monday, arguing that HomeAway's fee represents an opportunity for it to pick up some customers.
Late last week, word spread about the subscription fee increase when the company began to email property owners who are up for renewal about the new terms. VRMIntel first reported on the emails.
The cost hike comes less than a year after HomeAway last boosted its subscription and bookings fees for property owners.
There have been rumors that HomeAway would like to kill its subscription plan by next summer as it tilts toward a transaction, o
