The 2023 Guide to Booking Vacation Rentals Without All The Fees
Planning a holiday getaway can be an exciting and rewarding experience—unless you're inundated with hidden fees and extra costs. If you're searching for vacation rentals without all the additional fees, this guide is here to help. Learn how to find great places that won't break the bank!
Large platforms are going wild on fees — research your rental company options
Before you book a vacation rental, it's important to do your homework. Spend some time researching different companies and compare their prices. Make sure to double-check what specific charges are included in their advertised rates – these may include additional fees such as cleaning charges and taxes.
Many popular travel booking websites, such as Airbnb and VRBO, charge all-in fees ranging from 10% to 20% of the total rental cost.
Often they take fees from both sides of the transaction. In all cases, with the exception of the48dots, service fees take into account the cleaning fees. Service fees can add a significant amount to the cost of your vacation.
Here’s a quick breakdown of how fees work across popular platforms. You’ll notice the48dots has the lowest fees, and also excludes cleaning fees from the service charge.
Hosts are creating direct booking sites to combat fees and provide direct service
Hosts are getting tired of sites like Airbnb ranking up the fees without providing host services, so hosts are creating their own websites (in the industry, we refer to this as ‘direct booking sites’). While the48dots lets you book through our site directly, if a host has a direct booking website, we just send you to their site to book so you avoid fees all together. 🤗 You’re welcome.
Direct booking sites are the best way to save fees on vacation rentals!
Guests love direct booking sites because they avoid all the booking fees from major platforms. The problem is, just like any website, getting to the top of Google Search is hard for many hosts. 70% of hosts and property managers have 1-19 units. It’s tiny, so they simply don’t have the resources to invest in the SEO needed to make their sites stand out.
A host’s inability to be found on Google is a problem for guests looking to save money while staying somewhere really special. Easy access to vacation rentals why the whole industry is bound to large platforms. Large platforms know this and are able to take advantage of both sides of the marketplace by racking up the fees.
Don’t worry. We’re solving this problem. the48dots is committed to helping smaller hosts succeed and thrive with a platform that helps guests find direct sites easily.
Keep reading.
Finding the right place means you don’t start your search with Google — use the48dots to find direct booking websites
Finding the right short term rental directly can be a daunting task. With over 140,674 vacation rental companies worldwide, it can be difficult to know where to begin. And, with an estimated 450 million people staying in short term rentals worldwide, each company tries to vie for the consumer’s attention.
That's where the48dots comes in. Here’s what we do (and most importantly how we save you money!):
We charge the lowest booking fees possible on our site
We aggregate direct booking websites that charge even less (most of the time there is a 0% service fee) — if the host has a personal page, we’ll direct you to it during checkout
We offer points - this helps you save additional money on future bookings!
You earn points whether you book directly on our platform or on a direct booking site that we send you to
So why choose the48dots for your next vacation rental? If you're looking for a way to book a vacation rental without all the fees we’ll help find them for you, and let you support small business owners in the process.
Vacation rentals without all the fees are possible with the48dots!