If you do some research, you will notice that there are many vacation rental websites out there. Of course, not all of them are as popular as Airbnb, but there are a few of them that have thousands of daily users. One of these websites is HomeWay. This vacation rental website was present on the Internet way before Airbnb, but for some reasons, Airbnb has become more popular. Now let’s see the things that make Airbnb and HomeAway different.
Types of homes
Almost every rental found on HomeAway is actually a full space rental – an apartment, a house etc. In other words, people are renting space where there is no one else on the property except for the guests. On the other hand, Airbnb provides a shared space and full space solutions. Airbnb hosts are free to rent a room or their entire property if they want to.
Payment methods
As leading websites in this field, both Airbnb and HomeAway have more than one payment method available to guests. However, HomeAway has a slightly higher number of payment methods because Airbnb offers credit card and Airbnb credit payment while HomeAway allows PayPal, cash at door, credit card and bank wire payments.
Reviews
As a host, you should know that reviews play a very important role in your business. However, Airbnb and HomeAway have decided to use different review systems. First of all, Airbnb lets guests who have visited a property to leave a review that can be edited for up to 2 days. Once the review is up, the host can reply publicly in less than two weeks. On the other hand, on HomeAway, guests are free to post reviews up to one year after they have visited a property. Once they post it, HomeAway will send an automated email to the host informing them about the review.
Cost
There’s a different system of play when it comes to the cost too. Unlike Airbnb, HomeAway requires upfront payments from hosts that want to publish their listing. Airbnb gives you a chance to share a list publicly for free. However, with Airbnb, you have to pay a 3% guest fee.
Insurance plans
What is interesting is that Airbnb covers hosts for up to one million dollars in damages whenever they can’t resolve an issue with a guest. Keep in mind that this guarantee is not a classic insurance and doesn’t cover security deposits, cash, personal liability, pets and few other things. Airbnb and HomeAway advise their hosts to get renter or homeowner insurance.
Customer service
We can freely say that both Airbnb and HomeAway have excellent customer service. Airbnb is special because it has a large Help Center where hosts (and guests) can usually find the answers to all their questions. Of course, they also have local customer support phone numbers for resolution of urgent problems. They also have an email support. HomeAway has a helpful customer support phone number which is available 24/7.
All in all, both Airbnb and HomeAway are good property rental sites, but Airbnb is ideal for small properties, people who want to rent part of their properties and those looking for reasonable host fees.