The AirRentalz platform has come in as an alternative marketing platform for the short-term rental market. One of our key differences is pricing for both hosts and guests. Our host service fee is 1.5% (one and a half percent) and our guest booking fee is 8.5%. With our guest loyalty program, we are making it cheaper for guests to book accommodation with AirRentalz.

At AirRentalz, we want to provide guests with the best experience possible. As part of our commitment to keeping costs as low as possible, we will reduce the booking service fee to 4% for the fourth (4th) booking that same person makes. . Even though our booking fee is only a maximum of 8.5%, when you book with AirRentalz every fourth booking will be capped at 4%.

When you compare our fees to the major players, AirRentalz is definitely an option to consider for both hosts and guests.

With Airbnb, as a host, you can easily end up paying more than 3%. When you look at the guest side, fees are higher. Airbnb’s fees used to be in the range of 6-12% for the guest fee, depending on the total booking price. (The higher the total, the lower the percentage.) Recently, however, the range has gone up to 20%, according to Airbnb’s website.

With HomeAway, the service fee starts on a sliding scale of 4%-9% but currently can reach 12% or more.  Guests are charged a fee of between 6% -12% by HomeAway.

Listing on FlipKey, which is owned by TripAdvisor, will cost hosts a flat 3% commission per booking, regardless of the total booking price or origin of the guest. And to make up for their low host fee, guest end up paying some hefty fees: Guests pay from 8-16% of the total booking price.

With Booking.com there are no fees for travelers and a flat commission for hosts. In the US, this commission is 15%, with the option of paying up to 20% for “Preferred Partner” status and higher ranking in search results.

From the guest side, there isn’t that much of a difference between Airbnb, HomeAway, and TripAdvisor. They all charge somewhere in between 5-15% of the total booking price. On the other hand, Booking.com is free for travelers, but this advantage is often times nullified by a higher listing price to offset the high commission for the host.

For hosts, Airbnb and TripAdvisor are clearly more interesting than HomeAway and Booking.com. A flat 3% fee is more preferable over the complex host fees of HomeAway – and multiple times cheaper than what Booking.com charges their hosts.

Unlike the other platforms, we also undertake outbound marketing for hosts via email marketing to our growing database. Your listing is also tagged with your own Facebook pixel which also helps us when retargeting your visitors. If you are an existing host on one of the other platforms why not try AirRentalz as another option.