Airbnb and HomeAway are two of the many popular vacation management sites in the market today. Together, these sites are changing the way people travel and increasing the comfort level with which travelers travel—making arrangements for going out of the country or on a trip used to be a hectic procedure and very stressful too. HomeAway and Airbnb have made this easy and provide people the opportunity to travel without any stress and tensions.
Airbnb was established in 2008 with its aim to provide people the option of renting apartments or houses to stay and creating a platform for those who are willing to showcase their properties on websites so that people can rent them and improve their living experience by staying there. Airbnb competitors have entered the market, but its toughest competition is with HomeAway.
HomeAway is older than Airbnb as it was established in 2006. Unlike Airbnb, they usually offer rental facilities of entire properties. HomeAway has an advantage over Airbnb as it covers a number of other companies under its umbrella as they provide a strong framework that addresses all different aspects of vocational necessities.
Which one is better?
Airbnb is recorded to have about 2.3 million listings in around 191 countries where accommodation is offered by more than 600,000 people. Another feature that Airbnb offers is that some hosts at Airbnb provide tours and experiences to travelers who will enhance the pleasure they get on the trip. These tours can be either booked separately or in conjunction with the housing facilities. Recent research has shown that Airbnb is the option that has been chosen widely by young travelers.
HomeAway has above 1 million listings in around 190 countries. The basic difference between them is that HomeAway deals with more resort-like properties or lavish, extravagant homes. While Airbnb attracts young people, HomeAway attracts more families.
Like other companies, Airbnb also charges for tax or VAT on bookings at a rate of 6-12%. The excellent point behind this is that it does not apply any extra charges on credit card payments. HomeAway, on the other hand, has a lesser tax rate than Airbnb off 7.16%, but this gets balanced as unlike Airbnb, HomeAway applies a tax percentage of 2.9% on credit card payments.
Airbnb allows customers to post their reviews online. This helps other customers to decide and select which services to avail. HomeAway also enables these features with minimal differences.
Conclusion
It is very tough to decide which service provider is better than the other. Airbnb or HomeAway? Both have similar yet different features and aim at providing the most level of comfort to the travelers. When choosing which service to opt for, it is vital to consider all the factors and elements of your trip and the type of experiences you want to enjoy and then decide which one is better for you. The experience of your trip largely depends on the type of accommodation you choose for. The Comfort level on a trip is important; otherwise, you will not be able to enjoy it properly. Hence, it is important to choose wisely.
