VRBO - Important changes coming to you
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 7:21 pm
Have just received this very long email from VRBO this evening:
VRBO and our owners and property managers have enabled millions of vacations in the last 10 years. Together, we have transformed what was once an alternative way to travel to a preferred way to stay. You put your trust in us—and we remain grateful and committed as ever to delivering a strong return on your investment.
The vacation rental space is rapidly evolving, and so are traveler, owner, and property manager expectations. Today, we are announcing some changes in an effort to better meet and exceed these expectations—resulting in the best experience possible with VRBO. Our goal is to provide travelers with a simple online booking experience and a sense of security that their vacation is protected, while still providing you with the levels of control and flexibility in listing options that you deserve.
Watch the video from our CEO, Brian Sharples, as he explains our marketplace evolution.
Simplifying to bring you more value
Moving to one annual subscription
Historically, you’ve had the option to pay for search placement based on your subscription level. However, starting July 11, 2016, we will stop selling multi-level subscriptions (Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Classic) and will move to one annual subscription. The move to one annual subscription will occur gradually over the next 12 months. As we make this transition, your existing subscription level will continue to work as it does today.
The new annual subscription will be offered at $349 for properties with online booking and $499 for properties without it. The new flat price is similar to the price of today’s Classic subscription but will now include regional and global exposure on 25 of our global sites at no extra cost. In the past, customers have paid upwards of $1,500 for a Platinum subscription (with global bundles) to have top placement in search results. Now, with the annual subscription, you pay a flat rate of $349 and still have the opportunity to be at the top of search results. That’s a price reduction of more than $1,000.
As we move to one annual subscription, your position in search results will be based on our best match system, which includes many factors that you control such as response time to requests and calendar accuracy. However, the most important factor in best match is the number of online bookings processed through our site. If you don’t have online booking, it’s important that you enable it. It will make your listing more successful, and you’ll still be in control of communicating with travelers, accepting or declining booking requests, and payment methods. Learn more
We know that where your listing ranks in search results is important to bookings. As we phase out our multi-level subscriptions, and move to best match, we will also be introducing a new, flexible system that helps elevate your search position for short-term boosts. We expect to start testing this new system later this year and would greatly appreciate your feedback. Look for an invitation later this year to participate in our beta test!
We understand that this is a lot of change and we want to help make the transition as easy as possible. For this reason, we are offering you the option to remain in the existing subscription model at any level for one additional year. To take advantage of this, you must renew and purchase before July 11, 2016. After this date, you will only have the option to renew into the one new annual subscription. Learn more about early renewal
New travelers for you, better protections for them
We want to continue to be the best marketplace for vacation rentals, which for you means a booked calendar and for travelers means a great experience. These enhancements require investments. Instead of you funding 100% of these initiatives, we’re balancing the cost between owners, property managers, and travelers.
The traveler service fee
As you know, we recently implemented a new service fee that is charged to travelers when they book a rental property through our site. This fee is approximately 6% of the amount paid by the traveler and is still lower than most of our competitors. Plus, you spoke and we listened—we’re dropping the cap for this service fee by 20% effective June 1.
The funds from this fee are going toward a few critical improvements and enhancements:
A new Book with Confidence Guarantee™
For added security and more protection, we’ve introduced this new guarantee that protects the full amount of a traveler’s rental against things like misrepresented or double-booked properties and fraud. Additionally, VRBO has added 24/7 customer service for travelers should anything go wrong.
More investment to bring you quality travelers
We have increased our investment in brand awareness and marketing to keep our sites top of mind, to drive travelers and bookings to you.
New customers via Expedia, Inc. travel sites
We recently launched a “Vacation Rentals” tab on the Expedia.com homepage, one of the world’s leading full service online travel companies. This is currently being tested with the goal of expanding the number of travelers that view HomeAway’s online bookable listings via Expedia.com. Learn more
Greater control over your performance and guest feedback
We’re creating tools and features to provide better insight into your business, as well as equal feedback on the experience with guests.
Improved analytics
You now have access to improved data to help you better understand your performance over time and compared with similar listings in your area. Learn more
New ability to rate your travelers
We’ve recently launched a new reviews platform that allows you to rate your guests, just as they are able to rate your property. Learn more
Enhance your search position
Look out for an email invitation to join our beta program as we develop and test new features that will help enhance your search position.
We’ve covered quite a bit in this email, but please know that we’re dedicated to helping you through this transition. Additional details will be provided in the coming weeks via emails, videos, and question and answer sessions. We encourage you to also visit our website for details on all of these initiatives.
Thank you for your commitment and loyalty. You are very important to us, and we’re confident the changes we’re making will benefit your business well into the future.
Learn more