Travelers and tourists are usually after unique experiences and great feelings during their adventures. For some, feeling the local sensations in their destinations is an experience they cherish. Although Airbnb came and disrupted the hotel industry when it was founded in 2008, several similar companies have been in existence far ahead of Airbnb. An example is HomeAway, established in 2005, or VRBO established in 1995.Let’s read about Airbnb alternatives.
Some alternatives to Airbnb are Hotels.com, HomeAway, VRBO, Expedia, and more as mentioned in this article. With 56 categories of homes and destinations that give tourists a variety of choices, it always seems Airbnb is on top of the world.
A General Overview Of Airbnb Alternatives
This article will show that other excellent competitors offer similar or even better advantages. For example, HomeStay supports small budgets, and hosts are even present to accommodate their guests. Another great example is CouchSurfing, the best budget-friendly alternative, where local hosts open their homes to allow travelers to stay for free.
Are you anxious to know about all these alternatives? Don’t worry. We are diving deep into a dozen plus one in the following subheading – just below.
Some Awesome Alternatives For Airbnb
Follow closely and pay attention, you may find your sweet spot in these alternatives.
1. Hotels.com
Besides having over 50million happy members, Hotels.com has a company culture of rewarding loyal customers. For example, customers who use Hotels.com for ten nights are entitled to a ‘reward nights’ package. Hence, using Hotels.com will give you a similar service to Airbnb, but you also get rewarded for your loyalty.
2. HomeAway
It is a popular competitor for Airbnb, with over 2million homes listed across 190 countries. They offer only private vacation homes. However, their service is more inclined to older audiences who crave comfort and are ready to pay more.
3. VRBO
In full, VRBO means Vacation Rental by Owner. They have about 2million properties in around 200 countries. As their name implies, they offer only private homes and apartments.
4. Booking.com
Booking.com has 27million listings and over 130,000 destinations around 227 countries. By mere arithmetic comparison, Booking.com can be seen as having a wider coverage than Airbnb whose properties are spread across 100,000 towns in 220 countries.
Despite its wide range of properties, Booking.com boasts of having a simplified booking process. This is found to be true when their guest-friendly, easy-to-navigate user interface pops up first thing on their homepage. Booking.com is also traveler-friendly because of their flexible cancelation options
5. Expedia
Expedia has localized sites in 33 countries. They also have a last-minute booking option. At Expedia, car rentals, flights, and accommodation are all filled in one place. Expedia brings a whole deal of comfort. Comfort is more reason why some travelers will always prefer this to Airbnb.
6. TripAdvisor
At TripAdvisor, the biggest unique selling point is the availability of feedback from TripAdvisor’s travel community. With this, you are confident about the value you’re getting because past and current customers are telling you what they experienced.
TripAdvisor was established in 2000, that is almost eight years before Airbnb. They are a genuine source of information for a lot of travelers.
7. FlipKey
FlipKey is a subsidiary of TripAdvisor and offers a wide range of options for vacation rentals. At FlipKey, travelers only pay when they get a reservation. They call it the ‘pay-per-booking pricing model’.
8. 9Flats
This competitor of Airbnb has a unique feature; they operate on almost every continent except Oceania.
9. BeWelcome
At BeWelcome–just like HomeStay, as you will soon find out–the host is present thus you share a place and connect with real people and fellow travelers. It is also a notable pocket-friendly alternative for Airbnb. According to the welcome message on their website at bewelcome.org, “It is and will always be a free, open-source, not for profit, democratic community”.
10. Onefinestay
This Airbnb alternative offers only luxury rentals for lovers of luxury. Onefinestay has listings in big cities like; New York, San Francisco, London, Los Angeles, Rome, Paris, etc. In all, they have 180 destinations for travelers.
11. HomeStay
Similar to BeWelcome, HomeStay gives travelers the opportunity of living with locals in their homes. With this, they boast of offering genuine value for money. Travelers and tourists have the chance of making friends, grow networking, and open opportunities for possible collaboration in the process.
12. Tripping
Tripping is not an independent vacation rental site. However, a search on tripping.com opens you up to over 12million properties from leading vacation rental sites like HomeAway, TripAdvisor, VRBO, Booking.com, etc.
13. CouchSurfing
As mentioned earlier, CouchSurfing supports your tight budget by allowing you to stay with locals for free. With CouchSurfing, you don’t only get the goody of free accommodation. You also get to learn directly about local cultures and experience great travel.
Why Do People Use Airbnb?
People use Airbnb for many reasons including; listing their property, planning travel, finding the desired destination, exploration and tourism, fun, skiing, surfing, etc. With 6million homes listed with Airbnb in over 100,000 towns across 220 countries, will there ever be a competitor that can rival this company? Albeit, the truth is, “There are alternatives to Airbnb for tourists”.
Why Should I Consider Alternatives To Airbnb?
Local and genuine feeling for travelers as different from hotel experiences gives Airbnb an edge. It, also coupled with affordability, is one of its competitive edges. As you have seen in the article, numerous fantastic alternatives give you a wider variety of liberty and value. When you start considering these alternatives, you will discover there are sweeter spots, and traveling and hospitality can be more incredible than you imagined.
Conclusion
For others, having a variety of choices and value for their money are the only important considerations. These reasons, combined, are why Airbnb always seems to be unrivaled. However, there are numerous alternatives and this article enumerates a dozen plus one such alternative.
