The time of the holidays is coming and looking for hotels to visit urban or paradisiacal tourist areas is not always within everyone 's reach . For this reason that of collaborative consumption is increasingly practiced , offering wine from private users to others through barter or for a price somewhat more adjusted than the usual hotels . Something for which Airbnb is well known , dedicated to offering accommodation to travelers from all over the world who cannot or want to pass through a hotel, but prefer a room of a private owner. But there are also other alternatives like HomeAway . A very similar service focused on the vacation sector, but with some differences that we comment on below.
Both platforms have a similar service. Through their respective applicationsFor smartphones , or through the website , they allow you to search for specific places to rent a property for as long as the user wants. While Airbnb is better known in Europe , although it has about 800 .000 deals available , it is HomeAway who wins the battle in the total number of houses available for rent with a million divided by 190 countries , being better known in the United United than its competitor. A battle that offers endless opportunities to traveling users.
On the one hand, Airbnb offers a much more open platform for owners . And it is that anyone can put a free ad of their room or house for rent . Just create a profile, attach photos and information about the space and publish it. After that, anyone can see it in the service and contact the owner to close the deal and specify the details. Airbnb's profit comes from the commission that remains once the agreement is established, which ranges from 6 to 12 percent depending on the property . All of this by applying the rates and taxes that certain regions require on these prices .
For its part, HomeAway , with a similar operation, has a different system that supports its profitability in the owners . And it is these who pay an annual subscription of between 300 and 1,000 euros to be able to advertise their houses and rooms . A commitment that has encouraged it to be the option for owners with second homes or even real estate agencies who want to make these places profitable. Of course, recently it has opened the doors to a new system in which it offers owners to post free ads charging between 10 and 13 percent commission after each rental. Something that faces the positions of both companies, despite focusing on different markets and not having more than 6 percent of properties listed in both services at the same time.
Apart from this, you have to know that the owners who offer their house through Airbnb will be covered by an insurance of about one million euros in damages to their property , as long as they do not reach a solution with the tenant. Of course, it is not an insurance that covers cash, pets or personal liability, among other details. Something for which it is urged that both Airbnb and HomeAway owners have insurance contracted before carrying out the rental, in addition to the possibility of requesting a deposit . The good news is that users of these services have assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Although in the case of Airbnb , by phone, it is necessary to face some questions that determine the urgency of each case in order to assist you.
Once users have used the service, and after passing through the rented room or house, both Airbnb and HomeAway urge the use of their powerful rating tool . And it is the best way to promote the best spaces and to offer detailed and real opinions of those who have already lived the experience to help others. Something that in both cases can only be done by users who have already passed through a place . In Airbnb, users can review their review up to 48 hours , allowing to edit any detail so that it is clear, in addition to being able to make public comments by both the owner and the tenant. On HomeAway , users have a full year to add their review, taking a maximum of 48 hours for it to appear to the public.
While Airbnb has a more touristy and urban profile , offering most of its rooms and residences in large cities , HomeAway has a more holiday philosophy , with chalets and complete houses in areas where you can rest like home , without following the rhythms of a hotel. Something that seems to be conquering more and more tourists . Specifically to four out of ten tourists , who prefer to rent flats to go through hotels, according to the employer Exceltur, which includes the interests of the large hotel chains. Issue that is raising their indignation against these websites because there is no tougher regulation that allows them to compete on equal terms, and accusing them of fraud.
Of course, Airbnb and HomeAway are not mere platforms to put tenants and owners in contact. And it is that, according to Exceltur , only 7 percent of the agreements that take place in this type of services suppose the exchange of houses , while 93 percent suppose an economic consideration. In fact, more than 40 percent of the homes listed in these services are in the hands of real estate agents or owners with several properties. And it seems an interesting way to make the investment profitable if it has more and more public. However, they offer something that hotels do not have: freedom to enjoy the space without schedules, nor the feeling of being attended at all times.
