HomeAway Questions & Answers

Homeaway is charging a fee for paying through them. They said it was to improve marketing and because renters like to pay through them. As some one who is listed through Homeaway I find this practice destructive both to the owners and renters. I encourage all potential renters to contact the owners directly and pay us directly. Owners already pay a fee. If the owners want to be listed in higher tier you have to pay more. To me they are just trying to find ways to make more money at both the owners and renters expense without improved service for either.

Go elsewhere. Sadly what started as a very good site many years ago has evolved into an unethical monopoly that has a sole interest. Profit. They do not care about owners or travelers. They exist to remove you from your money, and will say one thing and do another. They have lost the faith and trust of both, and it is well-deserved. Anyone coming on board with any of HomeAway's companies as a traveler or host would be foolish considering their underhandedness.

That's a toss up... Kinda like eBay with sellers and no feedback... In general... I don't trust Home away anymore than I can throw em... cuz they are gonna side with their rentors and not you...

No, they won't. Worst agency I ever dealt with. Warn all you friends. They should be put out of business.

If I were you I would run as far as you can from these people!

HomeEscape.com is relatively new but with the new Expedia Service charges on HomeAway/VRBO, the homeowners are moving over to HomeEscape in droves. Over the next year as the HomeAway subscriptions expire many of the homeowners will not renew with HomeAway if HomeEscape turns into a good alternative. In general we (homeowners) are pretty upset that Expedia is going to make over 4Billion in added income from our customers just in the first year of the fee, if folks continue to book through them. Many of us will feel pressure to lower our rental income but if you only knew our expenses you would know this is not really a big money maker for us - personally, these fees will actually put us well into the red. So, for our guests and ourselves, HomeAway will no longer be a site we do business with once our subscription expires. And, though we used to rent through them at least once a year, we're done with that as of now.

This was my first and last experience using a similar service. I have been traveling for years, staying at hotels, with no problems. Given my experience with homeaway, I will only use reputable hotels from now on.

I don't think our guests are aware of the rip-off yet. Look what it took for us to figure out what they are doing.

At the end of the day, HomeAway is a advertising vehicle for owners to reach guests. Each unit is as good as that owner makes it. I own 11 properties that I list on HomeAway and manage 6 for others. My customers are universally happy with the condos they stay in. At this point there is not much you can do. But I would strongly suggest in the future you speak to the condo owner and ask tough questions. Owners like yours give the rest of us a bad name. It is a shame that a few bad apples can screw things up for the rest of us owners who work very hard to give our guests a great experience!

Trust me, Homeaway does NOT assist you contrary to what you might think of them as sort of a back-up if there are problems. It's the worst agency I've ever dealt with.