Marcia B.

VRBO is owned by HomeAway, which is owned by the online travel agent (OTA) Expedia, which also owns Hotels.com, Hotwire, Travelocity, Orbitz, Trivago, and others worldwide. It is now their business to generate revenue at every opportunity. Owners pay a fee, customers [now] pay a fee, credit card fees are charged, "service fee" may be hard to recover when cancellations occur, and owner flexibility is limited by cancellation policies now restricted to models set by HomeAway. HA sells trip insurance from its affiliate (read it carefully) and the new service fee of 4-9% purports to "protect" guest, but as you can see from these comments -- HA has little ability to respond meaningfully. Communication between Owners and Guests is restricted through HA, since it wants to control that process through its online portal. Be aware that HA listings are sometimes highjacked by others. You might Google a property by name to find it on other sites, or an owner operated web site. A legitimate VRBO/HA listing owner will make themselves available, will answer your questions, will assist you with special requests/information about the area, and SHARES your desire that there is a true match between your requirements and their rental property. If anything about your contact with an owner gives you the creeps -- drop the property and book elsewhere. The owner will do the same if they sense unreasonable demands or misrepresentation from you, or any sense that you are witholding information about your party or how you plan to use the property. We all want a successful booking and a great vacation for you. Help us make that happen, ok?