Book Direct Bonaire breezybonaire vacation rentals
Book direct and get the best price on your vacation rental in Bonaire. Owners don’t charge service fees, booking fees, convenience fees, etc. The large corporations do!
You save money when booking direct
When you’re searching for the perfect Bonaire holiday home a lot of factors come into play. Is the property close to the beach? How many bedrooms does it have? What about air-conditioning and internet? Of course price for most travelers is among the top deciding factors. Is this the right rental at the right price? Is it within your budget?
Mom and pop rentals versus Expedia and Airbnb
In February 2016, VRBO, Home Away and Vacationrentals.com implemented a “traveler fee” to reservations booked through their websites. It varies from 6-15% of the total value of the booking. For a reservation that would normally cost you $1000 the total price will now be upwards of $1150.* I’ve had to come back in and revise these numbers because they keep rising! Booking.com charge owners 15% of the total rental price, driving prices up for travelers and making it hard for owners to stay in business. These companies use scare tactics to keep renters from talking directly to owners although that was the business model for years. Exchanging contact information through their platform is only possible after a booking is secured.
Hidden fees
When booking through these sites you may not see these hidden fees until you are almost done booking. To find out in advance, you can review their fees by going to the “view details” link of the booking section. It needs to be clear that all the booking fees go directly to Expedia (owners of VRBO) or Airbnb, billion dollar companies. The money is taken away from you and I.
What does VRBO mean again?
VRBO, Home Away and Vacation Rentals, among others like Owners Direct are now owned by the conglomerate Expedia. TripAdvisor, another giant in the business owns pretty much everything else aside from AirBnb. The terms VRBO which used to mean “Vacation Rental By Owner.” or “OD” meaning “Owners Direct” no longer seem fitting. Guests and owners are paying large commissions to these corporations for the same experience they’d be getting for much less by actually booking by owner. The conglomerates want us to feel that our experience when we use them is somehow better and/or safer but really it’s just more costly for everyone. VRBO’s old motto was renters would NEVER be charged a fee. In 2016 that abruptly changed with no warning. Myriad class-action lawsuits are pending
The bottom line? Say no to booking fees and save us all some cash. To keep the bottom line down please book directly with vacation rental owners. Use the rental listing sites to find a property, but then search for that property’s personal website and book there. My properties are called Breezy Bonaire Sunny Yellow, Breezy Bonaire Blue View and Breezy Bonaire Breezy Loft. They are easily searchable on Google. Many owners name their listings and their website with the name of their property so it’s easy to find them. Book direct! Not just with Breezy Bonaire but wherever your travels take you.
