Save Money on Your Next Cape San Blas Vacation Rental by Booking Direct
At the beginning of this adventure, VRBO/Homeaway was my primary method of connecting with families looking for a vacation rental home on Cape San Blas. It was an easy-to-use website for travelers and owners, enabling us to connect and communicate easily and efficiently. In early 2017, however, as Good Fortune continued to be filled with guests, and building was going smoothly at Beach Camp, things started to change at VRBO/HomeAway.
Slowly, VRBO/HomeAway (now owned by Expedia) began shifting its business model from a “listing” site to a “booking” site. This shift included
- The introduction of up to 15% booking fees to be paid by the traveler for use of the website to book a home,
- A strong push, and soon a requirement, for owners and travelers to “instant book” without any conversation before doing so,
- The elimination of available traveler and owner contact information before booking thus reduces communication, and
- Outsourced processing of all rental deposits, payments, and fees to a third-party vendor (four parties...guest, owner, VRBO/HomeAway, and payment processing vendor... are now involved in the rental process, creating a barrier between guest and homeowner.
My North Star for the past 9 years has been providing my guests with quality homes and excellent customer service. Unfortunately, because of the changes in VRBO/HomeAway, it has become increasingly more difficult to do this using these platforms. The new VRBO/Homeaway business model does not align with how I wish to welcome guests into my homes. So, this means that I have had to make some changes in how I connect with guests as I move towards removing my homes from the VRBO/Homeaway booking site. These changes include the creation of a website, an Instagram account, and a combined Facebook page for all three homes.
What this means for you is that booking directly with an owner will save you money and potential frustration. For example, at Good Fortune and Sweet Necessity, VRBO/Homeaway will add a service fee of approximately $1,000.00 to the rental price of the home. Booking directly with me, or any other vacation property owner will eliminate the additional fees and frustration of working through a third-party payment vendor.
If you enjoy interacting with owners directly and being in control of your vacation, please seek out owners personally through Facebook, Google, and home-specific websites when planning your next vacation. So many owners, like myself, have spent countless hours developing websites to personally collaborate with their guests before, during, and after a vacation.
So, what is next for Beach Camp, Good Fortune, and Sweet Necessity? All Cape San Blas Get Away homes will remain on VRBO/HomeAway as an additional "hook in the water" through which guests can find my homes. Ideally, guests will use VRBO/HomeAway to find homes and then seek out my website. I hope that repeat guests, capesanblasgetaway.com, Facebook, Instagram, and referrals will enable me to discontinue using the VRBO/Homeaway booking site at some point in the future.
Wow! It’s been a crazy ride since we first welcomed guests to our first Good Fortune in May 2015, Beach Camp in June 2017, Sweet Necessity in 2020, and our second Good Fortune in 2022 (we sold the original Good Fortune and gifted that same name to our newest Gulf-front home). We have had the pleasure of hosting hundreds of families, 2 engagements, 1 wedding, and several birthday and anniversary celebrations during this time. Thanks so much for choosing Beach Camp, Good Fortune, and Sweet Necessity as your vacation destination, and I look forward to continuing to welcome you and your family into our homes.
~ Carrie
404-668-0122