Save money on Vacation Homes – AirBnB’s – VRBO – and More!
Today’s traveler is faced with a variety of options when traveling to the Lawton – Fort Sill Region. Whether you are coming to see a relative graduate from Basic Training or a Career School at Fort Sill Army Base or coming to enjoy one of the many other local events and sites, you have some decisions to make as to where your family will stay. Are you going to book multiple hotel rooms so everyone is comfortable? OR, are you going to look for a Fully Furnished Short Term Rental House?
As most people know, there are many sites from which you can select and book a whole house or apartments for your stay. These sites include: AirBnB, VRBO, Trip Advisor, Booking.com, Expedia, and others.
But, did you know that you can often find the same homes offered directly by the owners for FAR LESS THAN through the booking sites? How is this possible? When you book directly with the owner, you don’t have to pay all the additional fees associated with the online booking platform.
It is no exaggeration to say that Vacation Home Owners have to raise their prices 30-40% just to cover the fees they are charged by companies such as AirBnB and VRBO. Therefore, your Vacation Home rental could cost you $1400 if you book through an online platform when, in contrast, you would only pay $1000 if you booked directly with the owner.
In these times of high inflation and increased fuel and travel costs, doesn’t it make sense to save as much as you can on your vacation rental? By booking directly with the host/owner, you will also have the assurance that you are working with a small business owner who will strive to make your stay the best you’ve ever had.
By booking directly with a local owner – operator, you will also have a resource who will be able to recommend the best restaurants and suggests local sites to visit – such as the best places to go in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge or Medicine Park – and you also have a friend to call if you get turned around and a little lost!
Do you think the AirBnB call center in China will be able to answer your questions concerning local information? LOL 🙂 🙂 🙂
If you haven’t done so recently, take a moment to look at AirBnB’s rating on TrustPilot.com.
Worldwide, AirBnB has an 82% NEGATIVE 1 star rating from both guests and hosts. Read the guest reviews and ask yourself if you really want one of those experiences for yourself? You can also look up VRBO (which does MUCH better than AirBnB but still has issues), Booking.com which has about a 65% NEGATIVE rating, and TripAdvisor which is about coming in at about 60% NEGATIVE ratings.
Given how awful these online booking platforms are in terms of customer service, one has to wonder why they remain so popular. The answer: Convenience.
People use these booking platforms because they have name recognition and people perceive them as “safe” and EASY. But, if you peruse the reviews on TrustPilot, you will see that there is no guarantee of safe, easy, dependable, or reliable when using a big, multi-national booking platform.
BETTER OPTIONS and HOW TO FIND THEM
So, how do you find a #bookdirect rental in the town you want to visit?
1 – type all the keywords into a Google search:
i.e. “short-term rental vacation home AirBnB” (+ specific CITY STATE)
2—scroll down the page past all the PAID ads from AirBnB, VRBO, TripAdvisor, Expedia, etc. until you start finding local listings.
3 – look for a local Vacation Host with their own website and who offers multiple listings — but probably no more than 5-10 listings as you want to deal with an OWNER – OPERATOR and not a corporation or out of state investor with underpaid staff.
4 – Once you have selected the vacation home you would like to reserve, call the owner directly and provide your information – name, number of guests, dates requested, reason for visiting the area, and any other information the hosts requests.
5 – Hosts are happy to help! There is a reason they are in the HOSPITALITY industry! Be friendly and make a friend!
Other Ways to find BOOK DIRECT options:
Book directly sites such as
Local Facebook groups and pages
Local Google listings
There are many great reasons to Visit the Lawton – Ft. Sill Region and Susanna at LawtonCottages.com wants you to have an amazing visit no matter why you are here. If you are considering a vacation in the Comanche County Oklahoma region, or, if you need to come for a graduation, birth, funeral, wedding, or some other event, please call Susanna and let her help you save money and stress!