Going on vacation? Wondering what website you should use to book your stay through? You have so many options, it can be overwhelming. Do you book on HomeAway, Airbnb, TripAdvisor, VacationRentals.com, FlipKey or one of the many other websites? Today we are sharing the inside scoop on why you should book your vacation rental directly and how to book direct when you find a home you like listed on a different website.
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Why You Should Book Direct
- Booking direct saves you money. Sometimes booking direct can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. When you book through websites like HomeAway or Airbnb, they charge you extra fees. These websites not only charge the home owners money to list their properties on their websites, but they also charge YOU (the renter) extra fees.
- Faster communication. When you book through a third party company, the home owners or property managers do not always get your contact information right away. Many times, you are required to “chat” or “email” through the third party company website. When you book direct, we are able to call you or email you directly if we have any questions- and vice versa. Often, when potential guests (like yourself) reach out through third party companies and ask us to call, text or email you- we don’t have your contact information and are unable to respond quickly.
- Discounts. When you book direct you are not only saving money by not having to pay additional booking fees, but you are also able to get discounts. We offer our repeat guests discounts and post specials on our website or social media accounts often! But if you book through a third party company, we are unable to offer the same discounts and you also might not learn about special deals.
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How You Can Book Direct
Okay, so we’ve convinced you to book direct. Now what? We understand- sometimes it is easier to just find a home on third party websites like Airbnb. We often search for homes on these websites too! So here is a step-by-step guide to how we book direct, even after finding the home listed somewhere else.
- Step 1. Find a home you like and fits your group.
- Step 2. Find the name of the Property Manager and search their name on Google. Most third party websites show the name of the property manager and give you the option to look at all homes listed by that specific property manager. For example, all of our homes are listed with ‘Amazing Branson Cabins Management’ as the property manager. Here is an exact example of what we would search knowing this information: Amazing Branson Cabins Management Branson MO vacation rental
- Step 3. If step 2 doesn’t help you find the direct website, try reading the description of the property multiple times through. Often times, the property manager or home owner will have their company name listed in the description. Keep an eye out for capitalized words mid sentence. For example, we always include Amazing Branson somewhere in our description. We also name each of our homes and try to include the name of the specific home in the description (again look for capitalized words used in place of the word home or house). If you find something that looks like it could be a company name or home name, go to Google and search for it. Search ex: Amazing Branson vacation rental Branson, MO or Amazing Branson vacation rental Branson, MO Three Bear Lodge
- Step 4. If you are unable to find a website based on this information, read the description again. Often times, the description on the third party website is almost the exact same as the description on the company’s personal website. Examples of description details we use on both websites: 7 miles south of the Branson Landing, 3 minutes to Big Cedar Lodge, 3 minutes to Top of the Rock Golf entrance, 20 minutes to Silver Dollar City, and about 10 to 15 minutes to the strip; 3d virtual tour; etc. Sometimes searching the exact words can bring up other websites with the same verbiage.
- Step 5. Spend quite a bit of time on Google searching for key words and the property mangers name. Try various combinations of words. Not all properties have direct websites, but many do! And it is always worth it to save the money!
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We always recommend booking direct! Check our website for discounts!
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