FlipKey by TripAdvisor

 

What Is FlipKey?

Founded in 2007, FlipKey is a marketplace for vacation rentals. When it was established, FlipKey was set up as a house-swapping site and a way to conveniently connect with vacation rental properties. In 2008, travel site TripAdvisor acquired FlipKey and it now operates as a subsidiary under the TripAdvisor name. This is great for renters and owners alike because TripAdvisor has amazing cred in the travel services industry as it promotes a secure payment platform and around-the-clock customer service.

 

Our Findings

With FlipKey, you can list your home as a rental for a period of time that is entirely up to you. Other people searching for properties in your area to rent can find your humble abode or gargantuan mansion or deluxe houseboat or whatever space you lay your own head on at night.

 

If you are only considering that you can list your lovely home for vacation rentals during the summer months, think again! Your beautiful town home near the Pocono Mountains surely would attract snow bunnies to the slopes come January. The condo you have in Minneapolis will be the perfect place for a few football fans to shower and sleep just prior to Super Bowl LII in 2018.

 

For those who truly need to get away from it all (and aren’t looking to place their homes into the vacation market), FlipKey gives you an abundance of rentals to pick from in cities around the world. Whether you want a beachside mansion for 20 of your closest friends on the Outer Banks of North Carolina or an apartment for your little family in Barcelona, FlipKey has it and then some.

 

Just select where you want to go and FlipKey pulls up all the available listings for that area. Let’s say you and the family are heading to Cape Cod for a week in August. You’ve settled on the town of Dennis because of its quaintness, peace, and proximity to the ocean. You’d like to bring your beloved pooch along for vacation. You’ve got your pick of places to stay from small cottages with three bedrooms that sleep four to six people to a six-bedroom farmhouse with a large porch that can house up to 16 people. While deciding, there’s extensive insight and information given so that you intimately know your vacation property before you even pack a bag. FlipKey tells you pricing details for the time period you’ll be staying, property amenities, availability, and even reviews that prior guests have written.

 

According to FlipKey, just about any living space can be utilized for rentals. It’s also free to publish a rental listing. You set up your listing with pictures and information on the site – the more informative, the better. Interested vacationers can find your listing and may interact with you through your TripAdvisor account inbox. The site will notify you by email, text, or its mobile app, but guests will correspond through the site to you. When you accept a guest’s booking, the guest makes payment through the website. Once a guest books your property, FlipKey deducts 3% from the payment. 24 hours after a guest checks in, you will receive your payment.

 

Vacationers pay for their rentals as well as a guest booking fee that is typically 8 to 14% of the total booking value. That fee enables TripAdvisor to run its secure platform, offer 24-hour customer support, and ensure that all financial transactions are safe and secure.

 

As a guest, booking through FlipKey will give you peace of mind because it provides a full refund for your stay if you were denied or prevented access to the rental when you went to check in or if the property is significantly misrepresented – that is, if it was much different than advertised.

 

Key Features

  • Setting up a rental 
  • Getting info on properties 
  • Traveler vacation protection

 

Needs Improvement

There have been issues with guests trying to get refunded at the last minute. Check cancellation policies before booking because you never know if you’ll need to unexpectedly cancel your trip. 

 

User Skill/Experience Required

FlipKey is a user-friendly website. No technical skills are needed to check its listings or place your own as a host.

 

Pricing & Where to Buy FlipKey

This service doesn’t cost anything for listing a property (host) or surfing to find an ideal listing (guest). If you plan to rent a place or are an owner and will be allowing guests to use your home, there are fees involved. 

 

To book your vacation today, visit FlipKey’s official site here.

 

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