What is a Vacation Rental?

Who manages vacation rental properties?

Who is FlipKey?

What are the advantages of using FlipKey versus other vacation rental websites?

How do I search for vacation rental properties?

How do I contact managers/owners to inquire about availability or to ask questions?

The manager/owner has not responded to my email inquires, what should I do?

 

What is a vacation rental?

Millions of people own wonderful homes in great locations that are not their primary residence.  Many of these homeowners choose to rent these properties to travelers – typically on a nightly or weekly basis.  If you're new to vacation rentals, it's easy to find the rental perfect for you on FlipKey. Vacation rentals combine the excitement of travel with the comforts of home. With extra space, privacy, and amenities, it's the smartest choice. 

With vacation home rentals, travelers get great value, superior amenities, and unique locations in great vacation destinations all over the world. For more information on how renting a home on FlipKey works, click here.

Who manages vacation rental properties?

Vacation rentals are either rented through a professional property manager or directly by individual homeowners. FlipKey informs travelers whether the property is managed by a professional property manager or an individual homeowner in the owner/manager profile section on each property listing.

Rentals from property managers typically offer:

• Dedicated on-site assistance and 24 hour contact
• Staff with local knowledge and experience helping thousands of guests
• Professional hospitality and amenity services

Rentals from property owners typically offer:

• Personal attention and direct contact with owner
• Intimate knowledge about details unique to home
• Competitive pricing with flexible dates and rates

Who is FlipKey

FlipKey is a leading vacation rental website featuring the world’s largest collection of authentic vacation rental guest reviews. FlipKey currently has more than 100,000 vacation rental properties around the world, which offer travelers great value along with the space, privacy, and amenities of home.

FlipKey’s comprehensive inventory of vacation rental properties, extensive verification processes, and easy-to-use website make it simple and safe to find the perfect vacation rental. Travelers can search our rental property listings and connect directly with rental property managers and owners for free. Travelers can also review property details including photos, rates and guest reviews to identify the best rental property for their next vacation.

Our dedication to providing a high-quality, valuable service has won widespread customer approval and media attention. FlipKey has been named a “Top Vacation Rental Site” by Travel + Leisure Magazine in 2008 and 2009 and was ranked one of the top 10 travel websites for 2010 by the New York Post. Additionally, FlipKey has been mentioned across a wide variety of top tier media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, MSNBC, SmartMoney, and the LA Times. 

FlipKey is majority owned by TripAdvisor, LLC and powers the vacation rental experience on TripAdvisor, which is the world’s largest travel website. TripAdvisor Media Group is comprised of 17 market-leading travel brands, which together attract over 50 million unique monthly visitors.* FlipKey is led by a seasoned management team that has experienced first-hand the challenges and rewards of renting and managing vacation homes. Prior to founding FlipKey, the management team held key positions at online market leaders including Compete.com, eBay and BuyerZone.

 

*Source: comScore Media Metrix, Worldwide, June 2010

 

What are the advantages of using FlipKey versus other vacation rental websites

• Explore your options with over 100,000 rentals. Stay in homes, condos, villas, or resorts. Search for a specific location from our homepage or explore all destinations if you aren't sure where you want to go. With more than 100,000 vacation rental properties around the world, we are confident that you will find a great home!

• Choose the perfect place to stay. You’ll always have options when you travel, anywhere in the world. View each rental to check out photos and availability, bedroom and bathroom details, and see what activities and restaurants are nearby.

• Lots of photos and virtual tours. Get a feel for where you will be staying with our vast array of photos. Some properties even have virtual video tours.

• Read Reviews. FlipKey has the largest collection of verified and trusted guest reviews in the industry. Take a look at what past guests have said about the rental. FlipKey has real reviews from past guests. Rental owners can never edit reviews.

• More free nights with special offers. Look for vacation rentals with special offers, and you may be able to get extra nights for free or discounts on your nightly rate.

• No booking fees. Why pay booking fees on top of the nightly rate? Treat yourself to something special on your trip instead.

 

 

How do I search for vacation rental properties?

1.  Finding a rental on FlipKey is simple. Start at the homepage and enter the destination in the search box. 

 

2.  If you are unsure about where you would like to go on vacation, simply browse through over 5,000 unique destinations.

 

3. Once you search, you can narrow the list of properties by filtering property results based on number of bedrooms, number of guests, and rates.  You can also sort results by properties that are offering special deals, availability, or accessibility (pet friendly, wheelchair accessible, etc.). Even use our map feature to identify where you want to stay – beachfront, city-center, or even far away from it all!

 

How do I contact managers/owners to inquire about availability or to ask questions?

Once you identify the properties that you are interested in, there are up to three ways to contact the property manager or homeowner who represents the property:

 

1.   You can submit an email inquiry for any property.

2.  You can call the owner/manager directly for properties that have a phone number displayed.

 

3.  You can book properties directly online (not available for all properties). 

Quick Tip! We recommend contacting at least 5 rental owners or managers to make sure you can choose the perfect place!

The manager/owner has not responded to my email inquires, what should I do

Most owners/managers respond to travelers by phone or email within 24 to 48 hours.  Owners and managers are very diligent about their business and do their best to respond quickly to interested renters. 

On the rare occasion that you do not get a response after a few days, we recommend following up with an email or a phone call.  Not all owners/managers display a phone number on their FlipKey property listing, but we recommend calling those who do provide a number to expedite the rental process. If you still haven't heard back from the manager/owner, we encourage you to inquire about other properties that meet your needs.