About promotions

Promotions are special deals that increase the visibility of your property, which can attract more guests.

Setting up promotions can help you to secure bookings in advance, increase bookings during low season, or fill last-minute gaps in your calendar.

Promotions are different from weekly or monthly discounts. Both offer a percentage off your base rate to help increase bookings, but promotions have the following added advantages:

• Highlight your listing in search results: Boost your visibility with a special badge* on the Vrbo traveler site by offering a discount of 5% or more:
  • Travelers love a great deal, and this badge* helps your property stand out.
  • If you're offering a member-only deal, a 10% discount unlocks this added exposure.
• Targeted access: Promotions can be aimed at specific guests or offered for a limited time, creating a sense of urgency and driving more bookings from guests who are searching for properties in real time.
• More flexibility: Promotions allow you to build demand through multi-season strategies that you can adapt at any time.

*Badge merchandising threshold is based upon final price after inclusion of taxes and fees for all brands, excluding Vrbo US. In the US, badge merchandising threshold is based upon final price including fees but excluding taxes.

Promotion types

How promotions work

• Mobile and member-only deal offers apply to every night of the booking.
• Early booking and last-minute discounts will only apply to the specific dates that fall within the parameters of the set up. This means that, sometimes, the discount will only apply to specific nights, not to the entire booking.
• New listing promotions end after your property has been live for 90 days, or if you choose to opt out manually.
  • To be eligible for this promotion, your listing must have been live for less than 90 days on the platform.
  • To get the most out of this promotion, opt in while creating the listing.

Here are some examples to help you understand how promotions work:

• For Early booking: Imagine you set an early booking promotion for stays booked 75 days in advance of the check-in date. If a guest books a stay that spans from 73 to 77 days from check-in date, the discount will only apply to the last three nights (the portion at/over the 75-day purchase window), not the entire booking.
• For Last minute:Imagine you set a last minute promotion for stays booked within 14 days of the check-in date. If a guest books a stay that spans from 12 to 20 days from check-in date, the discount will only apply to the first three nights (the portion within the 14-day purchase window), not to the entire booking.

Promotion stacking

If you use length-of-stay discounts, such as weekly or monthly discounts, they'll combine (“stack”) with a single promotion to maximize savings for guests.

You can create multiple promotions for your listing, but Vrbo will only apply one at a time—whichever one offers the deepest discount.

This table shows an example of how we calculate the final booking price for a property with a nightly base rate of 100 USD:

*The promotion is applied to the discounted base rate, not to the original base rate.

Create and manage your promotions

In your property’s Calendar settings, you can manage your promotions and review their performance all in one place.

Track your performance

What the data means:

• Total bookings: The total number of bookings made in the past six months and for all upcoming stays where the promotion was used.
  • The total includes all booking statuses (such as confirmed, pending, or cancelled).
  • Bookings that extend beyond the six-month window are not counted.
• Net revenue: The total rental income from bookings in the past six months and for all upcoming stays where the promotion was used. This amount excludes taxes, traveler service fees, and host fees.
  • Net revenue includes all booking statuses (such as confirmed, pending, or cancelled).
  • Bookings that extend beyond the six-month window are not counted.

Ensuring promotions comply with consumer and advertising laws

If you include a discount or savings message or other promotional marketing message in the “free text entry” of your listing, it is your responsibility to ensure that these messages comply with all applicable laws, including consumer protection and advertising laws.

Consider the following general guidance:

• Make sure that any promotions you show on our website are honest and not misleading. Discounts should be based on genuine savings off your standard rate.
  • For example, in some countries the standard rate should be the lowest bookable rate in the last 30 days or less.
• Make sure that seasonal rates are compared appropriately.
  • For example, an off-season rate should not be shown as a discount against a high-season rate that would not apply to the same booking period.
• Make sure all promotions you display on our websites are given to the guests who book them.   
• If you run a time limited discount (for example, a 72-hour sale or new listing discount), the lower price must only be available during that time. After the promotion ends, the price should go back to your standard rate and stay at that level for a reasonable period before doing further promotions.
• Any booking restrictions or conditions, such as travel dates or minimum stay requirements, must be clearly disclosed.

You are responsible for knowing and following the laws that apply to your promotions. These guidelines are not legal advice. Vrbo may suspend or stop showing any promotions or listings that we believe break these guidelines or the law. 

Learn how to create your first promotion.