Get Points for Short-Term Rentals
Tl;dr: You can get bonus points on Vrbos, Vacasa, and Marriott’s Homes & Villas.
When we travel abroad, I’m partial to staying in Airbnb’s, which tend to be very nice and very affordable, especially for extended (4+ night) stays, and especially abroad. And while I don’t have a credit card that gets significant bonus points on short-term rentals, there are still good ways to squeeze some extra rewards out of Airbnb stays.
But Airbnb isn’t the only name in the short-term rental game, and some of the others also have great opportunities to snag extra points for your stays.
First up, VRBO. Personally, I think the best deal on VRBO’s, at least for longer stays, is to use the United Portal, which offers three United Airways miles for each dollar spent on your stay. For cheaper stays, Rakuten, which typically offers a flat $10 back (although I’ve seen them offer $20), or another shopping portal might be the better bet. As far as I can tell, these can’t be combined (I haven’t booked a VRBO recently), but with either should option you should also be able to get VRBO’s internal OneKey rewards, good for another 2% back.
Next up, Marriott’s Homes and Villas. These rentals are part of Marriott’s Bonvoy program, and earn 5 Bonvoy points per base dollar (excluding things like taxes and fees), plus any bonuses that come with status (for example via a Marriott credit card). These can also be booked via a shopping portal like Rakuten for additional bonus points. If you have a Marriott credit card, you’ll also get those cards’ high earning rate, and advantage over other short-term rentals like Airbnbs typically qualify only for the more modest “travel” or general spending categories. And if you’re new to Marriott, you can also earn bonus points through their referral program. I’ve also seen a lot of merchant offers on Homes & Villas stays.
Finally, I’ll mention Vacasa. Although it doesn’t have its own rewards program like Marriott and Vrbo, much of their inventory overlaps with Marriott’s, so be sure to check whether it might be more rewarding to book your Vacasa stay via Marriott.
And although this post is focused on earning points, it’s worth mentioning that Vacasa can be a great way to spend points. Wyndham points can be redeemed on Vacasa stays for 15k points per night, per room. Whether you’ve earned them from a Wyndham credit card, Citi card, or Wyndham stays, this can be a pretty good deal. Upsides of this option are free cancellation up to 30 days before your stay, a discount if you have a Wyndham credit card (including the no-fee Earner card), and the opportunity to get great deals for larger groups given the per-bedroom pricing (because you can sleep more people on bunk beds or a sofabed without paying anything extra).
These rewards options are absolute musts if you’re a Vrbo or Homes & Villas devotee, but they’re worth knowing about regardless. You never know when a short-term rental like this will be your best option!