Airbnb vs. Vrbo....

[blanq]

This is the key. Any trip that involves no refunds after a certain time, which would include cruising on DCL, would make me want insurance. So many last minute things can happen which would result in losing all $$ paid. Stuff happens. I always buy trip ins through www.insuremytrip.com which is very reasonable, and if bought within a certain time after booking, can cover pre-existing conditions if needed or even 'cancel for any reason', cancel for work reasons, etc. I buy it to cover the whole trip: airfare etc.
I don't mean to sound snarky, just putting it out there for vacation knowledge to everyone.
We love cruising and are accustomed to having to pay in full 75 or even 120 days prior. If your same situation happened prior to a Disney cruise, they didn't used to, but now they stick to their contract and you would lose all $$ paid w/o insurance.
I also like knowing if God forbid dh has a heart attack while at sea and has to be emergency lifted back to Miami, it's covered. The cost w/o insurance could bankrupt a family. Also a more likely problem, if our home airport is snowed in and we can't fly home post cruise, ins would cover the cost of getting a hotel in FL (up to covered amount) until we could fly home. This did happen to my parents and hotels in Ft. Lauderdale are crazy high in Feb but they had peace of mind knowing that it was all covered.

I didn't take your post as snarky! You are totally right, and I wanted to post my experience so others realize what they are getting into and plan accordingly. I have really taken a lot of chances when it comes to traveling without trip insurance. We travel frequently, and many (such as our 2 week cruise earlier this year) do have tough cancellation penalties. Although I did not lose any money on our summer vacation, due to a wonderful and generous VRBO owner, I very well could have and the reality of that is leading me to add trip insurance to future trips.

 

[Deb & Bill]

looks like homeaway and airbnb offer insurance anyone use these? I have never gotten trip insurance....

I bought the Homeaway insurance, but did not need it.

 

[hsmamato2]

well, thanks for all the advice....(love disboards) I chose a homeaway listing....the reviews are great for this place, and so far in just the booking,the owner has called me twice to be sure I did the deposit correctly,and to make sure I had all the info I needed for my records. (which is everything the reviews said about her). The homeaway site itself seems glitchy.... but so far,things are looking good! I always tend to be nervous when trying something new....

 

[bearzabout]

My sister-in-law fell for a scam rental in the Keys using VRBO. She was able to buy the insurance after paying the deposit but before the final payment and got her deposit money back.

Now I try to verify as much as I can about the owner. I will do searches on their phone number, check tax records to make sure they own the property and even have called management companies to confirm ownership.

To put your mind at ease, do a few quick searches using names, phone numbers, and the property address if you have it. Look up the address or neighborhood on Google Earth if you are unfamiliar with the area and look at the street views. Spending a few minutes doing some research before final payment is made can save you a lot of headaches down the road.

We've rented nearly 15 times using VRBO, Flipkey and Homeaway and only had this one problem. I am going to try AirBNB for the next trip. It seems to work better for stays shorter than one week.