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  2. I've been working for months on a travel extension that...

I've been working for months on a travel extension that helps you book directly - is it useful?

Marina Guastavino
4 replies
Before I book a hotel or an appartment on airbnb/vrbo, I tend to google the place to check out if they offer a better price. Sometimes it's the same, but sometimes I've had really nice discounts, like 15% off. The trouble is finding the place. With hotels its a little easier since I know the name usually, although a lot of the names seam to repeat and I have landed on the wrong website (luckily I realized it before booking!). And with vacation rentals I find it much harder to match. The idea behind this extensin I've been building is to save time and effort on this reasearch, and make my travel planning more efficient. It finds the website for you while you are searching as usual on travel sites like booking or airbnb. If you want to try it, it is completely free. You can get Directo travel extension from the Chrome Store. Lot's of work still to do...if you find any bugs or have suggestions, please share! Want to make it better for everyone.

Replies

Nischal nayak
HOPE
HOPE
i liked the thought behind the idea the success of this extension will largely depend on the quality and comprehensiveness of its database. As for the pricing, I see that you are offering a very reasonable $2 per month for listings, which should work well for hotels. However, it might be more challenging to convince Airbnb hosts to reduce their prices since Airbnb typically charges hosts a 3% fee from their listing prices. How do you plan to encourage Airbnb hosts to offer lower prices through your extension?
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Marina Guastavino
@nischal_nayak hey! So sorry, I totally missed your answer!! Thanks for checking it out, and the feedback! Regarding your point, the airbnb fee actually has been evolving in the last few years, and most property managers I talked to pay around 14-17% just for airbnb fees. So it makes a lot of sense for them to get that saving and pass it on to the travelers.
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Farjana A
Hi there! That sounds like a really useful extension. I'm always looking for ways to save money on travel, so I'm definitely interested in trying it out. I'm a SaaS Product Demo animation explainer video expert, so I'm familiar with the challenges of developing a travel tool. I'd be happy to test it out and give you some feedback. I'm also happy to share my network of travel enthusiasts with you. I'm sure they would be interested in trying out your extension as well. Let me know if you're interested in having me help you test it out. I'm sure we can make it even better!
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