If you haven’t heard of Vrbo’s new “Last Minute Deals” feature, it’s time to catch up. Launched in June 2025, this update quietly rolled out, but it could impact your visibility and bookings more than you think.
With booking lead times shrinking globally, more travelers are waiting until the last minute to book vacations. That shift in guest behavior is changing how and when hosts need to price their listings.
What does that mean for you? If you’ve got gaps in your Vrbo calendar, or if your competitors are using this tool, you might want to take a second look at your pricing strategy.
How Do Vrbo’s Last Minute Deals Work?
Vrbo is enabling hosts to more easily offer discounts on stays booked within 30 days of check-in. These promotions show up in search results with a special “Last minute” badge and can be found using a new filter travelers are already using on the Vrbo app and website.
- Eligibility: Hosts and property owners can choose which listings offer a discount, and for what time frame—any stay with check-in between 1 to 30 days from booking qualifies.
- Discount Threshold: Listings must offer at least a 5% discount to earn the badge and appear in Last Minute Deal search filters.
- Search Boost: Vrbo promotes these deals by highlighting them in results, which could lead to more views (and potentially bookings).
You can set up Last Minute Deals directly from your Vrbo dashboard under “Rates & Discounts” > “Promotions.” You’ll also find other promotional tools there, like length-of-stay discounts or targeted offers.
Should Vrbo Hosts Use It?
That depends, and you’ll want to weigh the trade-off. If you have last-minute availability and aren’t already using dynamic pricing, Vrbo’s Last Minute Deals can be a quick way to fill open nights and provide a small bump in your ranking in search results.
However, for long-term profit growth, it’s smarter to manage discounts through your pricing platform. Relying on stacked or blanket discounts can hurt profitability, especially when they’re not aligned with real-time demand.
Dynamic pricing takes the guesswork out by automatically adjusting your rates based on market trends and booking windows. You stay competitive, maximize earnings, and still appeal to those spontaneous travelers, without leaving money on the table.
One vacation rental property manager with properties from Palm Springs to Indianapolis grew both occupancy rates and average daily rates by 25% with dynamic pricing!
This shift in guest behavior isn’t going away, and staying ahead means pricing smarter.
Wondering How Much Should Vrbo Hosts Make?
By understanding what drives bookings and rate growth in your market, Vrbo owners and hosts are better equipped to act on data, not just react to it. And in today’s dynamic short-term rental landscape, that’s the kind of insight that separates good hosts from great ones.
Get free data about any short-term rental market with Beyond. You can see stats like how much revenue per listing you could make in your market, occupancy rates, and more.
