HomeAway.co.uk Brings e-Commerce to the Holiday Rentals Industry

LONDON, January 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

UK leader HomeAway.co.uk introduces ReservationManager™ and partners with HolidayRentPayment to enable online booking

HomeAway.co.uk, part of HomeAway, Inc., world leader of the online holiday rentals industry, today announced the launch of ReservationManager™. This new tool streamlines the booking process for owners and guests alike by enabling holiday homeowners advertising their property on HomeAway.co.uk to better manage enquiries and communications with guests, as well as accept payments and bookings online.  

ReservationManager™ provides a seamless and attractively priced way for owners to accept online credit and debit card payments via HolidayRentPayment.eu, the leading provider in Europe for holiday rent payment solution. Charges for domestic UK payments are a flat 1.4 %, compared to PayPal's rates which start at over 3.4%, whilst international transactions on ReservationManager start at 1.9%.

ReservationManager is designed not only to facilitate, but also speed up each and every step of the reservation process, providing a valuable time-saving tool for owners. Tens of thousands of homeowners have already adopted these tools on US flagship site HomeAway.com and are using them to process holiday rental bookings online.

Audra Savory, who advertises a villa in Florida on HomeAway.co.uk, said, "I was pleasantly surprised at how much quicker the booking process was - complete in less than 24 hours with rental agreement. A booking used to entail a minimum of three e-mails, possibly a phone call and a lot of manual processing by me. I now don't have to complete the processing as the site updates automatically - I love it! The new process enables transactions to be paid in GBP, when the customer pays their end in a foreign currency, which will help me retain the American customers that I have been losing in the past due to the difficulty with paying in GBP. It also enables the customer to pay by credit card, something that I have not been able to offer in the past unless the payment was taken by PayPal."

Andy Cockburn, Regional Director for HomeAway UK, comments, "We are committed to making booking a holiday rental as quick, simple and secure as a hotel, so more holidaymakers can enjoy the space, freedom and value this alternative accommodation option provides. As we drive adoption of e-commerce in our customer base, more and more bookings will flow through our checkout, improving holidaymaker experience and adoption of rentals and driving forward this market."

"We developed ReservationManager™ as a result of feedback from our customers," says Brian Sharples, founder and CEO of HomeAway, Inc. "Owners desired a simple and efficient way to interact with guests, and guests prefer the convenience and security of paying online. We are happy we found a key partner in HolidayRentPayment in order to enable ReservationManager™ to deliver both, and we're thrilled with the initial response from our customers in the US and look forward to similar success in the UK."

ReservationManager™ features include:

• Customisable e-mail templates - to facilitate quick replies and the ability to store a record of communications sent
• Quotes - owners can enter standard rental fees and taxes once and save for future quotes; quotes are then automatically populated in rental agreements and payment requests
• Online Rental Agreement - owners may upload their own rental agreements and guests must agree to the terms of the contract online before making a payment; cancellation and refund policies may be also customised
• Online payments - 1.4 percent for standard credit/debit cards and from 1.9 percent for international payments, powered by payment leader HolidayRentPayment.eu
• 'Book Now' - owners have the option to enable a 'book now' button and completely automate the booking process if they so wish
• It's free! - the best thing about ReservationManager is that it is a free product for HomeAway.co.uk customers. To learn more visit: http://www.homeaway.co.uk/info/holidayrentals/updates/year-of-change

About HomeAway.co.uk

Founded in 1996 and part of HomeAway Inc., HomeAway.co.uk is the UK's number one holiday rentals website, listing over 410,000 self-catering properties worldwide. The site provides a simple, cost-effective way for holiday home owners and managers to market their property and manage bookings, with unrivalled worldwide exposure for a fixed annual fee. For holidaymakers, HomeAway.co.uk offers the best choice of any UK website.

About HolidayRentPayment.eu

A division of YapStone, HolidayRentPayment is the most experienced and innovative online payment solution available in the Holiday Rental industry. Whilst other payment providers take a one-size-fits-all approach for all markets, HolidayRentPayment's solution was purpose-built for the Holiday Rental market, with a sophisticated yet flexible platform, designed to adhere to the unique business requirements of this dynamic and rapidly growing industry. HolidayRentPayment is focused on providing holiday rental property owners the best combination of total cost savings, robust security, and superior technology.