More interested in generating income from sales than protecting or vetting its customers

My family and I recently used Flipkey and wrote a below average review of the condo we rented via the Flipkey website. The owner of condo that advertised on Flipkey then sent personal abusive messages to us in response to our very mild and honest review. We sent the abusive messages on to Flipkey to inform them of the situation, whilst they logged a formal complaint with the condo owner about their conduct toward us, Flipkey did not remove them from advertising on their website. This means this abusive condo owner can continue to sell on their site which clearly shows Flipkey has no ethics in the trade they conduct. Don't use Flipkey, I have found a more reputable website to use in the future and have had an incredible experience with Airbnb https://www.airbnb.co.uk/

No good for a UK owner. US dollars and currency fees are mandatory.

As a British owner Flipkey didn't work for me. What they don't state at sign up (buried way down at the bottom of the small print) is that they only deal in US dollars so when they say all you pay is 3% commission what they really mean is 3% commission plus currency exchange costs taking the fee to almost double. When I queried this, saying I had ticked UK sterling as my currency they said that's only for the ad. As an American company they could only work in US dollars, so my UK client had to pay me, a UK company in a foreign currency. How customer friendly is that? I said that's odd because if every US company did that I would be paying US dollars plus a currency exchange fee in Starbucks or McDonalds in the UK! Flipkey was unable or unwilling to resolve this and after an automated acknowledgement thanking me for my comments, assuring me they are keen to improve customer experience yada yada, I heard no more. Voted with my feet and cancelled my subscription. The general quality of enquiries was poor and I had one 3 day booking which was more hassle for me and my guests than it was worth so all in all not very impressed.

THEY WON'T PROVIDE US WITH THE GUEST'S EMAIL?

I have been using Flipkey for over a year and they will not provide an email address for the guest. They screen all of our emails to and from the guest which I find very unprofessional. It's none of their business what information we provide to our potential guests.... I've worked 30 years in perfecting my contracts, emails, and replies and find it very irritating to have to ask the guest for their email address. I don't share any of our private business tactics with other owners and surely don't want to share it with these guys.

They are super mediocre

They are great at being middle of the line. SUPER at it!

FlipKey supports blackmail

Guests with a baby didn't think that a vacation villa has a pool close to the rooms and A/C only in the bed rooms. Instead of enjoying the nice ocean breeze through the sliding doors they blocked also on daytime the proper airflow with the screens. I'd never offer A/C in the living room for this villa and no other villa exept my villa next door offers this. When they realized their mistake they tried to get a full refund with a lot of lies .
They tried to blackmail te owner by threatening to make an evil review within 24 hours, if they do not get their money back. In order to extort money they sent already a draft of the reviews full of lies.
Of course a reputable Website like VRBO doesn't support blackmail.
FlipKey and TripAdvisor do support blackmail!

48 hour customer service by email only and no phone is not user friendly

I am an owner with a vacation property listed on FK. I am trying to get FK to respond to questions that I have. The only way to contact them is by email and then they take 48 hours (not counting weekends) to respond. Two concerns that I have is that they want my social security number so I can take payments on their site and this is in addition to my date of birth. What do they want my SSN for and why should I think they have the security to protect my private information. My other issue is that I use a lease which protects me and also the tenant. I can use my lease but the problem is that FK will not release any information about the prospective tenant until a payment has been made. My feeling on this is why would anybody make a payment for a rental before they see a lease and have had a chance to review it? I am waiting for FK to respond to this but I asked my question on Friday after 5PM so on Monday today they acknowledged that they have my inquiry I will see a response late Tuesday or sometime on Wednesday. FK does generate inquiries I have had about 14 and after responding to 14 I have had one party that is really interested. I also use www.vacationrentals.com and the hit rate is not only better but the quality (determined by bookings) is much better.

Last year when FK was new I had a 3month free listing, and got no bookings thru them but I did have a number of hits.
If you are an owner please read all their rules and fees and decide if you are comfortable in giving them all the information they require.

never EVER EVER EVER use FlipKey

There is a very common scam going on enabled by FlipKey's completely non-existent security.

Thieves hack property owners' email. These are typically a non-technical and susceptible bunch. When you submit your info to FlipKey there is a good chance FlipKey will send it directly to thieves/scammers. It's everywhere. Google it.

I just lost thousands on a rental. FlipKey provides no protection and blame the owners.

Even when they know hackers have taken control of an account they will not contact you except via a generic email.

FlipKey could easily fix this problem in about a week in a dozen ways, but they literally couldn't care less.

I'm a highly compensated IT consultant and consider myself to be immune to most scams, however the problem here is that the FlipKey implementation is literally broken and has no security. Seriously zero security. They could use digital certs or have owners log into their site....they do nothing. On my way to small claims court. Hope you don't end up there too.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I visited FlipKey to find an apartment for Miami I found I liked a lot and I was contacted by the "owner". He even sent me the rental agreement that FLipKey approves and everything. Needless to say after lot of communication back and forth and after contacting flipkey countless times via email, as they have no number ti call to make sure the owner was truly who he said he was I was basically scammed. Soon after, the presumed owner stopped answering all my emails after he mentioned I was to receive a refund. Now, FLipKey claims they can't do anything about it even after the presumed owner stole someone's elses identity and ilegally used FLipKey's name!!

Michael Masters found this review useful

best rental agency so far !

pros : best price for value I know. as a traveller, you don't pay any commission and the total rent is always a little lower than other websites. apartment I stayed in are usually larger and I always had good contact with owners.
much more straightforward than other websites where you can't share any info before booking (because that's where they make money). some may say but I once used customer service and it worked perfectly.

I'm also a property owner and I'll try this website. of course you have pay 300 US dollars to be listed without any insurance it will work but if you know your math, it's still much less expensive than AirBnB (maybe the leader in this market now) where each owner has to pay 3% and each tenant 10 to 15%.

I'll come back as soon as I have some hindsight as a property owner so the 5 stars are only for travellers on this one. better than Roomorama and AirBnB and MUCH BETTER than HouseTrip !

Absolutely Nonresponsive Customer Service!

I only use Flipkey because the vacation rental industry offers few website portal choices for homeowners to post their rental onto. I receive little business from Flipkey and receive a large number of low-ballers. Flipkey advertises NO Customer Service Telephone number on their website. I was able to locate a customer service number via Google, but I had to dig deep! They do NOT return emails within 24/hrs, newly listed properties will sit "pending" and unadvertised after payment has been submitted for more than 24 hours AND when you are successful calling them, you often stay on hold and after several minutes waiting, receive a message that "all agents are busy and will call you back". I look forward to the next competitor of Flipkey and will leave Flipkey first opportunity!

Guests beware Flipkeys hidden fees and penalties

As a UK guest booking a self catering holiday cottage in Portugal through flipkey, I was stunned to be asked to pay up to 10% in fees on my booking (my fee worked out at 5% as it was over £1000). However the worst thing was the fee only appeared at the final step, when you are putting in your credit card details. I thought it was the Owners Fee to be deducted. NOWHERE on their site is it made transparent that the GUEST pays a huge fee. PLUS the transaction is in Dollars, even though the listing was in pounds sterling. I would have lost a further £40 in currency exchange rates alone making a £1700 holiday cost £1840. Unacceptable.
I have booked many self catering cottages throughout Europe but as a GUEST have never had to pay fees before, the OWNER always pays the fee.
My advice is DON'T use flipkey to book your holiday unless you are prepared for the hefty hidden fees

My rental property has been doing very well on Flip Key

Much to my surprise I was looking at which site did better as far as generating rentals. I have actually booked more with flip key than one of the other major sites. They are really helping me generate the type of rental I need. papabearsden.net

A Travel Site You Can Trust.

If I had to pick just one travel search and review site I'd choose FlipKey for it's user friendliness, accuracy and integration with TripAdvisor, the go to review site for millions of travelers worldwide.

best of the best

Great website for vacation rental owners as well as renters. Definatelly my favourite vacation rental site. I have used it from the very begining of their existance and plan on keep going.Honestly I haven't found better site. Very much recommended!

Wonderful properties to peruse!

Flipkey is a great place to go to find that unusual, awesome place to stay!

The best way to choose like all "TripAdvisor world"

I use this website to choose my holiday and I am on it for my work, I think that is the way for the new type of tourism, no other solution to choose the best place, and it is also about 95% of my business.
My suggest to this company is: "never change" never give more possibility to firm or apartment with not good review to have more visibility, your way is the way.
Thank you Flipkey.com
Sorry for my Bad English
A little Italian that work for a better tourism

Very useful and affordable -- plus easy to use!

The hardest part about travel finding an affordable and safe place to stay. FlipKey makes all those worries go away! With so many differerent properties and easy organization, the site is not tough to navigate. Plus you don't have to always choose the same rental, which makes any trip more exciting.

Amazing rental options & very user-friendly website!

The rental options for our destination in AZ were absolutely stunning & amazing! We found a great home rental with a private pool & hot tub that will serve as our "home base" during my son's upcoming wedding there. FlipKey is easy to navigate and offers all the information that you would need to make a decision on vacation rentals. Features excellent information on amenities as well as maps & info for local area restaurants & things to do. It is the best rental site that I have personally used & I have been recommending it to all of my family & friends.

I advertise my rentals with Flipkey

Great rental leads for my luxury vacation property in Puerto Vallarta. Good links to Tripadvisor for my renters to get honest clear reviews.

Great Travel Blog

if you are looking for vacation rentals and lots of honest information for things to do, you've found the right place. Family fun

Straight to the Facts

Love Flipkey. Love the exposure I get and the response is great. Would definitely recommend it. If your looking for something, you have all the reviews right there from people that know.

The best way to rent a house, villa, condo anywhere

Used Flipkey three times without a hiccup. Accurate reviews and pricing allowed us to find the perfect fit for our trips. For us we prefer to stay in vacation rentals rather than resorts since it offers a more authentic experience and Flipkey has offered us the ability to find perfection 3 different times.

Best company EVER!!

Relaible, great variety. easy to use wesite with loads of reviews that I could count on when booking a place.

Efficent, and very helpful when booking a vacation!

I have dealt with this company two times thus far and will continue to use them. They are efficient and get back to your response very quickly. They even have beach properties that are pet friendly, which is very important to us.Also they have on line reservations where you can make your deposits and full payments. This is helpful and extremely convenient. So far we have only booked with one condo beach front association, but they deal with hundreds. I recommend this site to everyone, you will not be disappointed.
Y. Pingel, Tampa, FL

up there with the competition!

i am a frequent user of airbnb, and have grown comfortable with their user interface. however, flipkey offers a very similar site (just with a little less frills). it's partnership with tripadvisor makes me automatically trust their travel know-how.

along with that advantage, i find that the renters on flipkey are more experienced, and that my searches on flipkey provide a wider variety of results than airbnb.

Reliable and high quality service

I've had my apartment listed in Flipkey for three years now and haven't had any need to list it on any other site! Also extra credit for Flipkey customer service as all my questions have been answered very quickly indeed!

The recent updates to the service including better messaging features making if very easy to track discussions with potential guests.

Only thing they'd still need to improve is the calendar functionality so it would show when the apartment is free for half a day, ie someone checking out in the morning would still show the apartment available for a checking in the afternoon. Now the calendar has only full days.

Yvonne Pingel found this review useful

Decent site to promote your property

A fair trade of your 300$ for an annual base marketing of your property if you will check around other equivalent paid in advance sites. On the other hand not sure if it is the smartest way for bigger more expensive properties like the one i have.... I had some enquiries, lot of questions, lot of effort, mostly people fooling around, zero result. A percentage paid uppon result might be better method.

Easy to manage and great reward to those who list their property

Its a great website that allows you to reach people all over the world who might want to stay in your place in the world.
When they are searching for a place they can see what others have experienced at your place and what they can truly expect when they get there.
The website is exceptionally secure and delivers on my expectations time and time again.
Keep up the great work Flipkey!

F antastic
L eading edge
I deal for me
P erfect for others
K ool
E asy to manage
Y our best way to manage your rental

Yvonne Pingel found this review useful

Great experience

Lot of reservations, advertised also on Tripadvisor. Easy to use. Suggestion: should have listing "by traveler rating"

Easy Peasy!

Everyone it's plain to see that Flipkey is the one for me!
Very effective, easy to use.

Yvonne Pingel and KateLynn Swens found this review useful

Very happy

I have found FlipKey great to advertise our property. No problems over 2 years and effective marketing tool. Thank you!

Yvonne Pingel found this review useful

As a property owner - not the best

I get a fair amount of inquiries, but I believe it could improve. I've called numerous times about my map location being incorrect. It is fixed for a few days and then next time I look; the map indicates my property is way off the beach.
The upside is that Flipkey, unlike other sites divides up the island into areas and if my map location were correct potential guests could find us quite easily.

Yvonne Pingel found this review useful

Awesome!

I love Flipkey!

Yvonne Pingel found this review useful

Promise the earth and deliver the gutter

We advertise with this company, have always had success in the past until they took our money to renew this time, within days of renewing our advert we were told the criteria had changed and the algorithms used to sort adverts altered to benefit larger clients with little or no reviews. We worked hard from Flipkey inception to get the status we had achieved only to have our hard work pooh-hoo'ed, not what we expected of such an initially great company.

Yvonne Pingel found this review useful

Excellent Service!

I love Flipkey.com they offer an excellent service for owners! Thank you

Yvonne Pingel found this review useful

Love Flipkey!

I love Flipkey for my personal and business needs! My cabin resort is listed here and I get great responses from that. But I also use Flipkey for my own travel needs! Great Company.

Yvonne Pingel found this review useful

Love FlipKey!!

Flipkey is an excellent way to view and book your travel plans!!

Yvonne Pingel found this review useful

Good place to list your property

We have used Flipkey to list our home in St.Lucia since they started and we have gotten a good bit of traffic from the site. It is well run and easy to list on.

Yvonne Pingel found this review useful

Perfect for better than hotel pricing

Any time we go on vacation (about 3 times a year) we always check all the discount sites for best hotel pricing. Then about a year ago I stumbled upon flipkey through tripadvisor.com. I still check all the discount sites, but now we book private rentals which are WAY better for our needs and the prices can't be beat.

Yvonne Pingel found this review useful

Great experience

Rented a beautiful town home in Lake George.

Yvonne Pingel found this review useful