# Vrbo doubles host commissions, Booking's Lola, Expedia layoffs, Ocean Edge, Vietnam Airlines and wine as Canonical-URL: https://notitur.com/en/digest/vrbo-commissions-lola-booking-expedia-revenue Text-Version: https://notitur.com/en/digest/vrbo-commissions-lola-booking-expedia-revenue.txt Markdown-Version: https://notitur.com/en/digest/vrbo-commissions-lola-booking-expedia-revenue.md Language: en Published: 2026-09-30T08:01:38.042Z Modified: 2026-09-30T08:01:38.042Z Author: Joan Sanz Topics: Revenue & Distribution, OTAs, Artificial Intelligence Summary: Vrbo raises host commissions, Booking tests Lola with a double-sided fee model, Expedia cuts 58 jobs and non-room revenue grows 35%. ## Article The fight over vacation rental distribution and guest-side charging is heating up just as Booking Holdings and Expedia make moves on AI and structure. Vrbo has confirmed it will **double its host commissions** and keep guest fees on top, without specifying amounts, according to [Skift](https://skift.com/2026/09/29/vrbo-to-double-commissions-as-it-plays-catch-up-to-airbnb/). It is the opposite of Airbnb and Booking.com, which charge no guest fees. The problem: without closed figures, hosts have no idea what price their guests will actually see. My read: Vrbo is paying for its lag in inventory and brand with margin. That works short term, but it opens the door for professional hosts to diversify channels again. ## Today's brief Today brings three moves that hit the P&L of any hotel or vacation rental manager. - **Vrbo** raises host commissions and keeps guest fees. Details still missing, see above. - **Booking Holdings** now charges both sides with Lola, its AI assistant: up to **$25 a month** to members plus the hotel commission, per [Hospitality.today](https://www.hospitality.today/article/booking-com-now-gets-paid-by-both-sides). - **Expedia Group** is cutting **58 corporate roles** at its Seattle headquarters, effective later this year, per the WARN notice reported by [Hotel Dive](https://www.hoteldive.com/news/expedia-group-corporate-layoffs/831703/). As we flagged yesterday in [University contracts fill autumn rooms](/en/digest/ventas-grupales-hoteles-universidades-otono), autumn is being played on alternative channels and surgical pricing. Today is a distribution contract day. ## Hotels Non-room revenue is growing more than five times faster than rooms revenue. Turneo data reported by [Hospitality Net](https://www.hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4134559/the-2027-hotel-growth-agenda) points to **+35% in non-room revenue against +6.5% for rooms** in 2026. AI agents, the report says, will rank visibility by which hotels have discoverable, bookable experience catalogues. Two implications for the revenue manager. First, experiences stop being an add-on and enter dynamic pricing. Second, if your experience catalogue is not structured for agents, you will not show up in assistant answers. On the operations side, **Ocean Edge Resort & Golf Club**, with **429 acres in Brewster** (Cape Cod), has signed with Travel Outlook to handle the guest's first call, per [eHotelier](https://insights.ehotelier.com/suppliers/2026/09/30/before-the-cape-cod-getaway-begins-ocean-edge-and-travel-outlook-make-the-first-conversation-count/). A typical case that will multiply: resorts outsourcing phone handling to AI so they don't lose last-minute direct bookings. ## Airlines and travel The aviation sector closes the week with two very different headlines. [**Tourism Review**](https://www.tourism-review.com/the-worlds-best-airlines-named-by-skytrax-news15637) has the Skytrax ranking of the world's best airlines, with Qatar Airways keeping its spot near the top. The ranking remains the most quoted commercial thermometer for airline brand teams in campaign season. On the serious side, the incident involving a **Boeing 787 of Vietnam Airlines** that ran out of runway in Munich on **15 August** and returned with landing gear damage now points to the pilot in early investigations, per [Preferente](https://www.preferente.com/noticias-de-transportes/noticias-de-aerolineas/el-incidente-de-vietnam-air-en-munich-apunta-al-piloto-352192.html). A reminder that takeoff operations remain the weak spot in long-haul fleet training. ## AI in travel Booking Holdings is testing the real monetisation of AI in travel retail. **Lola**, built by Steve Hafner and Paul English, the founders of Kayak, books hotel, table and tickets in a single chat and charges up to **$25 a month** for rates up to **15% below** public pricing, per [Smart Travel News](https://www.smarttravel.news/los-fundadores-de-kayak-vuelven-con-lola-booking-holdings-prueba-una-nueva-forma-de-vender-viajes-en-la-era-de-la-ia/). > **$25 a month** for rates up to 15% cheaper is the first two-sided AI monetisation model to reach the end consumer at scale. The relevant point is not Lola itself, it is the precedent. Booking moves from charging the hotel to also charging the traveller for premium access. If it works, other OTAs will copy it within months. And the hotel that pays to be in Lola's club enters a new bidding war for algorithmic visibility. ## Startups and funding No new rounds to report today, but product moves worth tracking as funding signals. - **Lola** launches with Hafner and English behind it and Booking Holdings backing it. Live product, corporate support, subscription model. - **Travel Outlook** signs Ocean Edge as a client. AI vendors for hotels are now closing large vacation properties, not just urban ones. - **Vrbo** wields its commission lever as a competitive weapon. Anyone without direct brand pays for it. The open question: will there be a hotel AI round in Spain or LatAm before the year ends? Investors have been circling this segment for months. ## Markets Booking Holdings and Expedia Group move in the same quarter with opposite strategies. Booking adds a new revenue line (traveller subscription) while Expedia trims corporate cost in Seattle. The market read is simple: margin pressure on OTAs, more spend on AI product, less fixed structure. For the Spanish hotelier, two things follow. Commission talks with Expedia will get harder after the cut. And Booking will test with Lola whether it can break its dependence on pure hotel take rate. ## What we are watching - **Vrbo**: the detail of host and guest fees, expected in the coming weeks. - **ITB Asia** (Singapore, 21 to 23 October) and **WTM London** (3 to 5 November): count the hotel AI announcements coming out of both. - **Lola**: whether Booking extends the subscription to European users and at what rates. - **Expedia**: whether the cut stays at 58 roles or opens new phases. The business is splitting in two. Those with brand and data to sell direct and dear, and those reliant on the channel who will see the bill go up. Vrbo showed its card before playing it. Booking showed it is willing to charge twice. In that picture, the hotel without its own engine, its own CRM and an experience catalogue structured for agents will pay for every attempted sale. The rest takes the profitable side. ## Sources - Skift: https://skift.com/2026/09/29/vrbo-to-double-commissions-as-it-plays-catch-up-to-airbnb/ - Hotel Dive: https://www.hoteldive.com/news/expedia-group-corporate-layoffs/831703/ - Hospitality.today: https://www.hospitality.today/article/booking-com-now-gets-paid-by-both-sides - Smart Travel News: https://www.smarttravel.news/los-fundadores-de-kayak-vuelven-con-lola-booking-holdings-prueba-una-nueva-forma-de-vender-viajes-en-la-era-de-la-ia/ - Hospitality Net: https://www.hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4134559/the-2027-hotel-growth-agenda - eHotelier: https://insights.ehotelier.com/suppliers/2026/09/30/before-the-cape-cod-getaway-begins-ocean-edge-and-travel-outlook-make-the-first-conversation-count/ - Tourism Review: https://www.tourism-review.com/the-worlds-best-airlines-named-by-skytrax-news15637 - Preferente: https://www.preferente.com/noticias-de-transportes/noticias-de-aerolineas/el-incidente-de-vietnam-air-en-munich-apunta-al-piloto-352192.html ## Citation Vrbo doubles host commissions, Booking's Lola, Expedia layoffs, Ocean Edge, Vietnam Airlines and wine as. Notitur. 2026-09-30. https://notitur.com/en/digest/vrbo-commissions-lola-booking-expedia-revenue