Although Airbnb is one of the most popular apps at the moment for your travel lodging needs, it is a fairly new kid on the block for your vacation requirements. HomeAway has long been dominating this market segment and continues to acquire competitors.

Recently, Expedia purchased HomeAway to give it even more punching power and to cement its status as a juggernaut in the industry. Their app really does go a long way to help people book their vacation lodging via their phones.

On opening the app you’re greeted with a simple header which asks you where to and you can simply type in your destination in order to start exploring the area which you wish to visit. Further down the app there is also suggestions by HomeAway of places you could visit, for instance, we currently get a ‘Great Cities’ to explore suggestion or offers to see the fall colours in US cities. Overall HomeAway offers vacation rentals in over 190 countries - impressive.

The filter setting on HomeAway really is what sets it apart from its new competitor. Instead of just being able to select a private room, shared space or the whole house, you can select from something much more specific, such as a cottage, bungalow or even a castle. As there are over 1 million vacation rentals on HomeAway, there really are a lot of options on this one. There is also the standard filters of pool, beachfront and so on as well when it comes to amenities.

Once you’ve found something which you really like it is very easy to book. On occasion, this has to be reviewed by the owner of the vacation rental as with all other vacation rental apps or websites but there is also the option of ‘instant book’ where you pay and you’re good to go to your vacation rental.

Another feature you can use on HomeAway is the ability to save and manage favourites, you can also share itineraries with people travelling with you, communicate with owners,  manage reservations, and so on. HomeAway also displays listings as USD, GBP and EUR.