Short-term rentals can be a great choice — and you don’t have to miss out on airline miles when you book on Airbnb or Vrbo. If you take one extra step before completing your reservation, several airlines and portals will credit miles or points for eligible stays. Key rules to remember: start from the correct partner page or shopping portal, enable cookies, enter the right loyalty number, make sure the loyalty-account name matches the primary guest, and expect that taxes and fees usually don’t earn rewards.
How to earn on Airbnb
Four airline programs currently offer ways to earn for Airbnb bookings when you click through from their pages or link accounts:
– ANA Mileage Club: Earn 1 mile per 200 Japanese yen spent (about 1 mile per $1.24) when you begin your booking from ANA’s Airbnb campaign page and complete the reservation.
– British Airways Avios: Earn 2 Avios per dollar spent when you start from British Airways’ partner page and click through to Airbnb.
– Delta SkyMiles: If you connect your SkyMiles and Airbnb accounts, you can earn 1 mile per dollar on Airbnb stays and 3 miles per dollar on Airbnb services and experiences. Note: after you link accounts you must book within the program window (typically 10 days) and you’ll need to reconnect after the window expires to keep earning.
– Qantas Frequent Flyer: Earn 1 Qantas point per 1 Australian dollar spent when you start from Qantas’ Airbnb booking page.
None of these programs typically rewards taxes and fees. For many travelers, British Airways’ 2 Avios per dollar can be the most attractive option, but pick the program that best fits how you redeem miles.
How to earn on Vrbo
Vrbo earnings are usually available in two ways: via shopping portals and via direct airline partnerships.
– Shopping portals: Click through select online shopping portals (for example, major airline shopping portals) before you book Vrbo to earn miles. An advantage of portals is that they often allow you to earn rewards even when you book a stay for someone else.
– Airline partnerships: When you start from airline partner pages you can earn predictable rates on eligible Vrbo stays. Examples include:
– Delta SkyMiles: Earn 2 miles per dollar when you start from Delta’s Cars & Stays / Vrbo link and complete a Vrbo booking.
– United MileagePlus: Earn 3 miles per dollar when you start from United’s Vrbo partner page and complete a booking.
– JetBlue TrueBlue: Earn TrueBlue points (and Tiles) when you book Vrbo rentals through JetBlue’s TrueBlue Travel platform.
Vrbo also participates in the One Key rewards program, which may let you earn OneKeyCash on some stays in addition to airline miles. One Key earnings depend on whether the specific reservation and checkout flow are eligible.
Which credit card should you use?
Using a rewards credit card for your rental payment stacks even more value. Two useful approaches:
– Cards that currently offer elevated earnings specifically on vacation home rentals: Chase Sapphire Preferred now earns 3 points per dollar on vacation home rentals booked through platforms such as Airbnb, Vrbo, Plum Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa. If you have it, that’s often a top pick.
– Cards that earn strong rewards on general travel and everyday spending: Examples include Ink Business Preferred for business travel purchases, American Express Green for general travel categories, and broadly useful cards like Capital One Venture, Capital One Venture X, or Citi Double Cash for solid return on nonbonus spending.
If you don’t have a card with a travel bonus for rentals, use whatever card you’d normally use for nonbonus spending so you at least earn something back.
Practical tips and final reminders
– Always start from the airline partner page or shopping portal, then click through to the Airbnb or Vrbo listing in the same browsing session. Cookies must be enabled for tracking.
– Confirm eligibility before booking: some listings or specific transaction paths (for example, third-party payments) may not qualify.
– Loyalty-account name: many programs require the miles account holder to match the primary guest on the reservation.
– Taxes and fees: typically not eligible for earnings.
– Account linking windows: some campaigns require you to complete booking within a limited window after linking accounts (for example, Delta’s Airbnb integration has a 10-day booking window).
Bottom line: Taking an extra minute to start your rental search from an airline partner page or a shopping portal, and paying with a rewards card, can add meaningful miles or points to a vacation rental booking. Between airline partnerships, portals, platform loyalty programs, and your credit card, you can often stack rewards and get more value from the same stay.
