Tripping specializes in matching travelers with locals and now it's giving the wandering masses hundreds of thousands of vacation rental choices for their stays.
The site [featured in a TLabs Showcase in 2010] has entered into "direct relationships" with the likes of FlipKey, HomeAway, iStopOver, roomorama and 9Flats to provide access to more than 500,000 vacation rentals in some 15,000 cities, says Jen O'Neal, co-founder and CEO of Tripping.
"Each deal structure is different but we essentially get commission for every booking that comes through us," O'Neal says. "The money we make goes to support the Tripping community and the International Red Cross."
So, if you navigate to the rental section of Tripping.com, which detects your location, you'll see vacation rental choices from third-parties.
If you search for vacation rentals in Berlin, you'll see offerings from 9Flats, HomeAway and roomorama. Click on the book button of your vacation rental choice and you'll navigate to the source site, where you can tap into their divergent ways of booking the property.
Tripping plots the locations of the properties on a Google Map, and gives consumers the option of searching for locals in that destination and saving their favorite locals and properties.
It's all a way for vacation rental intermediaries and property owners to increase their distribution and for Tripping to make some bucks and better service its users.