iTrip Reviews: Is It Worth It for Hosts?

Who manages your short-term rental property is one of the most important factors for the success of your vacation rental business. iTrip is a widely known full-service Airbnb management company, but is it worth it for investors and hosts?

In this review of iTrip, we’ll analyze the property management services offered by the company, the pricing model that the property manager runs, and the conditions that it imposes on owners. We’ll also have a look at both positive and negative iTrip reviews on third-party websites like Trustpilot to highlight the pros and cons of the company according to real customers. Finally, we’ll conclude with three iTrip competitors that work for different properties and hosts to help you choose the best Airbnb manager for your needs.

Looking for a comprehensive management solution that puts you in charge of all strategic decisions without day-to-day operations? Check out Fairly. Create an account or get in touch with the team to learn how hyperlocal care and technology create better long-term property performance.

iTrip Company Overview

iTrip is an all-in-one vacation rental management company that works as a network of local franchises. Steve Presley, Todd Morrison, and Tom Bissmeyer started the company in 2008. As short-term rental owners themselves, they wanted to provide both owners and guests with higher-quality services than what the market offered at the time. iTrip aims to deliver boutique-level services and higher earnings to hosts and world-class experiences to travelers.

By 2026, iTrip has grown to more than 100 locally owned and operated franchise offices that manage over 4,000 STR properties. iTrip services are available in the following US states and areas:

• Alabama: Alabama Beaches - Baldwin County
• Arizona: Glendale-Peoria, Mesa, and Scottsdale
• Arkansas: Central Arkansas
• California: Cathedral City, Dana Point, La Quinta, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, San Diego, San Diego North Beaches, and Temecula Wine County
• Colorado: Aspen, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Colorado Springs, Dillon, Granby, Keystone, Pagosa Springs, Silverthorne, Snowmass Village, Steamboat Springs, Telluride, and Vail
• Connecticut: Connecticut Coast
• Delaware: Delaware Shores
• Florida: Amelia Island, Anna Maria Island, Beaches of 30A, Beaches of Sarasota, Boca Raton, Bonita Springs, Bradenton, Bradenton Beach, Cape Coral, Clearwater, Daytona Beach, Destin, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Fort Walton-Okaloosa Island, Hollywood Beach, Jacksonville, Key Colony-Marathon, Key West, Lakes of Central Florida, Longboat Key, Manasota Key, Marco Island, Naples, Navarre, New Smyrna Beach, Orlando, Palm Beach, Palm Coast & Flagler Beach, Palm Harbor, Palm City Beach, Pensacola, Perdido Key, Ponte Vedra, Punta Gorda, Ruskin, Sarasota, St. Augustine, St. Petersburg Beaches, Tampa, and Treasure Coast
• Georgia: Atlanta, Golden Isle, Marietta-Alpharetta, and Northwest Georgia
• Hawaii: Maui
• Idaho: Boise, Coeur d’Alene, McCall, and Sun Valley
• Maryland: Annapolis and Ocean City
• Massachusetts: Boston and South Shore, North Shore Massachusetts, and Outer Cape Cod
• New Hampshire: New Hampshire Seacoast
• North Carolina: Charlotte, North Carolina Beaches, Oak Island, and Southport
• Oregon: Central Oregon, Central Oregon Coast, Eugene, Lincoln City, Mt. Hood, Northern Oregon Coast, Oregon Coast, Portland, Southern Oregon Coast, and Willamette Valley
• Pennsylvania: Pittsburg
• Puerto Rico: Fajardo
• South Carolina: Charleston, Hilton Head, Kiawah/Seabrook, Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach North, Myrtle Beach South, and South Carolina Sea Islands
• Tennessee: Chattanooga, Gatlinburg, Knoxville, Nashville, Pigeon Forge, and Wears Valley
• Texas: Arlington, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Galveston, Kemah, Lake Travis, New Braunfels, North Houston, North Texas Lakes, San Antonio, and Surfside
• Utah: Park City and Salt Lake City
• Washington: Seattle and Vancouver

Over the course of its 18-year-long history, iTrip has generated more than $1 billion in revenue for owners. The company doesn’t specify the average boost in earnings that investors can expect when moving from another property manager or self-management.

iTrip Services to Airbnb Investors

iTrip teams deliver end-to-end management services to allow owners to enjoy passive income from their properties without the need to handle anything. Specific services include:

• Preparing an extensive list of what the property should be supplied with based on location
• Instant property listing on 80+ vacation rental websites including Vrbo, Tripadvisor, FlipKey, and others
• Custom property page optimized for SEO for driving direct bookings and saving on OTA fees
• Extensive marketing and advertising including different digital channels and social media platforms, highlighting the top features and amenities of the property and the area around
• Managing bookings to increase occupancy
• Guest communication and support before, during, and after stays
• Cleaning services delivered by local companies
• Light maintenance including replacing light bulbs, remote control batteries, smoke detector batteries, and furnace filters
• Heavier maintenance works provided by local contractors
• Handling guest damage by asking guests to sign a Loss Damage Waiver (LDW), inspecting properties after stays, and charging necessary repair costs to the guest
• Financial reporting to the owner including the previous month’s rental activity and itemized list of all earnings and expenses
• Monthly owner payout transfers via check or direct deposit

iTrip aims to ensure that owners can experience the benefits of real estate investing without the need to be actively involved in the management of their assets. On the plus side, this means that you can earn passive income and grow your portfolio effortlessly. On the flip side, you lose control over your Airbnb business and don’t qualify for material participation in it.

iTrip Property Management Costs

The iTrip website claims that the company charges reduced commissions and fees to help owners save on property management costs. However, there is no mention of specific rates, which makes it hard for vacation rental investors to estimate how much they will need to spend on an Airbnb manager and how much will be left for them. In turn, it’s not easy to decide whether iTrip services are worth it.

Third-party sources cite iTrip fees at about 25% of booking revenue. For comparison, this is within the standard range of full-service vacation rental management costs. To know the exact rate you’ll be expected to pay, you have to contact the local iTrip office and discuss your particular situation with them.

iTrip Vacation Rental Management Terms

iTrip doesn’t provide public information about the type of short-term rental property contract that owners need to sign. It’s not clear whether you need to commit in the long term and whether it’s possible to cancel early in case you’re not happy with the services. That’s one more crucial thing you have to discuss with your local manager before deciding whether to move forward with iTrip or look for an alternative.

iTrip Short-Term Rental Management Process

During onboarding, the iTrip team provides you with a recommended list of supplies for your property aligned with local trends and guest demands. The company handles photos and other details in order to list your property.

Afterwards, iTrip completely takes over the management of your vacation rental. This hands-off approach generally works well for:

• New hosts who’re not familiar with the requirements of the hospitality industry
• Remote investors who can’t take personal care of their property
• Professional investors with large portfolios that require full-time commitment

Meanwhile, this property management model doesn’t work well for home owners who’d like to participate in the decisions regarding their property.

iTrip Reviews by Owners & Guests

There are about 200 reviews of iTrip on third-party websites. While they show both positive and negative experiences, scores are generally low.

You can find iTrip reviews by hosts and guests on:

• Trustpilot: 1.3/5 stars based on 149 reviews
• Yelp: 1.5/5 stars based on 19 reviews
• Yelp: 1.0/5 stars based on 17 reviews
• BBB: 1.0/5 stars based on 2 reviews
• Reddit
• Reddit

Owners who are satisfied with iTrip services over the years comment on the helpful team members and the good care for guests. Happy guests, meanwhile, praise the easy and flexible check-ins, the strong communication practices, the timely responses to requests, and the commitment to serving customers.

iTrip Complaints by Hosts & Guests

While there are some positive reviews of iTrip, most customer reviews are complaints, which is the reason for the low average ratings of the company on review platforms like Trustpilot. Both owners and guests comment on chaotic processes and practices and poor maintenance of managed properties. The company has been blamed for misleading listing descriptions and multiple double-bookings. Some hosts report that the company refused to list their property on booking channels, using only their own website for marketing, which led to no reservations. All in all, the majority of customers who expressed a public opinion of iTrip are rather disappointed with the level and quality of services.

Having said that, it’s important to note that a few iTrip reviews mention drastically different services depending on location. As the company works with local franchises, their work varies according to the capabilities and the intentions of the local team.

Is iTrip Worth It for Airbnb Investors?

Taking into account the low average rankings of iTrip on review websites, the company doesn’t seem to be worth it for most vacation rental investors. Nevertheless, services vary from market to market, so it’s a good idea to contact hosts in your intended location and ask them about their experience with iTrip.

Top iTrip Alternatives & Competitors

Many owners decide to look elsewhere after reading iTrip reviews due to the numerous complaints by both hosts and guests. The good news is that there are plenty of other options offering different ways to manage your vacation home in the US market.

Here are the three top competitors of iTrip that use diverse property management models to satisfy the needs of various owners:

iTrip vs Fairly

Fairly: Best for flexibility and owner control

Fairly departs from the standard full-service Airbnb management model of most national property managers including iTrip, which deprives owners of a say in the management of their homes while being largely based on the housekeeping and maintenance services of rotating contractors. Instead, Fairly combines hyperlocal care with the latest technology and owner control to deliver strong results. The company’s model is designed around the idea that personalized local care helps create exceptional guest experiences. High guest satisfaction contributes to stronger ratings, more repeat bookings, and better long-term performance of your vacation home.

How is this done?

Fairly provides you with access to a software platform that helps you automate tedious, yet crucial aspects like listing, marketing, pricing, and communication. A Vacation Rental Expert is available whenever you need guidance in optimizing the performance of your vacation home in line with your strategy, without imposing any specific rates.

Fairly also supplies a marketplace of local home caretakers with whom you work personally on serving your property and your guests. Your chosen caretaker becomes your on-the-ground representative who provides superior services as a result of the long-standing partnership and the incentivizing payment model.

For the times when your local caretaker is temporarily unavailable, Fairly provides 24/7 back-up support. This means that the team will take over guest communication on their own or in cooperation with you to provide immediate assistance.

Fairly-managed Airbnb listings have an average rating of 4.9, which is far above the average of 4.6 or below for professionally managed listings. This highlights the strong guest experiences that Fairly’s approach is designed to deliver.

Meanwhile, Fairly charges a single, transparent fee of 20% of nightly revenue (cleaning fees excluded) in all markets and to all owners. There are no hidden fees, so you know exactly how much you’ll have to pay each month and how much will be left for you. Also, unlike iTrip, Fairly transfers your share after each reservation, not at the end of the month.

So, Fairly is a good fit for owners who value transparency and control and who appreciate the importance of local care rather than rotating housekeeping and maintenance contractors. As a result of the exceptional services, the company commits to a minimum boost in annual revenue of $5,000 when you switch from a professional property manager or self-management. Moreover, with Fairly you remain materially involved in your vacation rental, so you can qualify for the STR tax loophole.

iTrip vs Evolve

Evolve: Best for automation support

Evolve offers an alternative to the full-service management provided by iTrip. As a half-service Airbnb manager, it helps DIY owners looking for solutions to streamline and automate repetitive operations. The platform helps you optimize listing, distribution, and dynamic pricing though some customers have expressed complaints that the proposed nightly rates are too low and make owners lose money.

In terms of housekeeping and maintenance, Evolve can connect hosts with vetted local contractors, but you have to discuss services, arrangements, and fees directly with them. The Evolve platform can help you coordinate the work of local vendors based on bookings, but it’s your responsibility to handle payments to them. That’s why Evolve could be a good option for hosts who don’t mind performing some monthly tasks.

The property management company has a few different tiers with prices starting at 10% of total revenue including daily rates and cleaning fees. There is a one-time onboarding fee of $250. In markets where Evolve offers legal assistance related to permitting and taxing, these services are paid separately. You also have to manage payments to housekeepers.

Overall, Evolve works well for owners who already have a team of local housekeepers and need support in automating certain tasks. It’s not the right option for hosts looking for an integrated approach that still leaves them in charge.

iTrip vs Awning

Awning: Best for mixed portfolios

Awning is another iTrip competitor which, however, works with both short-term and long-term rentals and is available in all 50 states. The company manages over 20,000 vacation rentals, which makes it significantly bigger than iTrip, and this brings advantages (more experience and economies of scale) as well as some potential tradeoffs including less consistency over a larger operational footprint.

Another important difference between Awning and iTrip is that the former offers Airbnb design and furnishing services, so they can help owners whose properties are not listing-ready prepare them in line with recent trends and local demand.

The Awning property management model is more flexible than iTrip’s as the company tailors services to the needs of each property and the preferences of the host. Awning monthly fees start at 10% of revenue for partial services and go up with more comprehensive packages. Once again, you have to contact the company to get a quote and see whether the iTrip or Awning fee would be more competitive.

In brief, Awning is best suited for owners looking for hands-off management of their vacation rentals. It’s not a good fit for those who don’t want to give up control.

How to Get Started with iTrip

To get started with iTrip short-term rental property management services, you can contact one of the franchise offices through an online form.

Conclusion

iTrip is a mid-sized, full-service vacation rental management company which works with different types of properties in about 100 markets in 23 US states. iTrip online reviews suggest that owner and guest experiences can vary significantly depending on the local franchise office. That’s why many investors decide to look elsewhere for the management of their short-term rentals.

Interested in comprehensive management that gives you control over strategic decisions without day-to-day tasks? Sign up for Fairly or book a meeting with our team.

FAQs

What Is iTrip and What Does It Offer?

iTrip is an Airbnb management company that offers comprehensive services to owners who’d like to make money from short-term rental investments without being involved in their management. The company works through local franchises in over 100 locations across the US market.  iTrip services include everything from pricing and marketing to guest management and maintenance.

Is iTrip Legit?

iTrip is a legitimate company that has been managing vacation rentals since 2008. Nonetheless, the property management services provided by iTrip vary widely based on the location and the qualifications of each team. It’s worth noting that the company has generally low average ratings on customer review websites, and most feedback reflects complaints by owners and guests. So, some investors decide to look for alternatives with more positive reviews by existing customers.

How Does iTrip Promote and Market My Property?

iTrip markets properties in a few different ways. First, it lists properties on its own website and also on 80+ booking channels like Airbnb, Vrbo, and Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy. The company also uses social media extensively to promote and advertise listings. This combination of digital marketing strategies aims to generate a mix of OTA bookings and direct bookings.

Can I Promote and Rent My Own Property with iTrip?

Although iTrip actively distributes and markets listings, it also encourages owners to promote their listings among their networks too. Hosts can use the link to their property’s dedicated webpage to offer special discounts to their friends and family.

What Type of Rental Guests Does iTrip Allow in Units?

In general, iTrip focuses on family-friendly rentals to work with responsible guests who are less likely to cause excessive damage to properties. The local team takes into consideration the preferences of the owner to target a specific niche of renters. The owner and the property manager set together the age restrictions for each individual property.

How Do I Receive My Rental Proceeds with iTrip?

Owners receive their payout after the end of the month via a check or direct deposit. They also get a detailed list of all earnings and costs for the month so that they know exactly how much money their rental property made and how the money was spent. This document can be used for tax purposes too.