March 1, 2015 12:00pm by David Farrar

Guest Post: Saved by peer to peer travel

A guest post by Deane Jessup:

Saved by peer to peer travel.

I just discovered the Uber of the accommodation market, airbnb.com and it is awesome.

Innovations that break established business models are becoming so common it’s getting hard to know how tomorrow will look. New peer to peer business models are happening on a regular basis and though some like Uber and crowd sourcing are playing out very publically, others are simmering away waiting to be discovered as the need takes. Airbnb has been around a while, but with some well-formed habits, it took a bit of a nudge for me to discover it. Now I just want to share it with everyone.

This week a client had invited me to the Cricket so I decided to travel to Wellington. However I made one major error; a compulsive user of last minute booking websites, by the time I went to book accommodation this was the last room available in the entire city:

As I’m a married middle aged male I thought it might not be the room for me, and after giving up trying to invent a justification for my wife to let me book it, I found myself contemplating packing a tent and sleeping bag. Out of nowhere a colleague said to me “have you checked airbnb.com?”

I had never heard of it.

Nonetheless, 10 minutes later I had an account, had booked a miraculously available room for $120 a night, and was on my way to the airport.

While en route a lovely Chinese gentleman called me to confirm my booking and arrange to meet me after I landed. Down in Wellington a quick Uber ride later (at half the cost of a normal Taxi) I was meeting the owner at a nice self-contained two bedroom apartment in Mt Victoria, walking distance from the restaurant area with an amazing view from 5 stories up over the city.

Not only had this new discovery saved me an uncomfortable nights sleep, but the apartment I found was so good that it would have cost me 2 times as much to book through a regular Hotel.

I am hooked. A quick look through the slick and easy to use mobile website and the android App shows me tons of bargains, many normal places, and some amazing hires like several Igloo options, and a treehouse with a view of San Francisco.

I had to provide a drivers licence photo, social media verification, a mobile number, and credit card details to get it all running, but it was quick, painless, and it is nice to know that like Uber everyone in the supply chain is verified. And not only does the system introduce people faster and save you money, but you can even book parts of properties to really right size your requirements.

Inc.com named airbnb.com 2014 company of the year and said the following “Disruptive, brazen, and overall brilliant, the (possible illegal) home sharing empire has become the biggest lodging provider on Earth.” The reference to ‘possibly illegal’ is due to an ongoing battle about taxes, San Franciso recently passed a law aimed directly at them and collected tens of millions in back taxes. I think the hallmark of a good business is that it challenges regulators to think outside the square

Either way I am now a committed user, and as with Uber it is mostly because of the convenience and ease of use of the business model. The savings are a bonus.

Seriously, if I hadn’t found this I would have been on a mates couch, pulling an all-nighter, or in a sleeping bag on Oriental Bay beach. My view is that the world is changing for the better, and we like the businesses themselves need to adapt and adopt, peer to peer business is here to stay and If you’re still holding out from trying services like Uber or airbnb then your loss is many others gain.