What Does Premier Host Mean on Vrbo and Is It Worth It?

That special Premier Host badge is hard to miss. But what does Premier Host mean on Vrbo? Read on to find out what it’s all about and if reaching Premier Host status will benefit your vacation rental business.

Key Takeaways:

• The Vrbo Premier Host program is a free initiative that rewards vacation rental owners’ consistent performance with better visibility. 
• Vrbo’s new criteria for Premier Hosts are stricter, but you’ll no longer be assessed on the combined performance of your properties.
• To unlock Premier Host status, focus on your booking acceptance rate and guest experience. 

With over 2 million different vacation rentals, Vrbo is one of the short-term rental industry’s most popular listing sites. Because of this, vacation rental hosts and property managers are always looking for opportunities to get their property in front of potential guests – and Vrbo’s Premier Host program is one way to do that.

Whether you have been part of the short-term rental industry for years or are just getting started, if you achieve Premier Host status, you’ll have a sought-after competitive edge. Read on to find out more about the Vrbo Premier Host program and how to become a Premier Host on Vrbo.

What Does a Premier Host Mean on Vrbo?

The Vrbo Premier Host program is a free, invite-only program that acknowledges property owners and managers who consistently provide quality traveler experiences to Vrbo guests. Achieving Premier Host status is not easy and keeping the Vrbo Premier Host badge is even harder!

Once a rental property earns Premier Host status, owners and managers will unlock exclusive access to certain services and features. These include a Premier Host badge and an automatic increase in search position that will help improve their visibility.

How Do You Become a Premier Host on Vrbo?

The Vrbo Premier Host qualifications and eligibility criteria outlined are easily measurable. That said, from January 2026, Vrbo will use new criteria that will make it more difficult to achieve Premier Host status. 

Going forward, here are the criteria that your rental property needs to meet:

• A booking acceptance rate of at least 99% (previously it was set at 95%)
• No owner-initiated cancellations (previously, owners could cancel occasionally as long as their rate didn’t exceed 1%)
• At least five Vrbo guest reviews (up from three guest reviews)
• An average review rating of at least 4.6 (previously it was 4.4)
• At least five bookings or 60 booked nights (no change here)

While all but one of these criteria have become more strict, hosts with multiple properties are given some break in that an underperforming listing won’t jeopardize their ability to earn Premier Host status anymore. Instead, Premier Host status will now be awarded at listing level. 

This means that all your listings no longer need to meet these requirements and you can still receive Premier Host status for the listings that shine. Once you meet the eligibility criteria, you will automatically be added to the Premier Host program.

Is It Worth It to Become a Premier Host?

While this will take some effort on your part and consistency to achieve, it’s not impossible. Vrbo Premier Hosts have access to the following exclusive benefits and business opportunities, making the extra effort well-rewarded.

1. Premier Host filter

Vrbo has a Premier Host filter that enables travelers to filter listings so that they see only eligible properties listed by a Vrbo Premier host.

Therefore, if you are a property manager or owner with Premier Host status, all your listings with this badge will be shown in the search results when a guest selects the Premier host search filter. This way, your property becomes easily discoverable to guests who’re willing to pay more.

2. Premier Host support

Once you become a Premier Host, you will also enjoy the perk of priority support from Vrbo with expedited 24/7 access.

This is an amazing benefit of the Vrbo Premier Host program because dedicated customer support makes it easier for hosts to improve their own communication and quickly address issues. This, in turn, will encourage travelers to book with them again in the future.

3. Access to the second Performance Milestone

Hosts who meet all of these requirements will also move straight to the second milestone of Vrbo’s new Performance Milestones, an initiative they’ll use to measure listing performance and award recognition to top hosts. In addition to the badge and priority support access, you’ll also become eligible for inclusion in the platform’s marketing initiatives through social media and email and PR campaigns.

How Can I Know How Close I Am To Vrbo Premier Host Status?

With all the different Premier Host requirements, it can become difficult to track how close you are to becoming a Vrbo Premier host. That is where Vrbo’s Premier Host scorecard comes in. 

You can find this scorecard on the Performance page of your Vrbo Owner dashboard. Alternatively, you can use the new Performance Milestones widget which is also located on your dashboard. 

The Premier Host scorecard is a way for hosts to track their overall performance and measure how far away they are from Premier Host status. It can also be downloaded as a report. Then, using the report’s filter, you can easily zoom in on weaker areas with room for improvement. 

What Are the Quarterly Assessments?

Vrbo assesses each host status every quarter to determine who has met the Premier Host requirements and may be part of Vrbo’s Premier Host program. These assessments take place on February 1, May 1, August 1, and November 1. 

During each assessment, Vrbo reviews performance over the past 365 days and will remove host accounts that no longer qualify for the program. They will also add new Premier partners that now qualify for it.

If you were a recognized Premier Host previously but failed to meet the requirements in a specific quarterly assessment, there’s no need to worry. Once you meet the eligibility criteria again, you’ll automatically be added back into the program and become a Premier Host once more.

What Are the Best Tips to Becoming a Premier Host (and Keeping Your Status)?

Vrbo will recognize partners who keep qualifying for Premier Host status every quarter, so it’s best to keep up your quality of service so that you can continue enjoying the perks.

Here are our top tips for becoming a Premier Host and staying one:

Streamline your business with automation software

A short-term rental business needs to be streamlined and run efficiently in order to provide the best guest experience possible. With the right vacation rental software, you can save time by letting automation tools do all your tedious tasks for you, freeing up time for you to focus on your guests and your business.

iGMS provides vacation rental software that not only automates the majority of your property management tasks but also helps you perfect your channel management strategy and guest experience so that you can become a Vrbo Premier Host in no time.

With iGMS, you can:

• Manage multiple accounts and listings on the top OTAs from a single interface
• Synchronize reservations across multiple platforms to eliminate the risk of double-bookings
• Create and coordinate cleaning tasks with live tracking to completion
• Create your own direct booking website

Book a Demo

Encourage positive reviews

Becoming a Premier Host means that you need to keep your average review rating high. For this, you’ll need to ensure each guest writes positive reviews for your property after their stay.

The first step to accomplishing this is to make their experience an exceptional one. This is possible if you:

• Maintain strong communication before, during, and after their stay
• Make your guests feel welcome from the start with a welcome book, basket, and/or note
• Use inventory checklists to ensure your property is stylishly furnished and fully stocked
• Provide a smooth key handover for the check-in and check-out processes

Optimize your pricing strategy 

To keep your occupancy rates high and meet the minimum number of bookings needed, you need to optimize your pricing strategy. An efficient pricing strategy will strike the perfect balance between keeping your rental property booked, while not leaving any money on the table.

Consider adding the following to your pricing strategy:

• Discounted rates and special offers during low season to drive consistent bookings throughout the year
• Special rates for longer stays or stays during the week
• Dynamic pricing tools like PriceLabs, Beyond, DPGO, and Wheelhouse

Take advantage of instant booking

Vrbo’s Instant Booking feature allows travelers to book a property instantly and confirms booking requests automatically. Needless to say, this feature saves time for both the host and guest.

Prospective guests will select a property and the dates they would like to travel, and then instantly make the necessary online payments to secure their booking on the spot.

Instant Booking will help you stay at Premier Host status because by allowing Vrbo to automatically confirm your bookings, you’ll be able to hit the minimum number of bookings and 99% booking acceptance rate a lot easier.

FAQs:

1. What is a Vrbo Premier Host?

A Vrbo Premier Host is a host who consistently delivers an excellent guest experience. They also have a very high booking acceptance rate with few cancellations. 

2. What are the Vrbo Premier Host requirements?

To become a Vrbo Premier Host, you must: 

• Accept 99% of all online bookings
• Cancel no confirmed bookings
• Receive at least five bookings and five guest reviews a year
• Maintain a 4.6 review rating 

3. How do you become a superhost on Vrbo?

You can’t become a superhost on Vrbo as it doesn’t award Superhost status. Instead, they have a Premier Host program. It’s similar to Airbnb’s program, but has its own set of criteria hosts must meet.

About the Author
Callan Riddles is the Content and Social Media Specialist at iGMS. Callan has a passion for finding new ways to help vacation rental businesses thrive. In her free time, she loves to travel, read, and experience all the new things that life has to offer.

November 17, 2025