Pop quiz: what connects the entire principality of Lichtenstein with spare seats on private jets? Answer: they have both been available for private rental. In 2011, the former was listed on airbnb.com by Prince Hans-Adam II for US$70,000 a night, while the latter can be nabbed for US$1,000 through websites such as blackjet.com.
The “sharing economy”, as it is known, is taking off in a big way – and it’s not just for backpackers. In fact, a spokeswoman for Peers (peers.org), an organisation that promotes the idea through member events and partnerships, says it could be the “defining concept of the 21st century”.
From renting someone’s garage (parkatmyhouse.com) or a place to work (desksurfing.net), to hiring someone’s car or bike for the day (lyft.me, spinlister.com) or logging on to their wifi (fon.com), the internet is turning what otherwise goes unused into a commodity.
Sharing doesn’t mean not making money, but equally it isn’t always about generating profit. Often people are just looking to cover their costs, or ask for donations or barter. Still, plenty see it as a way to generate extra income.
The principles at its heart are efficiency, democracy and trust – the last cemented by online reviews. Not only is it creating a new generation of micro entrepreneurs, but providing consumers with cheaper, more personalised services, products and experiences.
Think the sharing economy is not for you? You may in fact already be a part of it – though a distinction should be made between “beta sharing”, whereby a company provides a product that is shared among the public, and “alpha sharing”, which sees commodities exchanged peer-to-peer, with the internet acting as an intermediary.
Examples of the former include Barclays Cycle Hire in London and Zipcar (vehicle rental by the hour with an Avis-owned fleet). The best-known example of the latter is Ebay, but there are dozens of new “alpha” platforms popping up, many of which could change the way we travel.
For a holidaymaker or budget traveller, the sharing economy may make immediate sense, but for the corporate it can understandably be a stretch. Privacy, comfort, reliability, convenience and security are all concerns, not to mention the fact that many of us are locked into travel policies and rely on the benefits of accruing loyalty points.
But for those who can be a little more flexible in the accommodation and transport they book – or who fancy profiting from renting out their car or house when away – the sharing economy may be worth getting to grips with.
Central to it all is social media. Forget our parents, it’s Facebook and Twitter that have taught us how to share – be it photos, videos, opinions or ideas. We know more about the people around us than we have ever done, and are increasingly confident about communicating in a virtual realm.
For those of us who have become “socialised”, it is no great leap to enter the people-powered marketplace. Suddenly, you have created an account on Airbnb, booked a 200 sqm luxury apartment in Copenhagen for £100 a night, and rented your place in Liverpool for £180 per night.
Launched in 2008, San Francisco-based Airbnb now has a presence in 192 countries, with 300,000 listings and 140,000 guests a day. Up to 15 per cent of every listing fee (divided between host and guest) goes to the company, and you can choose to stay in anything from a modernist loft in Rio to a cabin in wine country. If you are advertising your home, Airbnb has a network of 5,000 photographers who will take pictures of it for free – it will then be listed as having been verified by Airbnb, reinforcing reliability.
According to What’s Mine is Yours: How Collaborative Consumption is Changing the Way We Live by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers, by 2015 it is estimated that 4.4 million people in North America and 5.5 million in Europe will belong to car sharing services, while the peer-to-peer rental market “for everything from drills to cameras” is estimated to be worth over US$26 billion.
The concept works because it is built on online reputation. In the same way that Ebay requires both sellers and buyers to rate each other, virtually every new site that pops up also compels users to leave reviews, which, when combined with photos, a biography and references, creates Botsman’s “social glue of trust”.
Ben Hammersley, author of Now For Then: How to Face the Digital Future Without Fear, is a fan of Airbnb. “I spend nine months of the year on the road and have found that I flourish if I stay in a place with a washing machine and kitchen. Plus, you get a nicer place for the amount of money you’re willing to spend.”
Jimmy MacDonald rents out two rooms in his house in London’s Spitalfields (see below). He says: “We started using Airbnb last November after we realised we hadn’t been up to the top floor of our house for three weeks. It’s never been a problem adapting to sharing our home with people.”
He adds: “We get lots of creative industry people and entrepreneurs but also people in finance. We are also hosting more individuals who are choosing their own accommodation and expensing it back to their company.”
Those looking for a high-end hotel alternative in London, Paris and New York could also check out One Fine Stay, which launched in 2009. A spokeswoman says: “The idea was to let visitors to the city live like a local by staying in a distinctive home while the owner is out of town. Every home is prepared by our hotel-trained staff before guests arrive, the beds made up with five-star linens, and the bathrooms kitted out with towels and toiletries. There’s a free weekly maid service and once we’ve helped you settle in, we’re just a call away.”
Security is, naturally, a big issue. There are safeguards in place if you are a host – Airbnb guarantees up to US$1 million in property damage, while One Fine Stay says: “A member of our team meets the guests to verify their identity. We also keep a copy of their passport and take a damage deposit. When our team prepares the home we use tamper tape seals to indicate which areas are out of bounds.”
Still, there are obvious health and safety issues attached to staying in someone else’s place, which is one reason why corporate travel managers would not mandate their employees using such sites – what do you do if a fire breaks out, for example, or if the usual inhabitant of the “spare room” comes home unexpectedly?
Ultimately, though, the sharing economy can only have a positive impact on the wider travel industry. Tessa Mansfield, senior vice-president of content at trends agency Stylus, says: “A few years ago people would think: ‘Wouldn’t that be strange going into someone’s home and having all their things around them?’ But clearly not and that is what the industry is learning – the personal side of this is appealing, it’s not putting people off.”
She adds: “The disruption that this is opening up in the market, making it more agile and flexible, is clearly of benefit to consumers and will encourage the very mature and developed [hotel] industry to innovate as a result.”
Case study: Airnb
I began by creating a profile on airbnb.com and allowing it to connect to my Facebook and Linked In pages. I then typed in the city I was looking to stay in (London), the dates, and selected my price range. All the homes had photos and I could read reviews from previous users.
There was a lot of choice – in the end I opted for a Spitalfields property occupied by a couple called Rachel and Jimmy. Originally I didn’t want to stay somewhere that meant sharing with other people, but I decided that their restored 18th-century French-Huguenot townhouse – of which I would have the whole of the 60 sqm top-floor loft – was too good to pass up.
Unless the listing allows you to book instantly (fairly unusual) you have to first email the host to tell them a bit about yourself. They then decide if they’d be happy to have you as a guest. My hosts approved me in a couple of hours. The loft was £150 a night with a minimum two-night stay. Compared with hotels in the area, this seemed good value – a standard room in the nearby Holiday Inn on those nights cost the same, and had half the space and none of the charm.
I let Jimmy know that I would be checking in at about 6.30pm. On arrival I was shown around and given a key. The property had five floors and I also had access to the ground-level Banana Barn, the kitchen and dining room, and the first-floor living room, office and sunroom.
The loft (pictured) was a beautiful, light-filled space with wooden floors, a comfy king-size bed with Egyptian cotton sheets, a living area, two roof terraces and a bathroom with a cedar soaking tub. There was no TV or daily housekeeping but fresh towels were provided and wifi was free. Although a bit of a schlep down to the kitchen, I could help myself to tea and coffee, store things in the fridge and use the crockery and cutlery. After tidying up before leaving (part of the Airbnb ethos), I simply handed back the keys to Rachel.
I was very impressed with the experience – it was a real home-away-from-home. It didn’t have all the conveniences of a hotel, but with my hosts on-site it was like having a concierge to suggest restaurants and tell me about the area. The stylish décor and sense of history made it more interesting than most hotels or serviced apartments, and it felt safe and secure.
If staying with other people doesn’t appeal, there are plenty of Airbnb properties that are for exclusive use. It’s probably not for loyalty point junkies or room service fans, though.
Jenny Southan
10 sharing economy travel sites
1. ONEFINESTAY.COM
Stay in a high-end home when the owners are out of town and pay by the night. Like a hotel, you will find five-star linens, towels, toiletries and maid service. Only available in London, New York and Paris, but another city will be added this autumn.
2. PARKATMYHOUSE.COM
Hire a private driveway, garage or parking space in cities all around the world, with convenient locations near airports and train stations. Countries include Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK and US.
3. GETAROUND.COM
More than 250 million cars sit idle in the US for over 22 hours a day. Take advantage and rent a private car by the hour in San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, Austin or San Diego. Relayrides.com works in much the same way and is also available across a greater range of US cities.
4. FLIGHTCAR.COM
Instead of paying for airport parking, hire out your car while you are away – just leave it at a drop-off location and Flight Car will do the rest. Each vehicle is insured up to US$1 million and if you are the person renting, you will get competitive pricing, free GPS and free insurance. Available at San Francisco International and Boston Logan airports.
5. LYFT.ME
An alternative to taxis, this ride-sharing app (tagline: “your friend with a car”) asks for donations instead of setting fares and empowers non-professional drivers. It is available in San Francisco, LA, San Diego and Seattle as well as other US cities. Side Car (side.cr) operates in a similar way across six American cities.
6. EATWITH.COM
Bored of restaurants and want to meet new people? Use Eat With to dine with locals at their homes in cities such as London, New York, Miami, Paris and Budapest. Hosts can set the price but often allow you to bring your own booze. Cookening.com works in the same way.
7. BOATBOUND.COM
The Airbnb of the sailing world, this “pier-to-pier” rental service allows people to privately rent boats that would otherwise be moored for weeks or months on end. Unveiled in June, Boatbound also provides US$1 million in liability insurance.
8. BLACKJET.COM
Launched in 2009, Blackjet helps owners of private jets to sell empty seats on their aircraft. So far it has filled 3,300 seats on 1,100 US flights, and online booking can be done in ten seconds. Annual membership is US$2,500 with seats from US$1,000.
9. FON.COM
This is a global wifi network that opens up internet access through crowdsharing hotspots. Members share a bit of their home wifi with others, and in return can log on to other people’s all around the world for free. BT Broadband is Fon’s UK partner so if you are already a customer, you are already part of Fon.
10. EASYNEST.COM
Probably not one for the business traveller, Easynest helps to match people who are looking to stay in a luxury hotel but can’t afford it by themselves. The clincher is that they have to share a (twin) room.
