VRBO Is Changing in 2026: What Hosts Need to Know

2025 brought a wave of change for Airbnb, {{contact.first_name}}...

New policies and rules, plus a few new controversial features.

Now, in 2026, it might be VRBO's turn to shake things up.

ICYMI, late last year VRBO announced major updates, including:

▪️ Tighter Premier Host standards
▪️ A brand-new Performance Milestones system
▪️ Innovative AI tools and features

They're all launching very soon this year. So we've rounded up everything hosts need to know before the changes go live.

Premier Host Program Changes (Already Live)

VRBO now awards Premier Host status per listing, not per host account.

That means every individual property must check these boxes. Strong performance on a few listings won’t lift the rest of your portfolio.

To qualify, a listing must hit all of the following:

✔️ 99%+ booking acceptance rate

✔️ 0% host-initiated cancellations

✔️ At least 5 bookings or 60 booked nights

✔️ 5+ VRBO reviews

✔️ 4.6+ average rating

Premier Hosts earn the badge + priority support and increased search visibility.

New Performance Milestones (Launching Early 2026)

VRBO is also introducing a tiered milestone system that rewards consistent performance with badges and visibility boosts:

Milestone 1 — Good

✔️ 90%+ booking acceptance rate
✔️ ≤1% cancellation rate
✔️ 4.0+ average review rating

Rewards: New badges + increased search visibility.

Milestone 2 — Great

✔️ 99%+ acceptance rate
✔️ 0% cancellations
✔️ 4.6+ review rating
✔️ 5 or more reviews

Rewards: All Milestone 1 perks + Premier Host Status, Priority support, and PR & marketing opportunities.

Milestone 3 — Excellent

✔️ 100% acceptance rate
✔️ 0% cancellations
✔️ Perfect 5.0 review rating
✔️ 10+ reviews

Rewards: All Milestone 1 and 2 perks + Top 1% badge (launching soon).

But that’s not all.

Later this year, VRBO is also rolling out new AI-powered features and increased exposure for listings across the Expedia network.

👉 Read the full blog to get the complete breakdown of performance requirements, AI upgrades, and what these changes mean for your STRs.

New to short-term rentals and deciding between platforms?

👉 Check out our Airbnb vs. VRBO comparison guide to see which one fits your strategy best.

Cheers,

The Host Camp Team

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