New York Times: How to Find the Best Travel Deals Over Labor Day and Beyond
The New York Times highlights Savvy in its guide to traveling smart over Labor Day, naming it among the platforms worth booking direct through to skip administration and service fees. The piece points out that Savvy works like Airbnb but sends travelers straight to the owner, cutting out the OTA markup entirely. That's consistent with what Savvy has seen since launch: travelers save more than 16 percent on average by booking direct, often close to $500 per stay.
NerdWallet: 8 Best Airbnb Alternatives: Book Better Vacation Rentals
NerdWallet names Savvy the best Airbnb alternative for transparent pricing, one of seven options the site reviewed. Unlike Airbnb, Savvy works only with professionally managed properties and charges no service fees — pricing NerdWallet notes comes from skipping the markup and the middleman. With 150,000 properties across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, it's a smaller footprint than Airbnb or Vrbo, but a straightforward pick for travelers who want direct dealings with their host and predictable costs.
Runaway Traveller taps Savvy founder Eric Goldreyer for its guide to real alternatives to Booking.com and Airbnb, naming Savvy the pick for cutting out the OTA fee entirely. The numbers make the case: "Since launching Savvy in early 2025 and processing thousands of bookings, we've found travelers save more than 16% on average by booking direct, often close to $500 per stay," Goldreyer says. Savvy is U.S.-only for now, but not for long — Goldreyer says international expansion is planned to begin in 2027
Runaway Traveller taps Savvy founder Eric Goldreyer for its guide to real alternatives to Booking.com and Airbnb, naming Savvy the pick for cutting out the OTA fee entirely. The numbers make the case: "Since launching Savvy in early 2025 and processing thousands of bookings, we've found travelers save more than 16% on average by booking direct, often close to $500 per stay," Goldreyer says. Savvy is U.S.-only for now, but not for long — Goldreyer says international expansion is planned to begin in 2027
Men's Journal warns readers away from third-party booking sites, citing Savvy CEO Eric Goldreyer's take on the hidden cost of convenience. These platforms, Goldreyer explains, "act as intermediaries between the traveler and the hotel or property," slowing communication and complicating changes or cancellations — and often costing guests loyalty points, upgrades, and flexible policies along the way. His advice is simple: "When possible, book directly with the hotel or property manager, or use platforms that connect you directly. This often leads to better rates, clearer policies and faster, more reliable customer service.
Luxury Travel Magazine covers Savvy's collection of properties curated for America's 250th anniversary, each offering $250 or more in savings compared to traditional booking platforms. The occasion doubles as a case for direct booking generally: with more than 150,000 professionally managed vacation rentals, Savvy connects travelers directly with property managers and eliminates the service fees and markups that inflate prices on OTAs. For summer travelers, that difference can mean hundreds of dollars back in the budget for what actually makes a trip memorable.
Eric Goldreyer, CEO of Savvy and 30-plus-year travel and hospitality industry veteran, was quoted in a recent piece on common vacation booking mistakes. Eric weighed in on the hidden costs and friction that come with booking through online travel agencies, noting that OTAs act as intermediaries that can slow communication and complicate cancellations or issue resolution, and that nightly rates rarely reflect what travelers actually pay once platform fees, taxes, and service charges are added in.
Yahoo Travel turns to Savvy CEO Eric Goldreyer for its breakdown of hotel check-in mistakes that cost travelers upgrades and perks. The biggest one: hidden fees. Goldreyer warns they often "add 30-40% more to the advertised price" by the time resort fees, parking, and service charges are tallied. His fix: skip the middleman. "When possible, book directly with the hotel or property manager, or use platforms that connect you directly," he says. "This often leads to better rates, clearer policies and faster, more reliable customer service.
Eric Goldreyer, CEO of Savvy and 30-plus-year travel and hospitality industry veteran, was quoted in a recent piece on common vacation booking mistakes. Eric weighed in on the hidden costs and friction that come with booking through online travel agencies, noting that OTAs act as intermediaries that can slow communication and complicate cancellations or issue resolution, and that nightly rates rarely reflect what travelers actually pay once platform fees, taxes, and service charges are added in.
MSN reports that travel costs have risen 26.3% since 2019, yet over half of Americans are still planning multiple vacations this year. The shift: travelers are getting smarter about where they spend. MSN spotlights Savvy, a direct booking marketplace with over 150,000 professionally managed properties, as a go-to solution for travelers prioritizing transparency, reliability, and direct communication with hosts. No platform markup. No middleman. Just a clearer path to the stay you actually want.
Yahoo Finance reports that a new Savvy survey of more than 1,000 U.S. travelers found 77 percent plan to take a leisure trip this summer, even as rising accommodation costs reshape how they book. Nearly half expect to spend more on lodging in 2026 than they did last year. The response: travelers are booking earlier, comparing prices more carefully, and going direct. CEO Eric Goldreyer put it plainly. "When a family saves three or four hundred dollars on a booking, that's real money. Another night, something they almost skipped, a meal they'll talk about for years. That's the whole point of Savvy."
Woman's World identifies direct booking and pricing transparency as the defining travel trends of 2026, and Savvy is named as the platform leading the shift. As hidden fees and platform markups continue to frustrate travelers, more people are skipping traditional booking sites and going straight to professional property managers. Savvy is built for exactly that: verified hosts, clear pricing, and no platform markup at checkout.
Go World Travel Magazine featured Savvy in a firsthand account of a family vacation to Kauai. The verdict: booking a three-bedroom condo through Savvy saved the family $800 compared to Airbnb or VRBO. Direct booking, professional hosts, and no platform markup meant more budget for the trip itself. As the writer put it, "a huge bonus."
