Hopper adds rentals with launch of Hopper Homes

Hopper is adding a new vertical to its app-based travel marketplace. Hopper Homes is now live with more than two million properties around the globe that can be booked instantly in the app.

The company says all of the inventory is managed by professional property suppliers and sourced directly from those companies as well as third-party providers – although it would not name specific partners. 

Homes now becomes the fourth vertical within Hopper, which launched in 2015 with flights and then added hotels and car rentals.

In November 2020, when asked about the company’s plans to offer alternative accommodations, Hopper co-founder and CEO Fred Lalonde said the app had about one million properties and was in the process of refining the product.

But according to a company spokesperson, those plans were scrapped shortly thereafter, until May 2021 when it “brought on the team from [travel planning service] Journy and tasked them with building out a dedicated Homes feature,” which is now launching. Hopper acquired Journy in May 2021 for an undisclosed amount, according to Crunchbase.

Users can filter properties based on location, number of bedrooms and bathrooms and amenities such as outdoor space and parking. The company says it will add a price filter soon, as well as integrate some of the fintech features that are available for flights and hotels such as price prediction and “cancel for any reason.”

Bookings of Hopper Homes will also soon qualify to earn “Carrot Cash” – the app's loyalty program that gives credit back on travel purchases and can be used for any type of future booking on Hopper.

Hopper says 40% of its customers have indicated they prefer homes over hotels and 24% have no preference between the two. Hopper Homes is now available on iOS and will become available on Android soon. The company says it will also make its Homes product accessible to its Hopper Cloud customers, which include Trip.com, Kayak, Amadeus, MakeMyTrip and Capital One.

Hopper’s most recent funding came in August, a $175 million Series G round led by GPI Capital at a valuation of $3.5 billion.