Vrbo announced a partnership with WeatherPromise on February 17th, giving U.S. travelers the option to add rain protection when booking select Vrbo properties. If rainfall during the trip crosses a pre-set threshold, the guest receives an automatic payout of up to the full cost of their stay, with no claims process required.
The option is available on select Vrbo properties across nearly 70 countries.
About WeatherPromise
WeatherPromise is a venture-backed weather guarantee startup that raised a $12.8 million Series A in January 2026, bringing total funding past $22 million. The company already has partnerships with Marriott, JetBlue Vacations, and HomeToGo.
The technology behind it runs on a proprietary machine learning algorithm trained on 20 years of historical rainfall data. WeatherPromise pulls from 350 million data points daily across 2.5 million global grid points, sourced from NASA, NOAA, satellite imagery, radar, and ground-level weather stations. The system sets a rainfall threshold for each booking location and monitors conditions in real time.
How the Guarantee Actually Works
WeatherPromise isn't travel insurance. It's a weather guarantee, and the distinction matters.
What guests see: During checkout on an eligible Vrbo property, guests can add WeatherPromise for roughly 3-8% of their trip cost. From there, a dashboard lets them track weather conditions leading up to and during their stay. If rainfall crosses the threshold set for their destination, WeatherPromise pays out automatically within two to three business days. The payout is a direct cash payment, not a credit back to the original payment method. Guests can cancel the add-on within 72 hours for a full refund, and it's automatically canceled if the Vrbo booking itself is refunded.
What hosts should know: Host payouts are completely unaffected. WeatherPromise pays the guest separately, on top of the completed stay. The guest still checks in, still pays for the booking in full, and the host receives their normal payout. There's no opt-in, no opt-out, and no action required from the host side. This is an entirely guest-facing product offered by WeatherPromise through the Vrbo partnership, not by the host.
Bottom Line
This isn't something hosts need to act on. WeatherPromise doesn't change your pricing, your payouts, or your operations. But it is worth understanding, because your guests may start asking about it.
If a guest mentions they have rain protection on their booking, now you know what they're talking about. And if WeatherPromise expands to cover more properties or more weather types, it could become a factor in how guests choose between listings or destinations. For now, it's a checkout add-on that makes guests feel better about booking beach trips in shoulder season.
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