How Old to Book an Airbnb or Vrbo

Quick answer: You must be 18 to book an Airbnb or a Vrbo. Airbnb hosts in the US, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Jamaica or Panama may ask for up to 25, and in the US a guest under 25 with fewer than three positive reviews cannot book an entire home near where they live. Vrbo homes set their own minimum.

How to use it

Pick Airbnb or Vrbo, your age and where the home is. For Airbnb, say whether it is an entire home or a room, how many positive reviews your account has, and whether the home is near where you live. The answer says whether you can book, what can stop you and what to do, with the platform’s own words and a link to each page.

The rules, in the platforms’ own words

Airbnb: 18 to book. Airbnb account holders must be at least 18 years old. Individuals under 18 are not permitted to create an account, host, or make reservations, and must be accompanied by an adult during any Airbnb home, service, or experience reservation.

Airbnb hosts may ask for up to 25, in six places only. For homes in the United States (including Puerto Rico) and other specified countries, hosts may require an age minimum for the guest reserving the listing (the “booking guest”), up to the age of 25, if permitted by applicable law. The six: the United States (including Puerto Rico), Costa Rica, Guatemala, Jamaica and Panama. Any age minimum applies only to the booking guest and does not restrict the age of children or other individuals accompanying the booking guest. Everywhere else, age minimums are not permitted for booking guests for homes outside these specified countries, unless there are applicable laws or regulations that prohibit guests of a particular age. If you are under a host’s minimum, if a guest replies within a reasonable time that they do not meet the age minimum, hosts are required to allow the booking guest to cancel without penalty.

Airbnb’s under-25 rule (July 2, 2020). U.S. guests under the age of 25 with less than three positive reviews are not able to book entire home listings that are close to where they live. These guests can still book any type of listing outside their local area. All guests under the age of 25 are still free to book private rooms and hotel rooms through Airbnb, regardless of where they live. Since August 16, 2022, Airbnb’s party screening in the US and Canada has replaced it with a more robust and sophisticated version of the “under-25” system that has been in effect in North America since 2020, which focuses primarily on guests under the age of 25 without positive reviews who are booking locally.

In the UK, France and Spain, Airbnb has run a separate pilot restriction that prevents under 25-year-olds without a history of positive reviews from making certain bookings in specific circumstances.

Vrbo: 18 to book. Its Terms of Service (revised March 26, 2026): you must be at least 18 years of age and have the legal authority to enter into contracts An owner can add a house rule, Minimum age requirement of primary renter, except that if your vacation rental is in Australia or New Zealand, age restrictions are against local policy.

Where each rule applies

Worked examples

19, an entire home in your own city in the US, no reviews. Not an entire home near where you live: Airbnb stops it at 19 with fewer than 3 positive reviews. A private room or a hotel room through Airbnb is still open.

22, a private room in Miami. Yes, Airbnb lets you book at 22, but a host there may ask for up to 25.

20, an apartment in London with no reviews. Probably, at 20: Airbnb lets you book, but its party screening may stop an entire home.

19, a Vrbo in Sydney. Yes: Vrbo lets you book at 19, and homes in Australia and New Zealand may not set an age limit.

Common mistakes

• Thinking the 18 rule is for everyone on the trip. Younger guests can come along, but Airbnb says they must be accompanied by an adult, and a host’s minimum applies only to the guest who books.
• Missing the age line in the listing. On Airbnb it is in the description; on Vrbo it is the minimum age of the primary renter in the house rules.
• Saying you meet a host’s minimum when you do not. The host may check your ID at check-in and cancel with its usual penalties.
• Assuming a hotel works the same way: hotels set their own check-in age, often 18 or 21.

Related

For hotels, the Minimum Age to Check In at a Hotel; for the drive, the Car Rental Age Calculator. Then pick the stay: unique Airbnb stays worth a trip, the cheapest places to stay in the world, Miami for young adults and Texas beaches for spring break.