Rent a summer house with no service fee: here is how
23 July 2026
You have found the perfect summer house. The price looks reasonable, the calendar fits, and you are ready to book. Then comes the final step of the checkout, and suddenly the price has grown by hundreds of kroner. Service fee, booking fee, handling fee. The name varies, but the result is the same: you pay more than the listing said.
The good news is that these fees are not a law of nature. In this guide we walk through what service fees actually are, how much they add to the bill, and how you can rent a summer house, holiday home or apartment in Denmark without paying them at all.
What is a service fee?
A service fee is the amount a booking platform adds on top of the rent for connecting you with the host. The fee funds the platform’s operations, marketing and customer support, and it is a core part of the business model at the big international platforms.
On Airbnb, it is usually the guest who pays the largest share of the total fees, which typically sit around 15 percent of the rental price. Other platforms and traditional rental agencies build their share into the rent itself, so you cannot see it as a separate line, but you pay it all the same.
What both models have in common: the money does not go to the host and does not make your stay any better. It goes to the middleman.
How much fees add to your holiday budget
Let us run the numbers. Here is a typical example for one week in a summer house:
| Item | Without fees | With approx. 15% service fee |
|---|---|---|
| Rent, 7 nights | 6,000 kr. | 6,000 kr. |
| Service fee | 0 kr. | approx. 900 kr. |
| Cleaning | 600 kr. | 600 kr. |
| Total | 6,600 kr. | 7,500 kr. |
Nine hundred kroner for a single week. If your family takes two weeks of holiday a year, that quickly adds up to 1,500 to 2,000 kr. in service fees alone. Money that could have gone to restaurants, activities, or simply a cheaper holiday.
Note an important detail: the fee is usually calculated as a percentage of the rent. The more expensive the home and the longer the stay, the more you pay in absolute terms. A longer stay in a large holiday home can easily cost thousands of kroner extra.
Why the fees are hard to spot
Platforms know that high fees scare customers away. That is why the full price often only appears late in the booking flow. You compare listing prices, pick the best one, and only discover at checkout that the final price is something else.
This makes it practically impossible to compare prices across platforms without clicking all the way to the payment page everywhere. Our best advice: always look at the total price including all fees and cleaning, never just the nightly rate.
How to rent without a service fee
There are several routes to a fee-free holiday home:
1. Book directly with the owner. Many owners rent out their homes themselves, with no agency and no platform charging guest fees. You find them through recommendations, local listings, and platforms built for direct rental. Booking directly, you talk to the person who knows the house best, and there is no middleman taking a cut.
2. Choose a platform with no guest fees. Some platforms have chosen a different business model where the guest pays 0 kr. in fees. That is the whole idea behind FlyMHD: hosts pay a small fixed subscription, and you as a guest pay exactly the price shown on the listing. Not a krone more.
3. Ask the host. If you found a home on a high-fee platform, it is perfectly legitimate to ask whether the host also rents out directly. Many do, and both sides save money.
4. Always calculate the total. Wherever you book: add up rent, fees, cleaning and any extras before comparing. The cheapest offer is not always the one that looks cheapest on the front page.
Is it safe to book outside the big platforms?
Yes, if you do it right. The safety lies not in the fee but in the payment method and the transparency. Never book via private bank transfer to a stranger. Use platforms with secure card payment where the money is only charged once the booking is confirmed.
On FlyMHD, all payments are handled by Stripe, one of the world’s largest payment providers, also used by companies like Amazon and Google. The amount is only reserved on your card, and only charged when the host confirms your booking. If the host does not confirm within 24 hours, the hold is released automatically and you pay nothing. You can read more about how it all works on How it works.
Frequently asked questions
Why do some platforms charge guests no fee at all? Because they make their money differently. On FlyMHD, hosts pay a fixed monthly subscription instead of commission. That is why neither host nor guest has to hand over a percentage of the rent.
Are homes without service fees worse? No. They are exactly the same types of summer houses and holiday homes, often even the same homes, that you find on the big platforms. The only difference is who takes a cut along the way.
Can I negotiate my way out of the service fee on the big platforms? No, the fee is fixed and automatic. The only way to avoid it is to book somewhere it does not exist.
Is the cleaning fee the same thing? No. Cleaning is a real service, typically performed locally. The service fee goes to the platform. Both should be included when you calculate the total, though.
Conclusion: fee-free is the new normal
Service fees have been an invisible tax on holidays for years. But more and more guests now book directly with the host or through platforms without guest fees, and the trend only goes one way.
At flymhd.com you will find holiday homes, summer houses and apartments where the price on the listing is the price you pay. 0 kr. in service fees, secure payment through Stripe, and direct contact with the host. Want to know what the big platforms really cost? Read our breakdown of how much you pay in service fees on Airbnb.