Discounts for family/friends or return guests??

[Wesley Myers]

I’ve stayed a couple places and upon leaving the owner mentioned to contact them directly (vs booking through VRBO or ABNB) if we wanted to come back. Wondering how you deal with return guests and why you would do this vs having them just book through the platform itself.

Also, what about family and friends? We’re new to the game wondering the easiest way to deal with this? Give us dates before “prime season” and block the dates ahead of time? What about payment? PayPal or similar?