FAQ

Things people ask the otter.

Short, straight answers. If yours isn't here, the contact page reaches a person.

What does Stay Otter actually do?: You tell the otter where you want to be, when, and who's coming. It fetches live listings from the major booking sites for those exact dates, drops everything that fails your spec, verifies the best of what's left against the map, and shows you its top picks with the receipts: the whole-stay total, the walk to the spot you named, how many bars and cafés are nearby, and the time each number was checked.
Why three picks first?: Three is what a friend who knows the city would send you: best overall, best value, and closest to your spot. The next seven verified stays follow on the map, in our order, with the same receipts. Nothing is hidden; three is just where we start.
Are the prices real?: Yes, and they're fresh. Every search fetches live totals for your dates and party, never a cached price or a bare nightly rate. Each total shows when it was quoted. When a site gives us a price without its service fee or taxes, we say so on the card, rank that stay with a fee estimate so hidden fees can't win, and ask you to review the exact total on the booking site before you book.
Why does a search take a minute or two?: Because it's real. The otter asks the booking sites for live availability, then checks each finalist against the map. Early picks appear as each site comes back, usually within half a minute, and the page settles once the slowest site answers. Faster, cached results would be a different product and a less honest one.
What does it cost?: Your first 3 searches need no account. A free account gets 10 searches a month and keeps your results. Pro is $9.99 a month, no contract, cancel anytime: price-drop alerts on every trip, checked every day, no cap on searches, and price history on every pick. Until billing opens, Pro is on the house.
Why is there a limit at all?: Every search costs us real money, because the otter checks the booking sites live rather than serving yesterday's prices. So it paces itself instead of cutting corners. The messages always tell you when the count tops up, and everything you've already found stays right where you left it.
How are you paid?: Some links to booking sites are affiliate links: if you book through one, the site may pay us a small commission at no cost to you. That commission never decides which picks you see or their order, and when the same place is cheaper on another site we say so, even when the cheaper link doesn’t pay us. More on the How it works page.
Do you book for me?: Never. We stage the booking link with your dates and party already filled in; you book on the site, with their protection and their cancellation terms. The otter finds and verifies; it doesn't hold your card.
What is a price-drop alert?: Your first one is free with an account; more are part of Pro. The otter keeps your spec and today's baseline, re-runs the search every day while you can still rebook, and emails you only when a verified pick drops by 5% or $50, or the cheapest one disappears. Every check is logged on your watch page with its time, and one click stops it.
Why do you only show top-rated places?: A pick has to score at least 8 out of 10 on its own site, or the equivalent on a five-point scale, with at least three reviews. If fewer than three stays clear that bar, you see fewer. We'd rather show two good picks than pad the list with a place we wouldn't send a friend to.
Which cities work?: Any city or town. Type a place, a street, or a vibe ("beach", "skiing", "Texas Hill Country") and the otter will either find it on the map or ask one quick question to narrow it down.
What do you keep about me?: Your searches, so you can return to them, and your email if you make an account. No password, no card, nothing sold. The privacy page says exactly what we store and how to make us forget it.
What's the 1% for?: Travel has a footprint, so 1% of every Pro payment goes to permanent carbon removal through Stripe Climate, which funds projects that pull carbon out of the air and keep it out. It happens automatically on every charge; nothing to tick, nothing extra to pay.
Something looks wrong. Who do I tell?: A human. Use the contact page; we read every message, and a wrong receipt is the thing we most want to hear about.