What Airbnb’s New Price Transparency Means for Your Next Trip
Renting an Airbnb always seems like a great idea, but it turns out to be such a hassle (which is why we generally recommend alternatives to using the service ). However, the company has heard the complaints from its users and this week announced a big change: prices will become more transparent. Here’s what you need to know.
What’s changing on Airbnb?
This week, Airbnb promised to show the “total price” when you browse a potential property, which basically means the “cleaning fee” won’t be that hard to calculate and factor into your budget anymore.
“Starting in December, we will begin rolling out the total price display capability to countries with no existing price display requirements,” the company said in a statement . “The total price will include all pre-tax fees and will be displayed in search results, as well as on the map, in the filter and on the listing page. Before confirming a booking, guests can view a full price breakdown that shows Airbnb service fees, discounts, and taxes.”
The total cost of your stay will now take precedence over the prices per night in search results, so you can see the highest quality deals and the best overall price instead of wading through irrelevant listings.
How are hosts different?
If you’re using Airbnb to rent out your own property, you’ll be affected by the new changes as well. First, hosts will have new pricing and discount tools early next year to help them understand what the final price guests will pay and how best to set reasonable, competitive prices.
Second, hosts are expected to make their checkout requests easier for guests to view before they book a room, which will prevent any checkout failures.
What does all of this mean?
Airbnb used to be famous for how difficult it was to figure out how much you would actually pay (or receive) for a stay. These new changes are intended to make prices and host requirements more transparent so that there is less misunderstanding or incident about what a guest should pay and how they should behave.
Important is the “guidance” that Airbnb says will provide hosts with “reasonable” payment requests. One of the most frustrating things about renting on Airbnb has long been the sometimes arbitrary demands that hosts make on guests when it comes to cleaning or behavior during the stay. The changes to the company will encourage hosts to be a little more reasonable in their expectations, but it’s still a good idea to know what you have to clean at check -in, even if no one is forcing you.