Airbnb Adding Ability To See Price With All Fees When Booking

Over the past several years, many travel brands have been forced to make pricing and policies much more visible during the booking process. Airbnb is the latest company to make it possible for travelers to see the all-in pricing before booking, allowing hosts to display all fees that will be included and for consumers to make a judgment on which rental is best for them.

New Total Price Toggle Feature

Starting in December, users will be able to toggle on the Airbnb website and app to see pricing for rentals both with all fees included and without. You’ll be able to choose whether you want to see the all-in pricing or the base price without the added costs.

That said, unfortunately, taxes won’t be included in his toggle and you’ll see these added in when confirming your booking.

This means any cleaning fees, special request fees, etc. will be included in the total price upfront, rather than at the end, which often comes as a surprise to guests that don’t realize the additional fees that Airbnb hosts may charge.

Prioritizing Total Price

Up to this point, many hosts would list a very cheap nightly rate in order to get more attention to their listing, but then tack on a bunch of miscellaneous fees at the booking confirmation, often adding up to a rate that’s even higher than other typical listings.

Airbnb’s search ranking will now prioritize the total price for your booking instead of the nightly rate. According to a statement, “This means that for similar listings in the same area, those with the highest quality and best total prices will rank higher in search results.”

Unreasonable Checkout Tasks

Airbnb agrees that your host should not be requiring you to do laundry, vacuum, or other checkout tasks that are deemed unreasonable. Many hosts have tried to get renters to do these housekeeping-like tasks in order to avoid having to pay for these tasks once the renter leaves. In a proper Airbnb environment, the host would clean the rental for the next guest or hire an outside firm to do so.

New Discount Tools for Hosts

Often hosts need to rely on looking on the Airbnb website for similar units and then pricing their units accordingly, but Airbnb will soon be adding pricing and discount tools that will allow hosts to better understand pricing and set more competitive rates.

Hot Tip: When looking for accommodations, be sure to look at the pricing for hotels in your city, as well. While you may think hotels will cost more, there may be attractive discounts or pricing where staying at a hotel is financially better than using an Airbnb.

Final Thoughts

Airbnb is a unique concept where renters can book a host’s home or other private property, though the company has recently come under fire for allowing hosts to include unnecessary fees and shady pricing tactics. Airbnb will now be cracking down on these hosts, and ensuring consumers have a better way of searching for pricing on the Airbnb website.