How To Earn and Redeem Miles and Points for Airbnb Stays [Hacks and Tips]

It’s a shame that Airbnb still doesn’t have a loyalty program that rewards travelers for stays with the home rental company. Fortunately, there are ways to earn travel rewards with other loyalty programs when you rent a home on Airbnb.

The company doesn’t partner with any transferable points programs, which means that you can’t redeem rewards directly for Airbnb stays. However, there are a few ways you can use your travel rewards and gift cards for Airbnb stays with the right credit card.

Here’s how to earn miles and points for Airbnb stays.

Earn Airline Miles for Airbnb Stays

You can currently earn airline miles through Airbnb stays with 3 airlines: British Airways, Delta Air Lines, and Qantas. It’s easy to do, and each airline has its own website where you can book an Airbnb and earn points and miles.

Earn British Airways Executive Club Avios for Airbnb Stays

The first way to earn travel rewards for Airbnb stays is through British Airways. Members of the British Airways Executive Club loyalty program can earn 3 Avios for every $1, £1, or €1 they spend on Airbnb stays or Airbnb Experiences.

At the British Airways Airbnb page, you’ll click Book accommodation with Airbnb or Book an Airbnb Experience to be taken to another page where you’ll enter your membership number.

Within the terms and conditions of this program, British Airways states that you must have cookies enabled so that your purchase can be tracked and that the purchase must be made in the same sitting. The reservation will not count toward earning Avios if booked at a later time and not through the link which takes you directly to Airbnb.com.

Points are credited within 60 days of a completed stay or experience and the amount earned does not include the taxes and fees.

Earn Delta SkyMiles for Airbnb Stays

Similar to earning Avios with British Airways, in order to take advantage of Delta Air Lines’ partnership with Airbnb, you must book through the appropriate website. In this case, you can visit the Delta Airbnb page to book your Airbnb stay and earn Delta SkyMiles. Travelers will earn 1 SkyMile per $1 spent at Airbnb.

The name on the Airbnb reservation must match the name on the SkyMiles account entered to earn miles. Cookies must also be enabled in order to track your purchase. The miles will be deposited into your account within 6 to 8 weeks.

Earn Qantas Frequent Flyer Points for Airbnb Stays

If you’re looking to earn miles on a world-class airline for a future trip to Australia, you’re in luck. You can earn 1 Qantas Point for each A$1 spent on your Airbnb stay when booking through the Qantas Airbnb page. Make sure to have a Qantas Frequent Flyer number and enter it before making your Airbnb booking.

Not paying in Australian dollars? Qantas will calculate the exchange rate for the currency you pay at the end of the month following your stay. Points will be deposited into your Qantas account within 8 weeks and you have up to 90 days from the day you check out of your Airbnb to claim any missing points.

And lastly, the name on the Airbnb booking must match the name on the Qantas Frequent Flyer account.

Earn Bonus Points With Airbnb Giftcards

You can buy an Airbnb gift card and earn points and miles for your stay when you make the purchase with the right credit card.

Some credit cards earn bonus points for purchases made at grocery stores and office supply stores and that’s exactly where you can buy gift cards. For example, The American Express^® Gold Card earns 4 Amex Membership Rewards points per dollar spent at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1x).

A great business card option is the Ink Business Cash^® Credit Card which earns 5% cash-back at office supply stores on up to $25,000 in purchases per year (category limit is combined with purchases from cellular phone, landline, internet, and cable TV services). If you pair the Ink Business Cash card with an Ultimate Rewards-earning card (such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve^®), you’ll have access to the Chase transfer partners.

Earn Credit Card Rewards for Airbnb Stays

When booking an Airbnb stay, using the right credit card can make the most of your earning potential.

Certain credit cards are better than others when it comes to booking an Airbnb. Some things to consider are points or cash-back earned, travel insurance, and other travel benefits. There are personal and business cards to choose from for your Airbnb booking.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve card is one of the best cards to use for earning points on Airbnb bookings thanks to their bonus categories of 3x points on travel. Another great card for earning potential is the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card which earns 2x miles on Airbnb purchases.

For small business owners, the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card is one of the top cards for Airbnb stays thanks to 3x points on travel.

Those who prefer to earn cash-back and essentially give themselves a discount on their Airbnb stay will love the Citi Double Cash^® Card which earns 2% cash-back on all purchases (1% when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases) with no limit on how much you can earn.

How To Redeem Points and Miles for Airbnb Stays

Because Airbnb doesn’t have its own loyalty program, you’ll have to get creative when it comes to using travel rewards to pay for Airbnb stays. Luckily, there are a few ways to do this through flexible, transferrable credit card points as well as airlines miles.

Redeem Capital One Miles

The easiest way to use your points or miles to pay for Airbnb stays isn’t actually to transfer them anywhere. You can redeem Capital One miles for travel-related purchases (made in the previous 90 days) at a rate of 1 cent per mile. All you have to do is use either a Capital One personal or business credit card that earns Capital One miles (such as the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card or the Capital One Spark Miles for Business) to make your Airbnb booking and then apply your miles to cover all or part of the purchase.

Redeem Points or Miles for an Airbnb Gift Card

You could also use your points and miles to purchase Airbnb gift cards instead of paying cash for your stay. However, when transferring points to airline and hotel partners, your points are usually worth more.

United Airlines allows you to redeem your United MileagePlus miles for egift cards (including Airbnb) via MileagePlus X.

Additionally, you can redeem points in the following programs for gift cards:

• American Express Membership Rewards at a rate of 0.7 to 1 cent per point
• Chase Ultimate Rewards at a rate of 1 cent per point
• Citi ThankYou Points at a rate of 1 cent per point

Final Thoughts

Even though Airbnb doesn’t have a loyalty program (yet), there are still creative ways that you can maximize your travel rewards on Airbnb stays.

Depending on which credit card you use, you can earn bonus points on the purchase of Airbnb gift cards or maximize points or cash-back earned on Airbnb stays. You can earn additional airline miles through Airbnb’s partnerships with British Airways, Delta, and Qantas.

As far as using rewards to pay for Airbnb stays, you can use Capital One miles to cover your purchase and even redeem points for Airbnb gift cards.