Airbnb should be more transparent with its rates, as users will soon be able to see all booking fees when searching for their stay.
General Manager Brian Chesky announced Sunday that guests will be able to filter the total price of their stay in the website’s search results that will include taxes and fees starting in December.
This feature allows customers to choose the price range of their stay and see the total cost of bookings before clicking on a potential vacation home – not just the rate per night. The announcement comes as the company reported record revenue.
“We want everyone to see it,” Chesky said, according to The Wall Street Journal. “We want people to turn it on.”
Hosts will also update new tools to help set competitive prices and determine discounts starting in 2023.
Airbnb should allow visitors to see the total cost of their reservation when searching for a vacation home from December
CEO Brian Chesky said the company has been working for a year to combat customer complaints about price transparency.
Airbnb’s changes come more than a year after the company responded to customer complaints about booking fees in May 2021.
At the time of the May announcement, the company explained that hosts have “autonomy over their own pricing” and explained how pricing is set.
Airbnb also said it would review the complaints and provide recommendations by December 2021. Although the recommendations never came, Chesky said the lengthy process required feedback from multiple people and trial and error for the new one. functionality, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The company also improves customer checkouts by ensuring that visitors don’t have to do extra chores.
Chesky tweeted last month that “the cleanup fee was never intentionally designed, that’s why we’re now catching up.” This is one of my top priorities – we are rethinking how pricing works on Airbnb”.
Tenants have posted photos of detailed lists of chores required by hosts. Dissatisfaction goes both ways – hosts are increasingly complaining about problem tenants.
“Guests shouldn’t have to perform unreasonable payment tasks such as removing beds, doing laundry or vacuuming when leaving their Airbnb,” the company wrote in a statement Monday.
“But we think it’s reasonable to ask guests to turn off lights, throw food in the trash and lock doors, as they would when leaving their own homes.”
Guests will have the ability to filter the total price of their stay to include taxes and fees
San Francisco-based Airbnb recorded its highest ever bookings from July to September, with nearly 100 million nights and experiences booked. Pictured: CEO Chesky
As the company tries to tackle customer concerns over cleaning fees, some people worry it might not be enough.
“Cleaning and service charges have gotten ridiculous and hosts can always cancel you last minute without penalty,” one person wrote on Facebook. “For large groups, Airbnb is always useful, but for a single or a couple, you could very well get a hotel room.”
“We all flocked to Airbnb because there were unique spaces available to suit our exact needs and the prices were great,” another person added. “They focused on the customer. EVERYTHING has now changed to be profit oriented. Our last Airbnb stay was our last Airbnb stay. There were several unexpected cost overruns.
“It now appears that the ‘cleaning fee’ is equal to one night’s stay. Ridiculous.’
Others praised the “delayed” decision.
“About time,” one person wrote. “A lot of people I know have deleted AirB&B after being scammed.”
“It’s the fairest thing to do,” added another. “Hotels already include cleaning fees in their posted rates, so Airbnb should do the same as well.”
An Airbnb host replied, “I own an Airbnb and my cleaning fee is more than what I charge my tenants. Finding reliable, affordable and quality housekeepers is not easy.
The company also improves customer checkouts by ensuring visitors don’t have to do extra chores.
Airbnb shares fell last week after the company issued a disappointing holiday quarter forecast, saying it expects bookings to moderate after a bumper third quarter.
Shares of the vacation rental company fell 9% in after-hours trading, even after the company reported record third-quarter revenue of $2.88 billion, a jump of 29% compared to last year.
The travel industry has seen a phenomenal recovery this year as life returned to normal after the pandemic, but the sector now faces risks from soaring global inflation.
San Francisco-based Airbnb recorded its highest-ever July-September bookings, with nearly 100 million nights and experiences booked, but said bookings in the current quarter will be ‘slightly subdued’ compared to these levels.
Airbnb expects fourth-quarter revenue of $1.8 billion to $1.88 billion, the midpoint of which beat analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES.
Net income rose 45.6% to $1.21 billion, or $1.79 per share, while revenue rose 28.9% to $2.88 billion, beating estimates of 2 .84 billion dollars.
Airbnb shares fell 9% in after-hours trading on Tuesday, even after the company reported record third-quarter revenue of $2.88 billion.
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