Airbnb is now more upfront about cleaning rules, extra fees and adds new payment options

The updates made by Airbnb this summer are huge, and they’re always innovating. This is what travelers around the world have been waiting for: transparent fees at the time of booking, more payment options, and improved maps. After an outstanding year in 2022, these improvements just make sense. In addition, this year Airbnb is predicting a staggering 300 million visits from guests.

After launching in 2008 and surviving a global pandemic, Airbnb’s global head of hosting, Catherine Powell, told The Points Guy that the company’s rapid expansion has been spurred by three factors: people’s pent-up desire to travel and connect, people’s desire for alternative income streams, and Airbnb’s dedication to innovation. These three things were among the platform’s top priorities for its most recent update, which is now available to all users around the world.

“With this release, we’ve had nearly 400 upgrades and innovations in the last couple of years,” Powell elaborated, “and these are innovations listening to [and] understanding what our guests need, what our hosts need.”

Powell added that many of the new features in this release are directly related to maintaining the services offered by Airbnb reasonable for visitors and enhancing booking transparency. She went on to say that Airbnb is actually focusing its creative efforts on “affordability, choice for guests, [and] being able to price competitively for hosts.”

Transparency

The price of a listing, consisting of fees (but excluding taxes), is now visible to Airbnb users across the entire platform from the moment you begin your search.

With that said, no need to get your hopes up for a reasonably priced listing, only to be let down when you discover hidden costs (such as a hefty cleaning fee) that you weren’t expecting. Search results, price filters, maps, and listing pages all display the complete pricing. If you want to know exactly what fees are included and how much they cost, you can do so by clicking on the total price.

“There’s no hidden surprise of a fee you weren’t expecting,” Powell emphasized, thanks to this update to last year’s all-in price transparency.

When it comes to pricing, the United States and Canada have a brand new option: using Klarna, travelers can reserve accommodations and pay in four equal installments spread out over six weeks with zero interest. Payment plans are available on reservations over $500 for customers in the US.

The Airbnb checkout process is another example of the company’s efforts to be more open and honest. We’ve all heard horror stories about Airbnbs with a laundry list of checkout requirements longer than the ones many of us have at home. Airbnb guests have taken to social media in recent years to vent about hosts who make unreasonable requests and turn their vacation into an inconvenience, even when a hefty cleaning fee is included in the price of the reservation. Folks are honestly sick of it and choose other alternatives to booking accommodations.

“We heard it loud and clear from guests. I think everybody did,” Powell remarked. “We spent a lot of time looking at the data and analyzing, and the vast majority of our hosts are reasonable ... but there were outliers.”

You can now see the full set of checkout details on a property’s listing page before booking, so if the more laborious cleaning tasks are a dealbreaker, you’ll know that going in.

Private rooms are regaining popularity

When Airbnb first started, its main goal was to make it easier for people to rent a room in someone else’s house. By adding a category called Airbnb Rooms, which will compile more than a million listings, the company is now building on that original function. Forbes notes that with over 80 percent of private rooms costing less than $100 per night and an average price of $67 per night, Powell noted that rooms are one of the most cost-effective ways to use Airbnb.

Through a “Host Passport” that enables the host to share personal information like a few interesting facts and spoken languages, visitors can now learn more about the people they’re staying with. Additionally, it is now simpler for visitors to locate private rooms with attached bathrooms or rooms with locks.

Improved wish lists, maps, and customer service

Newly redesigned Wishlists make it simple to find properties saved there that are available during a desired time frame, making it easier than ever to plan the vacation of a lifetime. You can also keep track of your thoughts on each home by making notes.

Visitors can now find listings nearer to the point of origin thanks to updated and improved map features. Rather than just looking for “Paris,” for instance, you can now find listings close to the Eiffel Tower and then estimate how long it might take you to walk there from the listing. Other updates include improved functionality, pins that stay put when you zoom in or move them around the map, and even mini-pins that can help you find even more listings that are comparable.

A special 24/7 support team for people who are currently traveling is another new feature. The team’s objective, according to Airbnb, is to respond to 90 percent of calls in English within two minutes or less.

If a host cancels a stay within 30 days of arrival, travelers will also be given instant rebooking credits so they can quickly find a new place to stay for their trip.

With Airbnb’s flurry of summer updates, the new updates are just a few of the numerous ones that will affect guests (and hosts).

Evie Blanco is a journalist with nearly a decade of experience who was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Queens, New York. She is extremely well-versed in hip-hop music and culture and is always aware of any developments within it. Whether it’s the latest in pop culture, a fascinating foreign destination, a truly amazing new restaurant, or breaking news, she loves to write about it all.

This story was originally published May 3, 2023 at 3:50 PM.