Airbnb set to improve price transparency

Booking a stay on Airbnb might be difficult for a variety of reasons. One of them is that it’s not always simple to know how much you’ll spend for your vacation rental at a glance, since the cleaning charge or security deposit may not display until after you click on a listing. However, Airbnb is finally planning to make pricing more transparent.

CEO Brian Chesky said on Twitter that beginning next month, the firm would provide the entire price of a stay in search results, as well as on the map, price filter, and listings pages. There will still be a breakdown of the whole price, including Airbnb’s service charge and any reductions. Furthermore, according to Chesky, Airbnb’s ranking system would favour total pricing above nightly prices. “The finest quality residences with the best overall costs will rank higher in search results,” said Chesky.

This is often a good thing since the per-night pricing shown in search results doesn’t represent the complete picture. Hosts may impose varying cleaning costs or even additional expenses for unexpected visitors. Displaying (nearly) the entire price upfront should help people compare listings while preventing sticker shock at checkout.

However, there is one disadvantage. The price shown in the search results and on the map does not include taxes. It would be great to know that from the start, especially because many hotel booking sites display the whole price with taxes included in search results. “We reasoned that because prices in the United States are normally listed pre-tax, we should follow this standard,” Chesky stated.

Chesky also said that Airbnb would provide additional pricing and discount features to hosts. He said that hosts want a better grasp of the whole amount consumers pay and what they should charge in order to compete. Users should not be required to do “unreasonable” checkout activities such as cleaning or stripping the bedding, according to Chesky. He said that basic tasks like as turning off lights, throwing food in the trash, and closing doors are appropriate and that hosts should explain these types of checkout demands prior to booking.