New announcements from Airbnb – Winter 2022

The short-term rental market is continuously changing and so are the marketplaces where they are offered. Airbnb is no exception there.
Earlier this month they announced they will be rolling out several new features in the upcoming months and now their 2022 Winter Release has been published. So what is actually changing and what should you know?

Following guest complaints about hidden fees and chores required before check-out, Airbnb is responding with several new features and improvements. Since these will affect the search ranking algorithm as well, these are important news for hosts too. Airbnb is also looking to improve their pricing tool, assist new hosts with the Airbnb setup, provide better guest screening and damage protection thou

Let us walk you through the new features on Airbnb, that will roll out this winter:

1. Total price display and search ranking optimization: As of December, guests will be able to display the total price including all fees before taxes. The full price breakdown will also still be displayed before confirming the booking. This means that hosts will, more than ever need to make sure their prices are competitive, and dynamic and additional fees (if any) are reasonable. The search ranking algorithm will now rank based on total prices instead of average daily rates.

2. Pricing tools for Hosts: Airbnb wants to improve its existing pricing and discounting tools in early 2023. However, considering Airbnb already is trying to do this, hosts will still have strong reservations as their experience has shown that Airbnb’s pricing usually favors them more than theirs.
Regardless of whether these updates will be good enough, this announced improvement is clearly coming as a response to #AirbnBust and has yet again confirmed how important it is to have dynamic pricing. Especially considering the changes to their search ranking algorithm.

3. Improvements to guest checkout: A guest should not have to do unreasonable checkout chores, such as doing the laundry or vacuuming. Airbnb is planning on assisting hosts on how to determine what to request from guests, and more importantly, plans to display these requests before the booking has been made.

4. Airbnb Setup and new categories: When setting up your Airbnb listing, you will have the chance to connect to an experienced host, who will guide you over chat or video. In addition to this, you will be able to choose whether your first guest should be someone who already has at least three stays and a good track record on Airbnb. Six new categories of properties will also be introduced to help improve the personalization of your listing.

5. Aircover for Hosts: Airbnb plans by Spring 2023 to verify all guest identities. In addition to this, they are introducing a new technology to help them block guests showing a high risk for parties and property damage, as well as increasing the damage protection caused by guests to $3 million.

6. Additional upgrades for hosts: some interesting upgrades will include an easier way to file and monitor the status of reimbursement requests, the option to receive payouts to your debit card in less than 30 minutes and protection from retaliatory reviews.

GetChalet Inc. does not provide tax advice and therefore cannot advise investors on the applicability of tax law. If you are considering depreciation strategies, you should consult with your tax advisor.