I love Airbnb. It has something for everyone’s travel style and budget. You can book a luxury villa for a group of friends, a studio apartment for you and your significant other, or a room in someone’s house. You’re essentially renting from another person instead of a business or hotel chain, so there are a lot of other factors you have to consider that may keep people who are on the fence from taking the plunge. Airbnb has policies in place to protect both hosts and guests, but here are a few things you may not know that can make your search (and your stay) a little easier.
Try To Book a Listing With at Least 5 Reviews
I don’t like to be the first to try anything. I let others try it first, so I can get feedback on their experience. So while it may be tempting to book that beautiful studio apartment for $40/night in Brazil, I like to see a handful of reviews to confirm that the listing is as it appears in the pictures and the description. I prefer to book with Superhosts, who have consistently high ratings.
If a Host Implies That They Cannot Host You After Accepting Your Reservation, Do NOT Cancel For Them
I once had a host text me less than a week before my stay to tell me that she was no longer allowed to list her apartment on Airbnb. Funny how her property is still listed to this day, but I digress. I asked her several times to officially cancel the reservation, but she ignored me for days.
Hosts will try to force you to cancel, because Airbnb penalizes hosts for canceling reservations. I didn’t want to risk forfeiting my payment in case she tried to claim me a no show, so I submitted a cancellation request on Airbnb. When a guest puts in a cancellation request, the host has 48 hours to cancel the request or confirm that they can still host you. If they cancel or do not respond within 48 hours, you will have the option to either book another property using your refund, or have the entire amount refunded to you. Airbnb will often offer a small credit for the inconvenience.
Your Review of Your Stay Will Not Be Visible to the Host Until They Submit Their Review of You, and Vice Versa
This way neither of you has to worry about receiving a bad review in retaliation for being honest. I like to leave honest reviews, and point out things that may have affected my decision to book had I known them beforehand. I shouldn’t have to worry about the host leaving me a nasty review out of spite.
Also note that you can only leave reviews for a host after you have completed a stay that has been booked on the Airbnb site. So you can trust that the reviews you see are from real people who have actually stayed at the property, and not a bunch of friends leaving fake reviews to help out a buddy.
Do NOT Handle any Transactions Outside of the Airbnb Site
Airbnb will never ask you to pay for anything outside of the site or via email. If you receive any requests to do so, report it directly to Airbnb. You are not protected over any disputes you have over money that was not exchanged via the site.
Do Your Due Diligence
Familiarize yourself with the neighborhood you’re booking in, both before and after you get a physical address. You don’t want to book a stay to find out that it’s miles away from anything you’re interested in. Thoroughly read the listing and the reviews, and even ask the host for a nearby landmark if you need to check it out on google maps (you often won’t get an exact address until you book, but most hosts mention the neighborhood in their listing).
Make sure you know what will and won’t be provided; some hosts don’t provide things that most of us would expect, like soap and towels.
Another thing worth noting: If you don’t want to share the place with the host or other guests, make sure you choose the Room Type of “Entire home/Apartment”. I’ve heard of a few people who did not bother to read the listing thoroughly and ended up surprised to find out that their host or other guests would be sharing the space with them.
What about you guys? Do you use Airbnb or any other peer to peer sites? How was your experience? Post it in the comments!
These are such great tips! I will keep them in mind when we book our first trip through air bnb!
We have never done Airbnb, but have been thinking about trying it! These are great tips! Thank you!
I used Air BnB for my anniversary trip this year and it was amazing! Such a sweet family, and way cheaper than anywhere else I could have stayed. Thanks for these tips for my next trip!
I just did my first solo Air BNB stay and it worked out great. Saved a lot of money and it was nice to have home amenities.
Yes! I love that you can have a place to stay that is just as nice, if not nicer than hotels in the area for so much cheaper!
These are great tips! I haven’t booked on Airbnb yet, but will keep these in mind when I do!
Wow these are some great tips! Esp about waiting for reviews and cancellation!
Awesome tips! We’ve been considering using airbnb but it’s a little intimidating to stay at someone’s place. I’ll look into superhosts, thank you!
Yea I prefer to stay in the ones that are listed as the “entire place”, instead of just a room. But for a quick trip, I can deal. I’ve done both and had great experiences.
I love that you mentioned that it’s like renting from a person and not a big business. So many people I’ve met fund their travel by renting through airbnb while away. If I can be even a little part of that, I’m a happy camper! Also totally yes to making sure you know the neighborhood you’ll be staying in. Sound advice!
Thank you! I’ve had great experiences so far, but it helps to do a little research before booking. It can definitely make a big difference to be in a neighborhood that you feel comfortable in!
I never booked anything via Airbnb but I’ve been thinking about doing that for a trip to Paris with my parents! These tips are absolutely wonderful and will sure help me in the process!
Thank you for sharing this amazing tips with us.
Love from Portugal,
Joana
You should try it! Paris sounds amazing!
This was great information! We’ve debated using Airbnb and keep going back to using a hotel because I’m nervous to try something new – especially traveling with young kids. At some point I think we’ll bite the bullet and give this a shot though, so I’m keeping all your tips in mind.
Its definitely worth it, especially if you’re trying to keep costs down!
Kate – you’ve got to give it a try! Airbnb makes traveling with kids like 1,000,000% easier!
I had a host cancel on me once because their landlord found out they were using Airbnb (this was in NYC). After she cancelled, Airbnb sent me $100 credit to rebook another stay as an apology! 🙂 One more reason to make your host cancel!
Wow, they only gave me $10! Was it a super last minute cancellation?
Not really, maybe a couple months ahead of time? But maybe it was because it was New York and Airbnb is having so many struggles there, they offer more? I guess I was pretty lucky!
Great tips, Ashley! It’s good to know that you should wait for the host to cancel instead of you cancelling. It’s like cancelling a ride on Uber, if you cancel after 5 mins, you will be charged. Same for the driver. So I always tell them to cancel if they couldn’t pick me up anymore. Ha! Also, I dodged a scam when the host started asking me to just send the payment via wire transfer. He even directed me to a fake Airbnb site with his fake reviews. 😛 My goodness.
Oh wow! That’s a really bold scam! Was the site obviously fake, or did it look legit?
These are such great and helpful tips. I’ll definitely keep them in the back of my mind the next time I stay at an Airbnb
Cheers, Diana | http://www.footloosegirl.com
I plan to use Airbnb for my next trip so this is really helpful! Especially about cancellations, I wouldn’t have known that!
Love all these tips! I’ve been nervous about using AirBnb because of the horror stories I’ve heard. But those are just the major things that were news-worthy so I bet they don’t happen as often as I think they do.
Great info to have! I’ve considered Airbnb, but it’s wonderful to have this inside info that I had no idea about! Thanks so much for sharing!