Flipkey increase their service fees again

I was just poking around in my area looking at some other listings and I noticed the guest
booking fee has increased from 13.5% to 14.5%.

Air should be ready for their next increase for more of the pie soon.

Its already the case that I have started going back to hostelling as air was starting to come out quite expensive for short term stays for me.

I’ve just collected yet another voucher from air so I will use them up but my days as a guest are starting to look limited …

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Care to share how you get vouchers? Was it for a past bad stay?

Yep. Cheaper just to book directly at a hostel, or a house through a property manager or website that does not charge the fees.

I’ve just had four FlipKey bookings in a row. I have not looked at the guest fees, but wow.

Regarding Zandra switching to hosteling, I have said this before. I’ve always thought Air was too expensive, has too many rules and too many unknowns. I prefer a hotel. Easier to book too and you can always find a good bargain if you go in the off season.

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That is looking like 14.5%. Holy moley. My poor guests!

Last time I rescued one off FK and referred him to Air he cracked me in a review. No more of that!

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At least FK will let you see the details of the booking, whereas Air hides it now. Wow.

What I am curious to know is if anyone gets anything less than the standard 13.5% I was receiving for a very long time. They advertise on their site that the rate ranges from 5-15%. I had someone ask to book for a month (a long time ago) and they tacked on 13.5% for a month long stay. The booking fees amounted to over $800. Ridiculous! Where are these people who get anything less?

I received a FK booking last night and looked over it today after I was poking around on the site. And yes…just like your invoice shows - it was 14.5% to the penny added to the nightly rate and cleaning subtotal.

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I am going with them and hoping recent reviews will give travelers a better idea of the space. I am on a “super strict” policy. NO REFUNDS. I will have to get Comet to cover the month of May when all of my non-Air bookings occur.

The prices guests are now paying contribute to their feeling justified in being picky. And I have to say I can’t blame them. I just checked what my one guest pays for one night and I was surprised. It’s still a bargain though.

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Do you use HI places? They aren’t that cheap in this part of the world and are, at least the few we have in California, difficult to find a vacancy–at least during the season.

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That’s a rip off! Way too much. They are getting greedy, huh?

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Wait! Where is the three percent they charge hosts?

Hostels were hugely expensive in LA. In Europe I’d say it’s 50/50. In London specifically they tend to be more expensive than a room like mine.

I always used to choose air because I felt sure it would be more comfortable than a 3 star hotel. But … lately everyone has got so picky it’s incredible. All I care about is a comfortable bed and clean surroundings. I have rated hosts 5 stars that really didn’t offer much more than a bed and a shower but it was exceptionally clean and as described. Do that, meet me on time where you said you would and you’re getting 5 stars no need for anything else.

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?? They still take the 3% from hosts too.

I believe the 3% from hosts is mostly due to the credit card fee. Paypal has a similar 3%.

Airbnb: To help cover the costs of processing guest payments, we charge hosts a 3% service fee every time a reservation is completed. The amount of this service fee is calculated from the reservation subtotal (before fees and taxes). We also charge guests a guest service fee to cover the cost of running Airbnb.

Paypal: Goods and services – Purchase payments: There’s no fee to use PayPal to purchase goods or services. However, if you receive money for goods or services (such as from selling an item on eBay), the fee for each transaction is 2.9% plus $0.30 USD of the amount you receive.

OH you are right. It’s just not called out in the details.

I must be one of the last of the Mohicans. I am still under the original FK subscription plan and grandfathered in so I avoid all the fees.

I have always self-managed the bookings and payments so FK’s role is still only as an advertising medium. I expect they will remove the grandfather clause one of these first days and pull the proverbial rug out from under me.

As it is, I have to focus whenever I’m in the Dashboard to avoid accidently clicking on a button which would trap me into their program…forevermore.

In retrospect it is a good idea and probably saves money! I did not even realize the fee had gone up until Cabin pointed it out. I used to try to rescue guests from this platform and steer them to Air…but never again after one of my rescues cracked me in an Air review!

It won’t save money if you are in a market where FK will bury your listing to show commisison listings first. Their cost this year went up to $599.

I checked VRBO yesterday to see where I ranked. I am on their annual subscription with no online booking. Again, they increased the amount of properties they are pulling in from other areas. It was showing 750 properties, and I ranked number 571. The 570 properties listed before me all use online booking so HA gets their service fee. There are probably only between 30-50 listings in my city. Such a shame they were showing properties an hour away. Poor travelers…

You mean hosts are getting picky? I’m basically a one-person hostel because the room is shared. However, unlike a hostel you don’t have to stand in line to use the bathroom and you don’t have to listen to others snoring :slight_smile:

I’m in the same boat as you. Staying in hotels or private room Airbnbs is too expensive for me–a solo traveler. In fact I think it’s too expensive for most people–which is what gave rise to Couchsurfing and Airbnb. Air is slowly moving away from catering to the “common man” :slight_smile: …and woman of course! :slight_smile:

In a state as large as California with our phenomenal number of tourists, there should be more hostel-type accommodation. Your Russian (or was he Croatian?) guy in L.A. had the right idea. Although he needed to get legal and offer a better product.

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