I am somewhat new to this. What do you typically charge for additional guests? My space can sleep 4 but I have it set up for around 40 a night for up to 2 guests. What do you think is reasonable to charge for additional guests? Should I charge more than that for two? Also I had someone stay last night who last minute told me he was bringing a guest. I was okay with that except I would like to have known who the guest was. Is there a way to have the additional guest register on the site when this kind of thing happens?
I’ve charged anywhere from 0 to 10 USD. I experiment with my pricing and change frequently. My space only holds two but a second person uses resources, makes more noise, doubles the chances of stains, spills and every other kind of damage. I currently have my rate at $50 for two and no second person fee.
If I had a space big enough to fit four I’d charge more but it depends on the kind of listing. Is it a big room with a futon bed and bathroom down the hall or an entire self contained suite with kitchenette or what?
$40 a night for 3 people is way too low and may be for two as well.
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When the booking guest wants to add a person, you can do so by sending a Change to the reservation. Even if it is not an extra charge, you want it on the platform that there are two guests. They may or may not have an Airbnb profile. This is not required to have additional persons but it sure is handy when they do AND the booking guest links them to the reservation. You can also make it a House Rule, as I did, that you require the names of ALL the adults in the party BEFORE they check in. If you have self Check In, it can be before you give them the code or key.
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The thing you need to work out @Jessica_MacAdam, is what that extra guest costs you. Our maximum is two and we don’t charge for extra guests because a) they’re going to have to sleep on the sofa and b) I don’t supply them with anything extra so the cost to me is nothing.
However, bear in mind that our water isn’t metered so an extra person showering and flushing the loo doesn’t cost me anything. I leave the same snacks, loo rolls, towels etc. for all stays whether it’s one person or more. An extra person doesn’t use more electricity or add to my costs in any way.
You’ll find that there are so many threads here that deal with hosts who are annoyed with guests for sneaking in an extra person who wasn’t allowed for in the costs. If you make sure that you charge enough that an extra person won’t matter, you can save yourself a lot of hassle.
Depending on what you’re offering your guests, you might want to rethink 40 (dollars US?) as it’s just asking for guests who are looking for the cheapest deal they can get. If they book for two people and sneak in another two that’s only $10 per person per night and even the cheapest most basic hostels tend to charge more than that.
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In my experience, there is a strong correlation between the number of guests and amount of damage (beyond normal wear-and-tear), so remember to take that into account when you determine how much extra to charge.
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I charge $20 per guest per night. Provide air mattresses, bedding and extra towels for extra guests.
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I think it depends on how many guests got unit appeals to and demand. If I have 2 queen beds I would price it for 4 people. If a queen and sofa sleeper, price for 2 and add guest fees your market will allow for 4. You do t want to get booked up not maximizing your revenue.
What she said^^^^
RR
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I charge $20/person over 1 whether it’s in the guest bedroom in my home or any of my other listings (max 12). First, I want to make it cheaper for singles as I am a single and have been most my life and have regularly been slighted monetarily for this in several areas of life. Second, it helps reinforce my House Rules of requiring The full names and payment of EVERY person on my properties before hand or they pay an additional $50 unauthorized person fee (I do the same for animals but don’t require their names but pet fees and house training status).
My BASE prices are now $36 for the private room up to $60 for a 2BR house (with cleaning fees from $20-$50) but have been as low as $17-$35 when I first started and when Airbnb went below my set minimums for smart pricing…
I’ve given up on trying to enforce it. Airbnb won’t support you. I now charge a flat fee as it’s not worth the hassle.
Airbnb has always supported me on extra guest fees. They even go so far as to pay me when the guest says they can’t afford to pay for their unauthorized guests…i’m actually thinking about increasing my unauthorized person and unauthorized animal fees because of it.
Interesting, as I haven’t had such luck. I even had a guest admit on the messaging platform that there were more guests and I didn’t get paid.
Yes on many occasions, I gave up as it wasn’t worth the fight and now just have a set price. But I do ask if they are travelling as a couple and then we lock the second bedroom door. However, occasionally I have left the second bedroom available because they had an infant, so I thought they would like to make it the baby’s room. Every time all the beds were used!
$25 twenty twenty 20
@Poppy Hmmm. Maybe they are getting better about it now. How long ago was it for you and when did you change to the flat rate?
I have also always gotten my second person fee when I involve airbnb. If I had a place like Poppy i wouldn’t have a second person fee it would be included in the price. But it makes sense at a lawyer price point. I have wanted to cater to singles booking and just $5 lower makes a difference.
Ok so what exactly does unauthorized mean? They are not verified through Airbnb or they have not given you their full name??
Not booked and paid for.
JF
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