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I just checked my listing (looking at it as a guest) , and now Airbnb rolls up all fees (nightly rates, cleaning fee, guest fee - but not taxes) into one final rate.
They seem to be rolling it out across geographic areas - Europe was first to get it:
After transparency shift in Europe, Airbnb tests new display globally | PhocusWire all
As a guest, I’d want to know the Airbnb fee and the cleaning fee separately, just for my sanity.
Saw that a few days ago here. Not sure how helpful it is.
Ed. Well it was there on listings I was looking at highlighted in pinky/purple, today it’s not there.
I agree, Airbnb should present the total cost upfront so that guests aren’t surprised by the extra costs of all of the fees and Airbnb should present an itemized list so guests know what they can expect when working directly with a host for a refund because the host can’t refund fees and taxes that the host never received. I would prefer that Airbnb just didn’t allow hosts to directly refund guests, but that’s a completely different problem.
I saw it on a listing today:
Are they distributing the fees across however many nights someone is searching for and showing that on the map? For instance, if a place is 100/night with a 50 cleaning fee and someone searches for a 5 night stay, does that listing show as 110/night on the map?
I’m trying to figure how it is different than before. I’ve never been able to understand the complaints about the fees not being transparent because, like hotels, the nightly rate shows on the map but, unlike hotels, the total cost for the stay shows on the listings that you are scrolling through. It is hard to imagine that having a total cost for the stay with a breakdown of the fees is somehow not transparent. And it is more transparent than google hotel search because hotels are also going to add fees for parking, pets, resort use, but only show the nightly rate until you go through booking.
The only time that the total price and price breakdown are not shown for each listing when the guest has not yet entered any dates. For obvious reasons, a total price or even an accurate nightly price cannot be displayed without knowing the dates of the stay. With this new system, is it any different? How can they show a nightly price that includes the fees if they don’t know what dates the guest is looking for? So then there is no change. If a guest puts in dates, then they will be shown a total price with fees (a transparent price) but if a guest does not put in dates, they cannot be shown a real price (transparent price). It seems exactly the same to me. I’m confused.
For as long as I can remember, it shows like this if a guest puts in dates:
How is that more transparent than how it currently shows/still shows for me with the taxes included? I really don’t understand.
I don’t know, I’m not arguing that it’s more transparent.
Like most Airbnb rollouts they are either not doing everyone at one time or they are doing the beta testing now.
I am not saying anyone is arguing that other than Airbnb. It feels like a “show” for all of the dumb guests who complain about not seeing the whole price but haven’t put any dates in. It’s so odd. The thing you posted with the big banner about prices including fees shows less than the current method which actually shows the full price including fees and taxes. It gives me the sensation of banging my head against a wall.
And, most importantly, they still can’t give you a transparent price if you haven’t put any dates in (neither can hotels). It’s a bunch of flashy show for nothing.
I look at other Airs in my town and I always see the fees, seems they think something that gets highlighted is going to change the world. 
Me too. But only if I have entered dates and number of guests. There are obvious reasons that it is not possible to show the total, real price if dates and number of guests have not been entered. I have argued with daft guests so many times on reddit who think there’s some kind of bait and switch as opposed to merely a variety of nightly prices as well as extra guest fees.
If anyone wants a live example, stick in Madrid or somewhere like that and you’ll see how it’s done in the EU.
I suspect they’re implementing similar outside the EU to bring everyone in line with the more transparent pricing model.
That said, it may be dependent on the guests location, so if you have a VPN, use that.
Out and about else I’d do it and screenshot it.
JF
So did they chuck the idea of the host having to raise their prices so it looks all inclusive?
In the US, as I posted above, it shows a total price including all nights of the stay, any and all fees and the taxes for a total real transparent price. If I booked the listing above, I would pay exactly $401 as is shown. That is on the listing page.
But also, in the US, on the search page, I posted pictures where it shows the total price including any and all fees and all nights of the stay on the listings in the search for a total price minus the taxes, but the taxes are included on the listing page. What else could possibly be shown in the EU that we aren’t already showing in the US? How could it possibly be more transparent than showing the exact total amount that you will pay?
I believe you are referring to having the host cover the guest’s service fees. It has not been chucked. I have the option to change over to it on my listings, if I wanted to.
There is one lone host in my area that has raised his prices and is covering the service fees himself. It makes his prices appear to be too high, which is why I wouldn’t do it unless most of the other hosts in my area were already doing it. My prices are already high, so I would just look like a lunatic if I raised them to cover the service fees. You can’t tell that the host is covering the service fees unless you click on that Price Breakdown that I showed in a photo above, so it just looks overpriced.
It is not unlike getting rid of your cleaning fee. It would not be hard to raise prices enough to cover not having a cleaning fee (like hotels do, they are covering their cleaning, it is included in their prices), but your prices would look abnormally high since other hosts are charging a cleaning fee instead.
Yes, as I mentioned, this is new for USA only.
It used to look like this:
An now it looks like this:
What I am pointing out is that we (or at least I) no longer see how much the cleaning fee is, nor the “Service” (Airbnb) fee is. That is less transparent.
For me as a Guest, I don’t like it. As a Host, I’d still rather have it broken down.
FYI, if you click “Reserve”, you get the "Confirm and Pay " page, which DOES show you the breakdown (if you click on “Price Details” area:
You may not, and perhaps exactly because you are also a host, but I think the majority of guests do want to see the total when searching. That certainly seems to be the overwhelming attitude of guests who have posted on the Airbnb forum.
Airbnb responds to what guests are asking for, that is their focus. It’s all about attracting and keeping guests. So I would wager that this is based on guest feedback, not just some idea pulled out of their hat.
Nightly price x dates requested + cleaning fee + service fee + taxes = the exact price you are going to pay. It doesn’t get anymore transparent than this.
Nightly price x dates requested + cleaning fee + service fee = price before taxes. Now you don’t know what you are going to pay in total. This is the opposite of transparent.
And what I have been pointing out is that the taxes were also previously accounted for and now they aren’t. It has gone from transparent to murky.
Can anyone tell me exactly why this is not completely transparent? This is how it is currently and has always been for me when I search for an Airbnb. Seriously, I’m losing my mind here.
It shows the exact price you are going to pay and it breaks it down so you know what you are paying for. I cannot fathom how it possibly be more transparent unless it was visually displayed in coins.
So now, you have to start booking to get the breakdown and you still don’t have how much you are going to pay in taxes so you still, after clicking to book, don’t have the total price you are going to pay. The old way showed the exact price you would pay if you clicked to reserve.
We have had it here since at least 5 years ago too. This is new thing is less transparent because it doesn’t include the taxes like the one I’ve always seen.
