I’m not going to say it’s my prime motivation. But I very much like and use my vouchers.
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And I’d like to interject and say I miss @J_Wang’s sardonic wit. I believe he was the first to use the term Superho here.
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Yeah, I think that was the suggestion. However, I don’t think there’s evidence they are trying to reduce the number of Superhosts, at least not with the change the OP mentioned.
That is a fact. Previously, you could acquire/keep Superhost with 4/5 reviews that were five-star. Now it takes a minimum of 4/5, but it could be as high as 19/20 if you get that asshole guest that gives you a 1-star review because you caught them sneaking in pets or extra guests.
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They will also get 3% back from the hosts as well.
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That’s the middle which makes sense. It also is only 50% 5 stars so didnt make SH.
No it is a suggestion of how air could have hosts “pay” to verify their listing. It would be without any out of pocket both ways around.
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??? Where was that? I read the article she posted. Are you thinking of a different post?
I was referring to the OP where she suggests that they are trying to engineer fewer superhosts (per her title) and yet I can’t find any evidence anywhere that they are trying to do such a thing. In fact, the article she posted stated the opposite, that nothing is changing only that the decimal points will be shown.
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Oh yes my bad. I guess I am conflating posts!
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The use-by date was 4 days after the guests’ arrival. What’s wrong with that? And there were 5 guests- one would think they would go through the milk within 4 days. And expiry dates are always a cover-your-ass thing- most things are perfectly fine to use, especially if they haven’t yet been opened, for several days past that date.
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Nothing at all if that’s your standard. What’s important is what works for you.
It seems like when you buy milk off the shelf at the store, the “best by date” isn’t that far out. If you have guests staying for 12 days, surely you’d be screwed with this standard.
Besides, how do these guests know that the host wasn’t going to provide a new jug of milk on the 4th day? lol.
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I think it has just as much to do with the guests as with anything the host may be doing or not doing. Veteran Airbnber guests are often aware of how the star ratings work and give 5s if all is as described and they liked the host. Newbie guests often don’t know that Airbnb has a harsh system for hosts, and are prone not to read the listing description thoroughly and then blame the hosts for their false expectations or because they got called out on ignoring house rules or showing up with extra guests.
There are also certain demographics of guests who tend never to rate anything as 5*s as they think that should only be reserved for something perfect, which of course nothing ever is. I’ve read that French guests are harsh raters, for instance.
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They say they have 7 million listings, and considering that some hosts have multiple listings, they couldn’t possibly have 9 million hosts.
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As I said, everyone is different. 
We supply two dairy items that have dates - milk and yogurt. I prefer to have both showing that they are well ‘in date’ when the guest arrives. (By the way, they are only ‘starter packs’. The foods provided are only for their arrival snacks and their first morning breakfast).
If they are in date, they look better to the guest. I know it’s a daft and trivial thing but I’m an ‘attention to detail’ freak.
But as I always say, every host and every guest is different. Our rentals are fairly expensive so our guests expect everything to be just right. If they were bargain accommodation, it would be different.
The problem here is that when a host posts a question, or a problem, we have no way of knowing whether they are charging $30 per night or $300. Standards are going to be different.
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This is a great reminder of how hosts, guests and listings are all different. I’ve had no problem maintaining 4.8+ ratings during my 5+/700+ guests. This isn’t just because I’m good at what I do. I’ve been convinced for a long time that it is because I host “travelers not tourists.” People here aren’t on vacation. And even if they are it’s a one night stop. A tiny percentage had El Paso TX as their ultimate destination. I’m never going to be on anyone’s bucket list so the chances of being disappointed are low.
Never had one. I have very few foreigners and fewer as time has gone by.
And I don’t know what these are either. My worst demographic is old white guys but even so the issues are negligible.
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I don’t think any host, whether they charge $30/night, or $300, would think it okay to provide spoiled milk for their guests.
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We provide 1/2 and 1/2 and yogurts and of course I make sure they are within the date. I thought that OP’s guests had complained not because they weren’t in-date but because they were going to be out-of-date 5 days in the future. 5-days is a long time in the life of a dairy product. I just bought grass-fed gourmet yogurt at Whole Foods this afternoon that has a “best-by” date of Dec 3, which is a mere 6-days away - OPs guests may have complained about it but it certainly is fresh off the shelf. When I stock apartments tomorrow on the 27th, I wouldn’t hesitate to include yogurt that doesn’t expire until Dec 2, it’s a full 5-days away. Maybe we are misunderstanding each other. How far is “well-in” date for you? I’m honestly curious because 5 days does seem well-in date. It may be because I’m buying natural/organic products that don’t have any preservatives or something, I don’t know but am surely confused.
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This doesn’t hold-up statistically. There are enough hosts with perfect or near-perfect ratings with lots of stays and your theory suggests that they are just not getting any newbie guests, guests showing up with extra guests or French guests and, clearly, that doesn’t make any sense, it’s not possible. I’d say that approximately 50% of my guests have been newbies. Honestly, they are my favorites (well, 2nd to the dog owners). I charge per guest and am often having to add guests and collect the additional fees for them. I’ve only had one French guest but he was also a Superhost (another one that people claim are difficult) and no trouble there either. It’s not serving you to blame it on the guests. Of course there are guests who can’t be won-over but it’s not so many to say that’s it’s “just as much the guest as the host”.
When you are looking at listings to plan your vacation, do you see a 5.0 star listing and just think, “oh, they must get easy guests, so lucky”? Because, when I see that, I think, “It must be as described and also, that host must be really good at dealing with lots of different people”.
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Unless you are also counting co-hosts. Some listings have more than one co-host. But I think you are still probably right.
I wasn’t blaming it on the guests, I was saying that experienced travellers who Airbnb a lot may have more understanding of how the ratings affect hosts and the demographics I mentioned were just an example. And yes, it was just a theory, which may be wrong.
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