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I have a Pet Friendly AirBnB. It says Pet Friendly in the title.
It costs $79 for a Pet Fee. I rely on the airbnb booking system for guests to declare and pay for them there. So far this has happened:
1 Guest - Paid the pet fee
4 Guests - Had pets, did not put pet on the reservation (I am catching them thru the doorbell camera). 1 said ESA, another declared once onsite, 2 others said they didnt know. I had one throw an absolute fit - tried to give me a bad review. AirBnB support did that, but has yet to recover the pet fee.
Is anyone on here having consistent success with pet fees? And if so, could you share? I am really feeling frustrated on how to consistently encourage guests to declare and pay the fee.
I am considering lowering the fee to $50 just to get folks more willing to be honest
Here is my listing. What I say in the first paragraph is that pets must be disclosed when booking. Also the pet fee is now an option when they book and just as they choose number of adults and children, so they should see it.
I’d recommend a welcome message that reiterates that there is a pet fee. Maybe you have to state a consequence like "guests who arrive with unpaid pets will have their pet fees collected in person. " Or have their reservation canceled. Sometimes a guest discloses the pet, but doesn’t add them on the reservation. I charge per pet and Airbnb doesn’t facilitate that so I use the resolution center and after I make the request I copy paste the resolution center URL into a message to them.
Admittedly I have fewer problems because I live in the home my suite is attached to. Even after they check out you can request the payment so don’t give up.
Thanks for booking with us, I will send the directions and check in information the morning of your reservation. You can pay the pet fee when you get here, either c ash or Vnmo I will leave the information in the cabin.
The c ash and Vnmo are intentionally spelled this way to avoid the AI bots
Technically as a API connected host I am allowed to collect outside the system but I do not want to deal with a CS person and have to explain the TOS to them.
I get paid (almost) every time, usually Venmo. I have exactly one $25 pet fee that did not get paid.
Tangential question, but hotels are now charging $75 per pet for a pet fee. I don’t accept pets but if I did, I would not go lower…I’d go higher than $50. They are a lot of clean-up, why would you shortchange yourself? The issue is your process of collecting/communicating, not the cost, at least it seems that way to me.
I believe KKC’s verbiage is great on her listing. Hopefully that will help with people disclosing that they are bringing a pet.
Let them know that once the pet fee is paid, you’ll send them their door passcode. That way they cannot enter your home until you have received the pet fee. We used to do this when we had to collect taxes outside of ABB (many years ago) and we still say this when we collect the occasional early check-in fee or late check-out fee. We never had an issue with collection (knock on wood).
I love that you received a golden key! I wonder if they do that any longer.
We’ve been hosting since 2013 and have always remained a superhost. We used to get cute gifts from ABB, but haven’t in many years. Maybe because we used to host in our home and now we host a vacation rental condo.
Hey, billion dollar companies with billionnaire CEOs gotta trim costs, you know. Free Airbnb key chains and informed and helpful customer service really dig into the profits.
We state $100 pet fee or $20 pet per day which ever is more and that pets are always at our discretion… AirBnB can only handle the $100 fee as part of the booking and anything else have to send a separate request. Sometimes people want to come for a month and that makes the pet fee $600 which I knock down to $200 to cover the truck mounted steam cleaner for the rugs and upholstery
. Did have to say no to the woman with 3 enormous Bernese Mountain dogs. Like 600 pounds of dog!
The weight of the dog doesn’t really have anything to do with the amount of cleaning. It’s how much they shed and whether they are stinky or not.
My dog, who passed away a couple years ago, actually had no dog smell at all unless she was wet. And she always slept on her floor mat, never on the furniture or bed. But she was a heavy shedder.
But I can certainly understand why 600 pounds of dog would be a no.
Hello, im curious can you clarify how and when you state the fee and how often people are paying it up front? If someone does not declare at time of booking (this is what is happening to me), how do you approach it with the guest?
I usually get 2 night bookings so my $25 dollar fee per night is more often $50 in practice. Although I have a one nighter last minute tonight, which being a Monday I have recently started lowering the price for weekdays, the pet fee brings it closer to my normal rate.
I do not charge a cleaning fee either. Guests hate fees in general.
Thanks. I thought it was cheesy at first but someone here suggested the display case on the wall and I think it’s actually helped me with reviews. A few months ago I was given another reward choice of an Airbnb logo guestbook and keychain and some travel size toiletries OR make a donation to Airbnb’s charity. I chose the stuff. I’d honestly rather have the $15 bucks they spent on it. I do genuinely appreciate the SH bonus each year. This year’s bonus in the fall will make $1000 of them!
I would roll up any rugs in the home and store them for the month. I’d charge the hefty fee and then refund $400 of it if there was do damage. I had one military guy here for what was supposed to be a direct booking of 6 weeks. His dog destroyed a few things and he ended up leaving me a payment then checking out. I think he was afraid the dog was going to cost him too much. Ironically I board dogs in my home and he could have had me watch the dog during the day for a nominal added fee. I think he was just an immature man who was overwhelmed by his situation.
I find the biggest factor is the owner…so many owners who are ignorant and/or disrespectful and it translates double to the behavior of the dog. I love the respectful ones!
I love the respectful ones!