Is this the same thing you are referring to?
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@casailinglady, I am missing why this didn’t increase your bookings - assuming you didn’t bump up your prices to cover the larger host fee that comes with simplified pricing.
And just to help me better understand, this simplified pricing is something hosts with multiple listings on multiple platforms managed using PMS or CM software would possibly want to use?
3 reasons:
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It gives you full control over the amount the guest pays. No vague amount of guest fee added to your rates.
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It’s easier to match rates between OTA’s
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It lowers the price a guest has to pay. With normal pricing Air adds between 15%-20% on fees (host and guest combined). With Simplified it’s a fix 14 or 15% depending on your cancelation policy.
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Thanks, Chris. So I think that explains something I saw but didn’t understand. I saw a listing hosted by a PM company that had a “Service Fee” they added on themselves. Overall their total price & $/day were aligned with comps.
And how does your cancellation policy impact what Air charges? I’m going to google also but love to hear what you know.
Now I’m wondering if this is something I should try. I don’t use a channel manager or other PM software, though. And, I’m only on one other platform but it gets exhausting trying to line the pricing up between the two.
Yes, professional hosts have some options to add fees.
I list the VAT and Tourist tax seperately so AirBnB does not calculate their 15% commission over it.
This lets me set my rates a bit more competitive.
AirBnB asks a higher commission when using stricter cancelation policy.
The Guys at BDC are a lot smarter than the ones at Air. They let you setup different rates for different conditions. So instead of squeezing the host, BDC gives the guest the option to pay less for stricter policy’s.
Air is now only allowing host only fees for new listings around here. The only problem with that is that I will loose a bit of advantage against the hosts that do not understand the host only system is actually better, and want to stick with the split fees.
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Oh, wow. I had no idea. Just found this (but not on AirBnB website, all I found there was them saying 3-5% with the typical host paying about 3%):
“Airbnb Hosts pay between a 3-5% service fee
The fee is higher for:
-Strict cancellation policy
-Plus host
-Italy or mainland China (10%)
It seems they wish to deter “strict” so it’d be nice if that fee hike were more clearly communicated (sure someone will find on their site somewhere…I gave up after 3 min)
Just checked our listing this afternoon. They are showing “Upfront Price” even if you have AirBnB fees added to your rates/fees and they no longer show the breakdown between your rates, your fees, and their fee (maybe they do when you actually book, but not when just shopping)
Maybe I should advertise “Stay for seven nights, pay for eight with AirBnB fees!” That’s what bothers me the most - the lack of transparency.
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There’s a whole thread on this new scheme. I’d link to it but on my mobile and that feature isn’t working for me at this time.
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Thanks. I’d forgotten about that thread.
But I think it’s a valid comment in this thread, too. If AirBnB is going to show the “Upfront price” regardless of whether you include their fee in your rate or not, then it makes financial sense to pick the pricing structure that has the lowest fees. I’m guessing that’s “Simplified Pricing”.
I’ve avoided Booking.com because of their lack of transparency on fees (among other things), but I might take another look at it now.
At least on Vrbo, they show you the breakdown between rates and fees before you book.
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TBH, there’s not much to hide, for hosts it’s a straight (for us) 15% and if you use them as a payment processor, and additional 2.2% payment charge.
For guests, it’s pretty much what you see is what you pay. They break it down into a per night price, show the VAT and then any applicable discounts are deducted.
JF
Yes, but the guests didn’t see the breakdown of the amount going to the booking agent vs the owner.
We are where the hotel industry was about 10 years ago. The big OTAs such as Expedia charge 15% booking fees on top of the hotel rates but travelers didn’t know that. Now, savvy travelers are aware of those fees and use the OTA to search, but then go to the hotel website to book. I suspect “alternative accommodation” travelers (I can’t call my home an AirBnB or a Vrbo!) will become aware of the fees over the next few years and save money booking directly. Frankly, I’ve already seen an uptick of bookings through our own website this year.
We’re at approximately 75% full this month, and over half of that is direct.
We always advise guests that we’ll discount bookings by the OTA fee if they come direct to us. Recently we’ve had folks getting in touch, having been referred by previous guests, all have mentioned that we discount for direct bookings.
Happy days. Especially when they pay cash, or Oloroso vouchers as it’s known in our household 
JF
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I don’t have my own website but over time I’ve built up a small group of repeat visitors who know to contact me directly. Between them, my friends who always have priority over paying guests and not taking bookings on certain dates because of being out of town or too many dogs, I’m hardly open to strangers recently.
We had done the same, pre Covid. It’s only now we’re seeing folks coming back, and on that note, the BDC couple currently in situ have just decided to extend their stay.
More Oloroso vouchers in the biscuit tin 
What we get a lot of is Jerezanos who’ve moved away, and come back to visit family, but don’t want to stay with family!
Happy days
JF
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I have a guest who has stayed with me 4x. One of her tias lives on my street.
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We’re getting that too, at least 75% of our occupancy is people coming to see family but not staying with them. There are the added bonuses that the stays are much longer and that they are gone all day with their family.
I’m just building my site and confused about which fee is better for a new Host-simplified fee vs Host only fee? Do I not have choice? Would love some guidance on that.
By the way, My name is Cher (Jingles is my dog)
It depends on your area and whether you are a host who uses a channel manager. Most hosts have a choice.
As to whether which fee system is the best, because Airbnb offers a choice, rather than it being standard for all hosts on the platform, you might want to take a look at what other similar listings in your area are doing. If they are mostly using split guest/host fees, it could make your listing appear more expensive at first glance not have any guest service fee (although the end result is basically the same for the guest, as if you use host-only, you need to up your nightly rate to cover your increased fees).
If you see that most hosts are using host-only, then you wouldn’t be at any disadvantage if you also went with that.
While most guests say they want to see the total price of a listing right off the bat, rather than get a nasty surprise when they fill out a booking form and see all the additional fees, as it seems many guests are not very observant readers, they may miss that a listing includes all fees, and just pass on the ones that seem a lot more expensive, even though they really are not.
That’s my take on it, anyway.