Inquiry today - a woman objected to a $20 extra person charge

A first my pricing was set just to 6 guests. It’s two bedroom and there is a sofa bed that has an air mattress that fits on top. Well today I decided I am no longer going to let people know the sofa can pull out, and I will only be offering the airbed. They can put it on the floor OR they can sleep on the huge couch in the theater room basement.

Now my pricing is based on 4 guests with a $12.50 additional charge per night for each guest over 4…up to a max of 6. This includes infants and children.

I know some travelers will view it as nickel and diming but I am okay with that. I get many couples who book for anniversary getaway. They are already paying a lot because they are not splitting the cost with another couple. So if I priced at 6 then I would likely lose some of those people. I feel so less stressed when I know it is just a couple staying, and I love it when they only use one bed!

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How often do you get groups of 2?

And if you have a group of 3 book (a married couple and their mother) do they automatically get access to the 2nd bedroom?

I only glanced at your pics. Your space is lovely. You have come such a long way from the airbed…lol. Better go back to that airbed as you don’t want a guest to complain breakfast was provide but no airbed…ha!

Great Question!

Since going into business last June 50% of my groups are 3 or less and 50% between 4-5. This calendar year 25% of my bookings were two or less - I think in the winter there are not as many large groups - I don’t have winter of 2015 to compare. I just looked at my bookings for this summer - 78% are 4-5!

Originally I worked hard to make it clear in my add that ‘groups of three share bedroom #1, groups of 4 or more get a second bedroom’. I decided that was just to convoluted. Sometimes I’d offer groups of 3, like parents with an older child, the second bedroom for $20 or so just to cover the cost of the cleaning.

Now I’ve just decided - if they use the second bedroom, fine - I don’t think it’s going to happen so often. Since half of my groups already get it anyway. It’s not worth the complication. However, with groups of 3 I won’t show them the second room unless they ask for it. ; )

So perhaps my price structure is working? What do you think?

Thanks for the encouragement. We really have enjoyed making the space look nice! Yes, funny, no one has yet complained that they get a real bed and not an airbed, lol!

If you are pretty much 100% booked for dates that you are advertising, I would try to advertise the complete rate based on 5 for the peak summer months. I guess that would be your nightly rate plus $40…no?? And then see if the couples still book it at that price. Unless you know they can get a hotel cheaper in your market.

Are winter months in DC still peak months? Do you think couples would still book at that rate, or would they turn to a hotel instead? I was going to say you could offer winter rates at your current policy of charging extra for the 4th and 5th person (since groups seem to be smaller then) - but is that even possible to do on the site?

So I guess you are back to square one…:frowning:

I take little charge for 3rd guest. No to much jus 8 euro. That cover the laundry for the extra sheets and towel. In Barcelona they spend a lot of time outside. Of course they pay for the children. But I think is better to rise the price per night than have a discussion for the second guest.

Once again Airbab do not protect or respect their hosts. To be so disrespectful to oneof their hosts , they should be banned.

Simply

I guess I’m in the minority here (and maybe because I’m in the U.S. where motel prices are typically the same for one or two people) but I actually think her intention was to let you know that you lost a booking because of this policy - and she felt bad about it - and thought she’d let you know that it seems unfair to the people that read your add. I don’t take it as to “tell you off” so much as to be helpful. Words on paper can look so much harsher than the writer intends.

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Well, the message is rude and comes off as annoyed. But I agree, the intention was probably to let the person know they’d lost a booking.

We offer our second bedroom in our private apartment. There’s a huge difference in our quality of life with one guest vs. two. Two guests means more people sharing the bathroom, shower, kitchen, dishes, etc. We add a £20 fee for the second guest and we don’t allow more than two. It’s in part to deter two people from booking but also to compensate for quality of life stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I love having guests, but they also have an effect on your day-to-day routine.

Think about it the other way around: You are giving a discount to a single person traveling alone. Two people can more easily share the cost.

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you can say: i need to provide more sheets. Two people use more warmwater to shower. My guests from thai took 2 hours shower a day, crazy. I will charge every one from malaixia and thai 100 dollars if any body from such countries come who took 4 times shower per day and each time 30 mins.

My mother came to visit me and my electric bill tripled! Thats the point, ha!!

Very interesting subject. I suppose the nature of the place dictates the best host approach. I have a price for the first 2 people, and a fee for extra people, because rarely (actually only once) has a single person come to my place (an island) by themselves. About 40% are just couples. I definitely charge for more than 2 people.

From reading some of your comments, I have changed my thinking, I believe you all are correct;, ‘children’ being free (my original policy was children under 12 years old were free) proved to be a foolish policy quickly. They can be brutal on places.

As for the lady, perhaps she meant well, or maybe wanted to nothing but complain about a place didn’t fit her in the first place; tricky to tell via just the written word.

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You know what? This is so true. Since I am in the USA, I have always used the USA model, which is a flat price without respect to number of registered guests. Most of my guests, however, come from other continents (I’ve had very few Americans), and I realized over time that when it comes to your home and making space for people, having one guest is SO much easier than two. With two people you get chatting and socializing int he room, double the bathroom time, double the showers needed, double the towels used, etc. So, thought what the hell? I will set an attractive base price for single travelers and add a $15/night charge for the second guest. Depending on how the summer goes, I may bump it up to $20 for the second person. It’s a new strategy that I hope to make the amount of cash I am pulling in to align to the degree of hosting burden.

(If only you could tack on a surcharge for door slamming and leaving puddles of water on the bathroom basin.)

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Yes… extreme example here… but when my sons come home for the summer from university (one is here now and the other comes in tomorrow), I prepare for the grand slam electric bill. Even without accounting for their ginormous gaming rig with its double monitor, surround sound speakers and all the rest… :wink: the utilities SIMPLY double in price. We are on an all electric house.

Including, but not limited to:

More showers (heat, electric water pump)
More toilet flushing (water pump use)
More BBQing (gas use)
More DISH WASHING (one load per day versus one load per week when they are not home)
All of their aquariums and fountains turned on
More things charging (cell phones, ipads)
More lights on…
More laundry…

There must be other reasons to account for an electric bill that jumps from $75 to $160 when the boys are here!!!

… but you get my drift!

Two are more pricey than one! Three are even more pricey!

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My basement apartment sleeps 6, but it’s a LOT of work hosting that many so I may go back to four max. I charge $15 for guests after 2, and haven’t had anyone complain or ask to wave the guest fee. Well, once I let someone have a baby stay free because it was February and slow and I wanted the booking. Now that it is nearing summer, and I have inquiries daily, I am mostly getting requests groups of 3 plus because I am still one of the cheapest hosts in town for groups bigger than two.

First, We have no idea what is happening in her life, so keep it simple and uncomplicated. I would thank her for her feedback and say there are additional costs and time requirements for each person, and the extra charge allows you to charge the lowest price to everyone. Tell her your policy was not meant to offend her and if she wishes to rent the room please feel free to contact you. Otherwise you hope her stay in the area goes well.

The one thing I would caution you is if you are charging the extra for their “disruption in my life” then you may not be happy renting a room out over the long run. Certainly if you feel that way it will come across and your experience may get worse. They are all strangers with different things happening in their lives. My position is if they pay the money, follow the rules, and act with minimum courtesy, then we have gotten mutual outcome. Anything additional is cream.

That’s a great idea…let her know you want the price to be fair to singles. I think most people (at least in America) associate price per bed used like a hotel. I get guests saying “well I didn’t think to mention my baby or toddler because they wouldn’t be using an extra bed” - yet couples with a toddler tend to use more electricity because they come back early and hang out and cook in the home, so toddler can go to sleep early. Items in the home tend to be more in a state of disarray because parents have to spend their energy keeping the toddler out of things. I guess the whole hotel mantra of “kids stay for free” has been imbedded into parents’ heads.

I charge $10 for a second person. I find a second person to be extra work and extra utilities. They aren’t twice as much work so I don’t charge twice as much but they do use additional amenties and utilities. I always offer continental breakfast items if I’m home in the morning when they get up. In the evenings I often offer a beer or glass of wine. 2 people generally consume 2x as much. I’m not trying to discourage 2 people from booking but I don’t think I should make less money on a pair either.

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In Spain we have our price for 2 people and then charge 35 Euroe per person up to 10. In SF our price is for 2 then $20/person up to 4 people and in wine country the price is for 6 and $50/person up to 8. It has worked fabulously for us, except for the few occasions where someone arrive with children that are not accounted for, to which I kindly remind them ‘Children are people too’

dc I’m wondering why you are trying to figure out if it will be profitable. Are you not getting enough bookings for it to be profitable? I also looked at the pictures and $120 for 5 people and that set up seems like a great price for a tourist area.

I’m not American but have travelled throughout LA, Vegas, NY state and actually more than half the places I stayed (as a solo) charged more for extra people. This includes b n bs and hotels and this is way before air bnb was invented.

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