Is it worth charging for that extra guest?

As the beds at my listing can accommodate up to 9 people, I limit the number of guests to 9. I specify in the rules that unauthorised guests are not allowed. I also put an extra per person charge of £50 as a formality.

This weekend I had a booking of 8 people for 2 nights. On the second night, there were 10 people. Overall, they were fine as guests as they were out for the whole day.

Should I charge for an extra 2 guests? An extra 1 guest? Or not charge anything to ensure I’m not selling off a 5* review for £50/£100?

To put things into perspective, I am 1 x 5* away from finally getting superhost status, so it’s not like I have 100 x 5* reviews that would hide this. And the place goes for £667 per night, so the extra £50 is swallowable.

What are your opinions?

It depends how much the extra guests cost you? If you’re going to lose out by not charging then charge.

However, it does seem to be common for people to add to the guest number when places sleep more than four people. It’s not always a pre-planned thing. They book for a regular number of people in good faith and then between booking and staying there’s a ‘we have a house with extra space - stay with us’ thing goes on. It’s not necessarily malicious or ‘sneaking people in’.

The superhost thing shouldn’t be a factor.

Heck yes you charge them for two extra guests! It costs you extra whether you’re listing is Taj Mahal or a shipping container in your backyard!

Also mark them down in stars for poor communication and for breaking house rules.

Quit worrying about Superhost status. It gets you nothing much. Just be the best host you can be.

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@Fahed - Do you charge for extra guests over 9 or over a lower number?

We charge $35US per night per extra guest, but have in our house rules “$200 US per night per guest that is not paid for prior to arrival”. Since I added that, everyone that wants more guests than they originally paid for confesses and pays the lower fee prior to arrival.

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Allowing your guests to flaunt your rules to selfishly get airbnb’s ‘award’ hurts everyone -

It hurts your bottom line

It hurts your fellow hosts, as they will have to now deal with the expectations of this guest in the future (and pushing this ‘forward’ means that in general it weakens the hosts’ ability to manage their rules)

It hurts airbnb! They receive less money if you ‘relax’ your rules

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Perspective: I charge for extra guests in my modest little 2 person room. The charge ranges from $4-8. No one complains, balks, cancels or dings me in reviews.

I rented a luxurious home in Costa Rica at $750 a night shoulder season. $1000 cash deposit paid in advance and booked via VRBO. 5 BR, 4.5 bath. There is no charge for extra people. They will accomodate up to 14. There were only 8 of us, no break in price, but no extra charges.

I think it has to do with your target market and how you want to brand yourself as well as the custom with the competition. In CR all the rentals I looked at were one flat price but they were all relatively high priced places.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I really appreciate it.

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If you end up not charging, at least point out to them that you would normally charge, you’re going to give them a break this time, and that moving forward they should always give hosts an accurate headcount, extra charges or not. I would also mark them down for breaking house rules. Not only did they not pay for the extra two people, but they went above the maximum allowed. No bueno!

I personally would charge, but just do it in a matter of fact fashion, not like “you’re busted” or scolding, but just act like they must have forgotten to let you know and you’ll be sending in the request for payment. Then I’d tell them going above the maximum allowed is not cool in the private feedback.

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