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Hi!
Who here offers their Netflix password to guests? I see this often on others listings.
While I don’t really mind the idea and don’t see a real disadvantage (other than the guest seeing all the stupid tv I watch), is there a benefit?
And wouldn’t the people/guests who are used to enjoying Netflix simply use their own account? This is what I would do.
Did anyone see a benefit in increased bookings when they offered a Smart Tv option like Roku etc?
It hasnt really come up with the exception of those few guests who didn’t read the listing. They all messaged immediately wanting to know how to work the TV. We have a 42 inch Sony Bravia in the suite but only have an antenna it. So, it gets 5 crystal clear channels but nothing more. I do state in the listing that people are welcome to hook up their laptops to the tv. This way they can watch anything they want.
It seems to only impact older, not so tech savvy travellers. Most of our guests are young European travellers and it hasnt been an issue but am wondering if we should step up our game?
I have 7 smart TV’s and every time I turn around, they’re all reconfigured with different apps and accounts. The only thing I keep consistently going is Plex. I have a local media server with TV shows and movies. They all stream locally very fast so even if the Internet is slow, you can watch something.
Our house has three televisions; one being in our downstairs Airbnb guests’ TV-lounge.
I have a Netflix account. But I must pay a higher monthly fee to allow more than one TV to stream Netflix at the same time.
Our guests can access 220 Comcast/Xfinity TV channels. So, I don’t feel the need to pay more money for guests to watch Netflix in their private TV-lounge.
If they bring their laptop computers, they can watch Netflix using our home’s free Internet Wi-fi connection.
I don’t provide a Netflix password but have a separate profile set up as “Airbnb Guest” with the house avatar. Sometimes the guests use their own account anyways. I only know this because when I was checking in one guest my account was not there but the previous guest’s account.
For Amazon Prime I also do not provide my password but have it set up on the TV with the listing indicating they are not allowed to purchase any paid shows on my account as a hopeful protection. I don’t think they can anyways without my password (and I think I get an instant text notice of purchases to know who to possibly charge). If anyone knows more about this for securing it I’d be happy to learn. I only ended up with it because I’m getting an EMBA so get the half price student prime membership which includes it.
We put in smart TVs instead of paying for dish or cable which is expensive in my area. We got Vizio smart TVs from Walmart and I love them because they are extremely user friendly and have all the requested apps like Netflix, Hulu, amazon etc. As a Netflix subscriber you can have 4 “profiles” for the same price so I have my profile, my kids profile, and a rental profile that I leave logged into the TVs so they can use my Netflix but don’t have my password or login. I like Roku too but I find they have to be reset a lot. I’m not sure if it’s influenced my booking rate or not, but I think people usually subscribe to a couple apps but not others, so the Hulu people might like that they can watch something different for a change.
I think at the bare minimum you should invest in an HDMI cord if the only way to watch TV is to hook up a laptop. I stayed at an Airbnb that advertised fast internet for streaming but when we showed up, he said we would have to plug in our laptops so it would’ve been nice if he had mentioned that in the listing since I don’t just travel with random cords.
That is probably my only annoyance with the smart TVs is having to remember to check that the previous guest logged out of all their apps before new guests come
Hadn’t thought of that! I also have an aversion to people having the Netflix password now for a similar reason. I don’t want to have to change it after every guest so they don’t use it after their stay.
We don’t get Hulu in Canada. Well, we do but it’s not nearly as good as the US version. I personally stream tv from online sites or watch Netflix. And I am not tech savvy at all. We do have an HDMI cord for laptop hookup but it seems like many people don’t know how to use one of these. We will get texts or calls late at night when they arrive back to come hook it up for them!
I also include an HDMI cable on the TVs. The one in the private room in my house and the largest living room one in the separate house I actually have 2 because they are by the desk so some people like to have one set up for working and one for entertainment. I guess I need to advertise this in my listing! I am always adding things but forget to update it in my listing!
I have a 65" Roku TV in the living room and a 43" TV with external Roku Ultra in the master bedroom.
I pay for both Netflix and Hulu for my family. The accounts allow up to 4 simultaneous streams, so I setup both with an Airbnb guest profile. The Rokus are always logged-in with my password and the guests don’t know the password. The only risk to me is that guests can see and use the family profiles on my account, so if they use the family profiles instead of the guest profile, it will skew the recommendations for the family profiles. If guests want to log out of my account and use their own, they can, but that’s a risk for them since if they forget to log out, the Roku will continue to use their account until somebody logs out or the guest de-authorizes my device. I try to remember to check it every time a guest checks out, but sometimes I forget to check both TVs. Only once had a guest logged-out of my account and logged-in to their own, and that guest remembered to log out of their account before they left, so I had to log in with my password after the guest left.
I also have an extra HDMI cable connected to the 65" TV in the family room just in case a guest wants to use their laptop or if they bring their own game console or something. The extra cable has been used once in 4 months as far as I can tell.
We have a 49" smart tv and log our Hulu & Netflix in. No complaints ever. Did just get a guest suggestion to get a Chromecast. Maybe if I hear that suggestion again.
I have a smart TV and guests frequently use one of the apps instead of the DirecTV which I also provide. Older guests tend to like to just turn the TV on and watch regular broadcast TV. Younger guests use the smart TV. No one has asked me for login info for Netflix so they must have their own.
We have smart TVs with Amazon firesticks and have a Netflix [four] account, (two Airbnb, ours, and my parents…but it seems like everybody else in my family is still using my Netflix as well, lol). I don’t care if they see what I watch, but I do care when they screw up my queue or algorithms by using mine. (mental note to get a separate Netflix, lol).
Have had some guests comment that they appreciated the Netflix, but not many, so would not say it increases bookings, but it does seem “standard” to have a smart television these days. We do not give the password to anyone, so guests who add their own Netflix and Amazon accounts annoy me, because it takes forever to re-input ours with firestick remotes, and my cleaners sometimes send different people who don’t check. (another mental note to self)
So in short, guests may add their own Netflix, even if you have it on the TV. Does not increase bookings, IMO.
If you have a shared-space listing, or even shared WiFi for an entire-place listing, be careful about devices that support “casting”. Many of these devices do not have any security meaning a guest can forcibly cast a video from their mobile device onto a connected device and the device will just start playing it. If it happens to be something inappropriate, whoever is in front of the TV will see it. You can find videos online of people doing this in public places like airports as pranks. You can imagine that some guests would be offended.
See, I am such a neophyte when it comes to technology that I have no idea what casting or dedicated wifi is. And I tend to get a little irritated when guests get bitchy about media options. “You are on holiday! Why are you getting so aggro about television?” I think to myself…
Good info…I only understood about half of your post but you touch upon what worries me…that it will get too confusing with guests logging in using their account or screwing with mine. I don’t want the headache, especially if it doesnt increase bookings.
Luckily, most guests have been very laid back. Our target guests are generally not those who focus on TV. Two guests stand out as making a fuss about it. The most recent one was the most nightmarish guests we have had to date!
Jeez, we have a TV in each apartment that gets all the digital Spanish channels, a DVD player and a selection of DVDs.
That’s it
Exactly.
That said, we’ve had a few folks book for a week and hardly leave the apartment. Beautiful weather, lots to see and do, makes us wonder why they bother
Interesting thread. Maybe I’m doing something wrong but we provide Netflix and Amazon Prime movies on two separate tv’s via a roku stick. One tv is strictly streaming. I leave our Netflix and AP always logged in but password protect anything that is pay per view/ rental. It states in our rental agreement that they are welcome to watch any “free” movies provided. Been doing it this way awhile without issue.
