What fee to charge for pets?

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Pets :thinking:

What is the general rule for charging a fee for pets?

I have a guests who is asking to stay, an extended stay ( 1 month) & asked about pets. I don’t normally accept pets, however for an extended stay, I may consider(?)

I ask, of course, what sort of pet, how many & is it house trained?

Have no idea, how to price this. Also, can one charge a normal pet fee, and in addition charge a security fee on top of that, to be returned to the guest once cleaning is done ? Just a question I pose, as I think this is a good idea for hosts to do, maybe(?)

Any thoughts ?

Thank you-

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I charge $20 per pet per day, and I would not discount it at all for a month long stay.

RR

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If your listing states no pets, and a guest ignored that and asked if they could bring their pet anyway, I would see that as a red flag and not at all a good risk for a month-long booking. What other rules are they going to expect you to bend for them?

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I take pets for my Airbnb which is usually 1 or 2 nights max. A repeat local guest in the military asked if he could book 6 weeks with his dog. The stay was okay but the dog did some damage for which I was paid. It worked out for me but having a security deposit is recommended.

I gave a break on price from my normal daily rate which is currently $10 a day. That’s just for a room not an entire house.

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I agree with @Muddy. You’ve told the guest now that you’re willing to break your own rules.

Once a guest knows this, it could be that they have no respect for your other rules, ones that they should adhere to during their stay.

That could be okay if it was a one- or two-night stay but not for a full month.

You’ve heard of (or experienced maybe) guests who think that because they pay a cleaning fee there’s no need for them to clean. A pet fee can work in the same way. “Well, it doesn’t matter if the dog chews the furniture because I’ve had to pay extra for him”.

I’ve never had any damage or especially excessive cleaning requirements after hosting pets. I don’t have a pet fee.

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But unless the host is API-connected there is no mechanism for a security deposit. Or is there a some security fee mechanism ??

I don’t know of any mechanism by which this Host can do that unless API-connected to a channel manager like OwnerRez.

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Not after the guest has already contacted you. If it wasn’t in your listing when they inquired then you can’t add a pet fee at this point. And you can’t collect a security deposit unless you’re using a channel manager. And even then it would have had to be in your listing already.

Personally, I don’t recommend doing long-term stays on Airbnb because of the lack of security deposit and proper lease.

You can add a pet fee if you want to accept pets. It’s a good idea even if you think you might accept them occasionally as an exception. I accept pets but I don’t charge a pet fee. I just have it included in my price that everyone pays. That way, people who don’t have the common sense to bring a dog with them are effectively paying a fine, lol.

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The mechanism would be telling the guest they had to pay a security deposit and then collecting via the resolution center or directly via a payment app. I wouldn’t recommend Airbnb for an extended stay of 30 days in any case.

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