If you’ve ever been annoyed by a higher total price than you expected for a rental on Airbnb, we have some good news for you. Starting next month, Airbnb will give you the option to see the total price, including all the fees, on every listing. Users have been asking for better price transparency for years, and in December, they’re finally getting it.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky announced the new feature on Twitter on Monday. If you decide to turn on the feature, you will see the total price before taxes in search results, on the map, on the price filter, and on the listing page. You can also see a full price breakdown that includes Airbnb’s service fee, any discounts, and all of the taxes.
While it can be helpful to see the nightly price of a rental, especially if the length of your stay is fluid, not knowing how much you’re actually going to pay in full can be frustrating. That is why this is such a significant upgrade for the service.
In addition to showing users the total price of their stay, Airbnb will also prioritize search results by total price instead of nightly price. Previously, it was possible to game the system by setting a lower nightly price and then tacking on a bunch of fees at the end. Now, all of those fees will factor in when the user sees the search results.
Other changes Chesky announced include new pricing and discount tools for hosts and making checkout tasks more reasonable. Chesky says that guests shouldn’t have to do laundry, strips the beds, or vacuum, but it’s reasonable for hosts to expect their guests to throw away food, turn off the lights, and lock the door before they leave.
Chesky didn’t share a precise date, but all of these changes should make their way to Airbnb at some point before the end of the year.
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