Airbnb just rolled out a series of summer updates focused on making their pricing, hosting, and booking process more transparent and convenient.
The updates follow a record year for the vacation rental company in 2022, the biggest since its launch in 2008. In 2023, Airbnb is preparing up to 300 million guests using the service all over the world.
First up is the ability to see the price of a listing, including all fees, from the moment you start searching.
US and Canadian guests can also now use Klarna to pay in installments over the course of six weeks or monthly.
Furthermore, a booking will also state the check-out process, like certain cleaning tasks, to ensure there are no tasks that the guest may deem unreasonable like vacuuming or doing the laundry.
Airbnb Rooms will also be a new category to make it easier to find cheaper listings with a “Host Passport” that allows the host to share more personal information. Features, like attached private bathrooms or rooms with locks, will also be more clearly stated.
The map has also been improved to better find listings closer to hotspots, like landmarks or metro stations, and will show how long it will take you to walk to these destinations.
A 24/7 support team has also been implemented with the goal of answering 90% of English calls within two minutes or less.
Catherine Powell, Airbnb’s Global Head of Hosting, explained the new features to The Points Guy, stating many of the innovations are centered around “affordability, choice for guests, [and] being able to price competitively for hosts.”
To learn more about Airbnb Rooms, check out the video below:
Featured image from Airbnb, photo credit pumpkinisland
