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Cleaning fees now included.
Six weeks after Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said his company would allow users to see the true price of a booking, the company launched the new feature on Wednesday.
Users who want to shop by base nightly rate can still do so. Guests can also choose to see what a stay will cost, including the cleaning fees and the up to 14.2 percent fee Airbnb charges guests on each booking.
Everything except the local taxes charged per booking is now included under the total pricing feature.
“One of the things we’ve been hearing from guests and we heard it loud and clear, is that people would like a little more transparency about what they’re actually paying,” Chesky said during a call with investors last month.
Not only did the company expect to satisfy guests who have been looking for more transparency and fewer surprises during checkout, Chesky said Airbnb expects bookings to go up as part of changes around pricing the company started rolling out with Wednesday’s release.
“If we do all of this, I do believe the prices will get even more competitive,” Chesky said in November. “As prices get more competitive, conversion rate goes up and if conversion rate goes up bookings go up.”
Some onlookers were quick to point out that Airbnb isn’t including every element of a booking, notably taxes that are often displayed as part of airline and hotel bookings.
Chesky has said the company was likely to show the total price except for the taxes, “since prices in the U.S. are typically displayed pre-tax.”
Wednesday’s update was the first of more to come that are aimed in part at driving down the price of bookings, Chesky said.
In 2023, Airbnb plans to give people who host on Airbnb tools to understand the prices their guests are paying. The goal, the company said, is to allow hosts to set competitive prices.
Chesky said earlier that the Airbnb search algorithm would soon give preference to homes that guests have previously said are a good value for the money. Guests soon will also be able to see a host’s list of checkout requirements.
“Guests should not have to do unreasonable checkout tasks such as stripping the beds, doing the laundry, or vacuuming when leaving their Airbnb,” the company said. “But we think it’s reasonable to ask guests to turn off the lights, throw food in the trash, and lock the doors — just like they would when leaving their own home.”
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