Building and Improving the Superhost Program

Airbnb
Official Account

Building and Improving the Superhost Program

Superhost Criteria.jpg

 

As our global host community grows and becomes increasingly diverse, Airbnb’s programmes and policies need to grow and adapt as well – both to ensure the success of people from all over the world, and to show our appreciation for hosts’ hard work and amazing hospitality. That’s why we’re updating the Superhost programme to make it more fair, inclusive, and valuable to hosts everywhere.

 

 

Review rates

Great reviews are essential to earning Superhost status. They also help create a community where trust and transparency is shared between guests and hosts. But, hosts can’t control whether or not their guests choose to leave a review. After examining global data and speaking with Superhosts in a number of countries, we discovered that review rates aren’t consistent worldwide – some travellers always leave reviews, while others rarely do. This discrepancy can put some hosts at a disadvantage when it comes to consideration for Superhost status. In order to make the evaluation process more fair for everyone in our global community, we’ll no longer require that hosts have at least a 50% review rate in order to become Superhosts (or retain their existing status).

 

 

Cancellation policy

As part of our effort to make sure Airbnb programmes are built to meet the needs of all hosts, we’re also updating our cancellation requirement. Previously, we required that Superhosts have zero cancellations, but for hosts with an extremely high volume of bookings across multiple listings, that standard is impractical. To make the programme more fair for high-volume hosts, we’re now allowing one cancellation per 100 trips booked over the past year, which means a cancellation rate of less than 1% across all of your listings. It’s important to note that we still take cancellation as seriously as ever. Over the past five years, the Superhost community has worked hard to earn the trust of their guests and we will continue to reward that trust by recognising the most reliable hosts with Superhost status.

 

Both the changes to our cancellation and review requirements will take effect on the 1 July quarterly Superhost assessment. We’ll also be updating hosting dashboards at this time to reflect this new criteria.

 

 

Stay tuned 

We’re committed to continually improving the Superhost programme so that it works for the entire host community. That includes using clear, fair qualification criteria and making it valuable for every Superhost. From the overall design of the programme to how it rewards the community, we’re looking at different ways to not only make your hosting experience more positive, but also help you be more successful. So, please stay tuned, there’s a lot of exciting news to come.

674 Replies 674
Lynda195
Level 2
Phoenix, AZ

Thank you AirBnB!  I have 3 listings at one property and when I first started with AirBnB I made a mistake and double booked a property.  It only happened once and my reviews are fantastic, 99% are 5 stars across all my listings.  I take pride in having sharp knives, multiple cutting boards, no burned out light bulbs, and professional cleaning (among other things) but was denied superhost status because of one mistake.  I greatly appreciate your effort to continually improve your platform and listen to hosts like me.  Gracias, dank U wel, and thank you. 

Stig3
Level 2
Thailand

hi @Lizzie

great news, long waited , now new power to increase bookings , though , as mention , more have to follow indeed . may i say that the new luxury listing platform looks promosing , tap into a new upcoming market for bigger groups searching luxury , but being a big group staying cheaper....wel done 

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hello @Stig3@Lynda195@Damien84,

 

Welcome to the Community Center!

 

It's wonderful to hear that these changes are going to make a difference to your life as a host. Thanks for sharing your own experiences here, it's always interesting to hear from a range of different hosts and what works and what would help to make it easier for you. 

 

Congratulations on achieving the Superhost badge and thank you for all the effort you put in. 🙂

 

Lizzie


--------------------


Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

Michelle1229
Level 3
Sunbury, Australia

I had a cancellation 1 hour before the guest cancelled. Still both parties can leave reviews on cleaned Airbnbs. Then the guests ask for 75% refund and then a irbnb highlights if I don't refund the request, then Airbnb put in red writing I can be reviewed by Airbnb as not being agreeable to refund. I feel I had a gun to my head, so I earn $15 total. The guest has blocked up my Calendar for the entire day. If I refuse to give back 75% then I take the chance of a bad review. Who wins? Airbnb still get their service fee. Do unfair.

Rohan37
Level 2
Queensland, Australia

Great!  Thanks Airbnb. 

Now to work on the issues with the Airbnb Plus program please. 

Thanks

Di-and-David0
Level 2
Wattle Glen, Australia

Can you look at the problem that your numerical rating system creates for hosts?  If a host received a lower numerical rating, it takes forever for it to be overcome.  This can create two (opposite) problems: (i) that if a host rectifies a problem that may have caused a lower rating it will not have an impact on the rating for a very long time, or, (ii) that a host who starts to not maintain their property and/or service at a high standard can live on their reputation from the past as the rating will not change very much from bad reviews.  The answer is to have "rolling" numerical ratings for a period of time such as 12 or 24 months.  It would be great if this could be considered. 

Alon1
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Di0&David

 (Sorry can't tag).

 

re. The answer is to have "rolling" numerical ratings for a period of time such as 12 or 24 months.  It would be great if this could be considered. 

 

It already exists.. Super Host ratings is Quarterly and covers a 12 months period.

Jonny43
Level 2
Bacolod, Philippines

Nice move Airbnb's team, thank you

Narelle5
Level 3
Queensland, Australia

When will you ever tackle the most pressing problem for all hosts!?! The guests who leave unfounded/unwarranted bad reviews. Why oh why do you keep ignoring this issue AirBnB??? It will come back to haunt you one day, rest assured. 

Bill-and-Darmawan0
Level 1
Williamstown, MA

I guess these steps will make a positive difference for some hosts. Here’s what we would like to see: when a guest is critical of a host because of an aspect of a listing that is CLEARLY described by the host, how about if Airbnb adds a comment acknowledging that fact as part of a response to a negative review?

 

Sibylle33
Level 2
Swakopmund, Namibia

Thank you Airbnb

Giovanni344
Level 2
London, United Kingdom

When will you take into account the 90 days limit in the UK?! I once lost Superhost status because I didn’t have enough bookings in that quarter, yet I could not take anymore as I’d reached the 90 day limit! Unfair!

Camilla125
Level 2
Cape Town, South Africa

I am a Superhost who normally gets 5 Star reviews.  It took only 1 guy who was being really nasty and gave me a 1 Star for everything to bring my score down for more than a year!  It has been such hard work to climb back slowly!! This is RIDICULOUS!!!

I agree.  I'm a superhost who normally gets 5 star reviews.  I've just had the same experience except my guest had a great time and pushed 1 star by mistake (she sent a message to say "I'm sorry, I meant to push 5 stars, I hope it doesn't matter"

same here and its a tough climb back up from one lousy retaliation review