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, Airbnbโ€™s programmes and policies need to grow and adapt as well โ€“ both to ensure the success of people from all over the world, and to show our appreciation for hostsโ€™ hard work and amazing hospitality. Thatโ€™s why weโ€™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 canโ€™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 arenโ€™t consistent worldwide โ€“ 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, weโ€™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, weโ€™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, weโ€™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. Itโ€™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. Weโ€™ll also be updating hosting dashboards at this time to reflect this new criteria.

 

 

Stay tuned 

Weโ€™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, weโ€™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, thereโ€™s a lot of exciting news to come.

674 Replies 674
Felicity40
Level 2
Mazamet, France

Can Airbnb keep hosts' Superhost status running when they close their property for building renovations please?

 

I lost my Superhost status because I made extensive renovations (3 months work) to the main bedroom in our rental cottage.  Our latest guests love it, but I have lost out on the perks of being a Superhost! 

 

I was intending to make further renovations next year, so it looks like I'll be penalized again for my further improvements!

 

Has anyone out there managed to get around this problem? 

 

Many thanks .....

Kira32
Level 10
Canary Islands, Spain

Tired of begging to receive my refund.

 

Months ago I charged a guest because of a missing item in my home.

 

Payment is still pending while guest agreed and confirmed trough resolution center. 

 

Keep calling๐Ÿ˜ง

 

 

 

Kiraโ™ก 

Belinda66
Level 2
Cape Town, South Africa

I also have received several reviews where the guest selected the incorrect rating in a hurry, and you no longer have the option to review your review before publishing so it is very easy for errors to go through.

Also when I have asked guests to please clarify their lower rating, it is apparent that they interpreted the review categories in a completely different way. 

 

Booking.com rates a 9/10 as a pretty good review, and a 10 as exceptional. If 5 is the expectation for Airbnb, what can you possibly give for hosts who do go above and beyond expectations? 

Donโ€™t be confused by Booking.comโ€™s ratings - they are actually only 1,2,3 or 4 - in that you can only rate 2.5, 5, 7.5 or 10. There are no in between ratings. This is equally unfair as a rating of 9/10 looks pretty good - but it is averaged over those 4 categories.

 

Yes, guests do view the Airbnb rating system differently to us and they do not understand how critical the 5* rating is to Superhosts to maintain their position. Quite understandably, if there is a minor negative guests feel that they cannot give 5* (outstanding) whereas they might have given a 4.9 - but they are limited to 4. This is what is unfair.

Ryan558
Level 2
Las Vegas, NV

I love the commitment to the host. I personally am interested in the ability for split payouts or multiple bank accounts. 

 

I have a few listings and I like to track the finances on different accounts. So if we could get the ability to have a bank account per listing OR one bank account for all listings (as it is now) that would be awesome. 

 

Also, I like to put 20% into a savings fund, which again is another account and I think it would be helpful to allow % splits on payouts. 

 

Just a thought !

Moira79
Level 2
Macroom, IE

I had a strange one today. I received an enquiry which I accepted but on the information I gave to the guest she decided (rightly) not to confirm the booking - yet AirBnb took money off her anyway and then told her that the were only refunding 50% as I have strict cancellation policy. Why did they take any money from her in the first place when she hadn't actually made the booking? They only agreed to refund her in full after I messaged them to complain. Has anyone else had that problem? It got sorted but it took 15 minutes of my time going back and forth with the angry guest

@Moira79  Are you sure it was an Inquiry, not a Booking Request? Unless there was some glitch, Pre.approving an Inquiry doesn't cause a guest to be charged- they actually have to go ahead and book after that. You said you "accepted". There isn't any "Accept" botton on an Inquiry. Only on a Booking Request. And yes, if a guest submits a Booking Request and you Accept it, they will be instantly charged.

Interesting point - it was definitely received as an โ€œInquiryโ€ but there was also an Approve/Decline button which I approved. When I checked the correspondence it still stated it as an โ€œInquiryโ€ but looking at it now it says โ€œRequestโ€. Confusing. However, the next message I received was that the guest had not paid, and therefore that my approval was cancelled, yet they told the guest that they had taken money and would only refund based on strict policy. This is peculiar as Airbnb had told me that the guest had NOT paid.

 

There is definitely something amiss with this procedure. I donโ€™t actually think they HAD taken any money from the guest but to the guest it appeared that they had.

@Moira79  That's sounds very odd indeed. The only buttons to click on for an Inquiry are "Pre-approve" and "Decline". The buttons on a Request are "Accept" and Decline".

I can see where a host might assume that something is an Inquiry, if the guest is just asking some questions and not bother to register in their mind or notice that it actually says "Request". Airbnb doesn't make it easy for guests to find the place to send an Inquiry, in fact, it doesn't say Inquiry- it's just a small line at the bottom of our listing description that says "Contact Host". Whereas the "send booking request" is in bold red at the bottom of the booking box with all the charges.

Of course this is intentional. Airbnb wants guests to book as fast and furiosly as possible, not just dither around asking questions to make sure they are clear on what they're looking to book ๐Ÿ™‚

JoseLeonardo0
Level 2
Cagayan de Oro, Philippines

how about those with long term stays?

Marty82
Level 2
Berkeley, CA

I declined a person because we do not allow dogs. She wanted to stay a month and now those days are blocked and I can find NO WAY to communicate with someone from Airbnb. Although I am a long term Superhost I do not have a contact number for someone to help me. Any ideas?

Margaret433
Level 2
Kapaสปa, HI

Airbnb support phone numbers:
 
The best toll-free phone number for calling Airbnb Customer Service is 1-855-424-7262.
 
A local number that works well in the US for is 1-415-800-5959

Hi Margaret433, can you tell me if you ever got any support when you call this numbers. A operator with a sweet voice somewhere in this world will pick up the phone and don,t have a single glue what you are talking about. Than after you explane the problem for 30 minutes the person will write a ticket for the case manager and 2 weeks later you receive a email from the case manger that she is out of the office for 3 days. For 3 weeks I am calling Airbnb regarding a money matter with a guest, I am talking about a nice guest being overcharged by Airbnb for exstanding his stay with us. This happen now 4 times in 2 years to my guests, I am reporting the glitch in the system each time for 2 years and this morning it happen again with a guests just booked yesterday and made a alteration before his arrival. I am also complaining about the review system for the last 2 years. Any person with any basic sense know, when a host file a complain because there is a conflict between guest and host there will be a 1 star review full of lies. There should never be any reviews allowed - BASTA. Every guest has to sign the inspection sheet after the house tour and if the guest find any problems please don,t sign the sheet. We make sure everything is perfect, but I have to read from a guest staying with us for one month with a private bathroom, that the bathroom was not clean. You sign the inspection sheet and the bathroom was clean. How you deal with this one. The guest has the house rules from Airbnb, has the house rules in the room on the desk and given the tour of the house with the house rules. Guests wont hotel service in a private home, but don,t wont to pay for it. I don,t have a problem with INSTANT book, accept when Airbnb is not respecting the rules by allowing new members with no Goverment ID, no reviews and just a phone number use instant book. As a host we are not able to communicate with new members with no reviews and no Goverment ID in order to learn if the guest is safe or a treat to our home and our other guests without being punished in our ratings by Airbnb. We have the legal right to protect our homes and the responsebilety to protect our other guests. This has to change. If your rules say clearly NO DOGS , Airbnb can not block the place. My rules say NO CHILDREN but the guest ask to bring her baby I had to fight but Airbnb was not able to block my room for the month. We all have to stay on top of the daily changes by Airbnb or we are being eaten alive by Airbnb.

Lydia

Liz25
Level 1
Auckland, New Zealand

I totally understand your problems. I have the same.  I have talked to airbnb maybe 50 times with a problem in the past.  It is always being escalated, but nothing happens.  What can we do?

 

Liz25
Level 1
Auckland, New Zealand

I have been a Host since 2013 I have received 100% 5-star reviews and 100's of guests over the years.  I would say 90% of my guests leave views and I have probably canceled a reservation maybe twice.   I have had the odd review that has not been 5 stars but they have occured times when I have been helping out friends making some extra money for them whilst they have been away.  I don't think it is fair to be punished for helping my friends by putting another listing on airbnb under my name.  I won't do that again.

I have probably been a super host 3 or 4 times since  2013.  It does not make sense when I work so hard and get so many 5 star reviews.  I can't see how any proposed changes are going to help.

My main problem now,

is not being able to see a photo of prospective guests when they book.  Some names I don't even know if they are female or male. This happens even if the guest has no reviews.   Please bring back the old rules.  How do I know if I a going to open my door to an ax murderer or not? A photo speaks a 1000 words to me.