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
Jill88
Level 2
Pasco, WA

I had a guest that cancelled a 5 day stay because she was unhappy with lots of little things. She asked for a refund. I called Air and told them that this lady was going to start demanding a refund and why I didn't want to refund her. I told them to please make a note on my file/site that I had contacted them and I did not want to refund her and I gave my reasons. The next day I heard from a different case manager who told me my guest wanted a full refund. I responded with, "Look, I called you-all yesterday and warned you that you'd be hearing from this guest and I already gave the reasons why she should not receive a refund...didn't you make a note on my account that you'd already heard from me?"

 

The new case manager apologized, told me that she could see from my history that I had a track record of good reviews and that they would refuse a refund. The next day I received an email from Air offering me a thank you gift for being a great host (I'm no longer a superhost but am starting my 4th year). I got to choose an Airbnb key chain or pins. They are cheap but cute and I appreciated that Air was "trying."

So, all well and good, the diva guest didn't get a refund but, of course, wrote a lengthy and horrible review. I responded with a simple, "Thank you for your suggestions. I contacted Airbnb with your request for a refund and, after reviewing my history as a host and along with my listing, they have denied your request."

I have found that a simple, professional response to an emotional and unkind review is the best way to deal with it...even when Air does not back me up.

 

Michele642
Level 2
Spetses, Greece

Yes I ve had a couple of revenge reviews this summer - totally untrue and Airbnb did nothing in spite of my complaints and the fact that all my other reviews are superb! I will be much more selective in choosing my guests!

Barbara1776
Level 1
Benicia, CA

I lost my superhost status partially as a result of a renter not being able to reach someone about a problem.  I had posted the contact info for my local contact on my listing.  AirBNB took it off without telling me.  Who is at fault here?

Kyle271
Level 2
Waianae, HI

What about location start ratings? We clearly state our place is in a remote rural area, outside the city and people keep leaving less starts due to location, it's the only thing keeping us from getting super host status and certain location of our place is not something we can change, all we can do is let folks know in advance.  How do you overcome that for super host stats?

Alex349
Level 2
Saint-Bonnet-Tronçais, France

Yes, I agree with many of the above comments, why are some people so spiteful with their reviews.

We are in a very country area where natural habits of insects and animals occur for  eg. like hibernating stink bugs ,which when the central heating is on full...they think it summertime  and  sometimes re- appear .I had a particular family that complained  about spiders and cobwebs ( on the outside ) which if you clean one day can be back the next. Bugs appearing,  The place was like a `hothouse`. etc etc.

We live in harmony and understanding ,but it seems that some people have such a clinical existance  ,they have no conception of life in the country. But reviews from those sorts of people are extremely damaging, especially when you are working hard to make a nice environment for guests to enjoy.

Consequently , we have to close for the winter months.  

Ares0
Level 5
London, United Kingdom

These so called improvements to the Superhost Programme are unfortunately still far from fair when it comes to cities across the world where a 90-day booking limit is applicable. As a consequence, hosts in those cities are being discriminated and subjected to unfair competition..

 

Rosa591
Level 2
Altadena, CA

Can the location question be removed or revised? Many people do not look at the map and select a property that is farther than their true destination and then ding hosts on location.  The search result algorithms are also off and show properties that are too far, especially in traffic-congested areas like Los Angeles.   

 

Reviews are supposed to be helpful criticism to the host and informational to future guests.  Saying the location of a home was not to your liking is not helpful.  The host cannot move the property, and future guests may not have the same target destination.

Penny52
Level 2
Horsington, United Kingdom

Vote with your feet.  You can use Airbnb AND multiple other agencies (Homestay, Owners Direct, TUI etc), you can even set up your own Google and Tripadvisor accounts so YOU become the agency.  That way there is less power in one place.  

Shirlene2
Level 1
Prince Edward Island, Canada

My superhost status has been reduced because I don't have a lot of Airbnb bookings, but if you look at my availability, there was very little besides the two cancellations I received.  One was for medical reasons, and one was because they did not read the amenities correctly and changed their minds after seeing I didn't meet their needs.  Although I wasn't penalized for that, I am being penalized for not having a lot of bookings.  Additionally, I was penalized indirectly because the cancellations were so late, I lost other opportunities.  Airbnb is not my only source of bookings, and I was booked almost full.  I do not think Airbnb is giving me enough exposure, reducing my exposure because I do not allow instant bookings.  It' s as much Airbnb's loss as mine if you do that.  Instant bookings are very sketchy.  My property is much too valuable to that that risk.  Airbnb, I understand you might not need me because you're so busy without me, but as always, word travels, and you can count your losses by looking at statistics on reputation.  It takes 20 good reports to cancel a bad one.  

Stephen318
Level 2
Vancouver, WA

Bonus Points for going above and beyond...

 

There have been opportunities to "do the right thing" even though Airbnb policy says we can accept payment -- say for a no show. 

 

There should be a mechanism that tracks such kind actions that serve the guests, above and beyond the policy, and some contribute towards super host status, (perhaps mitigate a bad post for instance...) 

 

The key is to keep the company on the personal (human) level. 

 

Just my 2-cents. 

 

Stephen

Jose-David1
Level 2
Nuevo Cuscatlán, El Salvador

Good help, thank you

Trudy29
Level 2
Vernon, Canada

The challenge I have with the super host review requirements is the location question. Location is subjective. Being close to town, easy access, one guest says great, that's perfect. The next guest says it's too busy or noisy. They know where they are selecting, close to town and on a busy road. The reviews show some noise with the highway and yet, if they are not happy, the rating hurts me for super host. 

 

Although getting feedback on location is important, the way it is being done doesn't seem fair. It is subjective at the end of the day and the guest knows when they book. It would be great if there is another way for you to do this rating.

 

It is the one that has hurt my super host status the most and I get reviews on both sides of the comments. Great location to noisy location. How do I correct this? I am powerless so the way it is rated doesn't make sense. 

@Trudy29  You are under a misconception. The location rating does not affect your Superhost status. The only rating which is counted for Superhost is the Overall rating, which is not an amalgam of the other ratings, but a separate rating on its own.

That is bull**bleep** if someone give you 3 stars in the bad location then it changes your overall rating.

 

Trudy29
Level 2
Vernon, Canada

So are you saying that the location review is not counted in the superhost program?