2024 Winter Release Q&A with Airbnb’s Christy Schrader

[Christy-Schrader]

Hi host community, 

My name is Christy Schrader, and I’m the Director of Community Engagement at Airbnb. I’m excited to welcome you to the 2024 Winter Release Q&A.

Airbnb announced upgrades today to help you host. It’ll be easier to find a co-host, earn money as a co-host, get valuable insights into your earnings, and communicate more efficiently with guests. We also announced a more personalized app for guests that includes new search features.

We look forward to hearing your feedback on the latest upgrades. Please share your questions in this thread by October 22. I’ll share answers to the top questions in a couple weeks.

Thank you for being such an important part of the Airbnb community.

Warmly,

Christy

👉 Q&A Guidelines:

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• Remain respectful in your interactions with other hosts and the Airbnb team. Let's ensure our communications remain meaningful and constructive. 
• Keep your questions focused on the 2024 Winter Release and provide relevant feedback on the topic.
• Use the comment section to ask questions related to the release and the like button to upvote a question that you would like to see addressed.
• Be as clear as possible, describe what you want to know and why you think it’s relevant for our Host Community. 
• All questions will be reviewed. We’ll prioritize the most relevant and popular questions..
• Do not use this thread to escalate specific matters affecting your account. Please start a new thread if you need help with something specific to you.
• We reserve the right to remove replies that do not follow the above guidelines.
• We will do our best to ensure that critical concerns about the latest release are addressed.

 🇫🇷 Lisez ce message en français:

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Chers hôtes, 

Je suis Christy Schrader, directrice de l'engagement de la communauté d'Airbnb. J'ai hâte de vous accueillir pour notre séance de questions-réponses sur l'édition hiver 2024 Airbnb.

Aujourd'hui, Airbnb a annoncé des nouveautés qui vont simplifier vos activités. Trouver des co-hôtes, gagner de l'argent en tant que co-hôte, obtenir de précieuses informations sur vos revenus, ou encore communiquer plus efficacement avec les voyageurs... Tout cela va devenir bien plus facile. Nous avons également annoncé une application plus personnalisée pour les voyageurs, qui comprend de nouvelles fonctionnalités de recherche.

Nous attendons avec impatience vos commentaires sur ces dernières nouveautés. N'hésitez pas à nous faire part de vos questions dans ce fil de discussion avant le 22 octobre. J'apporterai des réponses dans quelques semaines aux questions qui seront revenues le plus souvent.

Merci de jouer un rôle aussi important au sein de la communauté Airbnb.

Cordialement,

Christy

👉 Veillez à suivre les consignes de la séance de questions-réponses ci-dessous :

• Faites preuve de respect lors de vos interactions avec d'autres hôtes et l'équipe Airbnb. Les échanges doivent rester pertinents et constructifs. 
• Vos questions doivent concerner les nouveautés de l'édition hiver 2024 Airbnb et contenir des remarques pertinentes à leur sujet.
• Utilisez la section des commentaires pour poser des questions liées à la nouvelle édition et le bouton J'aime si vous voulez voter pour une question que vous souhaitez voir abordée.
• Faites preuve de clarté, précisez ce que vous souhaitez savoir et en quoi votre question intéresse la communauté d'hôtes. 
• Toutes les questions seront examinées. Nous donnerons la priorité aux questions les plus pertinentes et les plus populaires.
• N'utilisez pas ce fil de discussion pour signaler des problèmes spécifiques affectant votre compte. Commencez un nouveau fil de discussion si vous avez besoin d'aide sur un sujet qui vous est propre.
• Nous nous réservons le droit de supprimer les questions et commentaires qui ne respectent pas les consignes ci-dessus.
• Nous ferons tout notre possible pour répondre aux préoccupations majeures concernant la dernière version. 

 🇮🇹 Leggi questa discussione in italiano:

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Un saluto a tutta la community di host! 

Mi chiamo Christy Schrader, lavoro come Director of Community Engagement per Airbnb. Sono felice di darvi il benvenuto alla sessione di domande e risposte sulla 2024 Winter Release.

Airbnb oggi ha annunciato delle novità che vi aiuteranno nell'attività di host. Ora vi risulterà più facile trovare un co-host, guadagnare svolgendo tale ruolo, ottenere informazioni preziose sui vostri guadagni e comunicare in modo più efficiente con gli ospiti. Abbiamo anche annunciato un'app più personalizzata per gli ospiti che include nuove funzionalità di ricerca.

Non vediamo l'ora di ricevere il vostro feedback sugli ultimi aggiornamenti. Vi invitiamo a porre le vostre domande in questa conversazione entro il 22 ottobre. Risponderò a quelle più comuni entro un paio di settimane.

Grazie di essere parte della nostra community. Siete il nostro fiore all'occhiello!

A presto,

Christy

👉 Assicuratevi di rispettare le linee guida sulla sessione di domande e risposte qui di seguito:

• Adottate un comportamento rispettoso nelle interazioni con altri host e con il team di Airbnb. Impegniamoci affinché le nostre comunicazioni rimangano importanti e costruttive. 
• Ponete solo domande relative alla 2024 Winter Release e fornite feedback pertinenti all'argomento.
• Per farlo, usate la sezione dei commenti; se è già stata pubblicata una domanda di vostro interesse, comunicatecelo assegnandole un Mi piace.
• Siate chiari il più possibile, descrivete cosa volete sapere e perché ritenete che sia rilevante per la community di host. 
• Il nostro team esaminerà tutte le domande e darà priorità a quelle più pertinenti e popolari.
• Non utilizzate questa conversazione per segnalare questioni che riguardano espressamente i vostri account. Iniziate una nuova conversazione se avete bisogno di aiuto per qualcosa di specifico per voi.
• Ci riserviamo il diritto di rimuovere le risposte che non rispetteranno le linee guida di cui sopra.
• Faremo del nostro meglio per assicurarci di rispondere a tutti i dubbi più importanti sull'ultima release. 

🇪🇸 🇲🇽 🇦🇷  🇨🇴 🇨🇱 🇵🇪 🇨🇺 Lee este hilo en Español:

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Hola, comunidad de anfitriones: 

Me llamo Christy Schrader y soy la directora de Community Engagement en Airbnb. Hemos organizado una ronda de preguntas y respuestas sobre el lanzamiento de invierno del 2024 y me encantaría que participaras.

Airbnb ha anunciado hoy algunas novedades para ayudarte a hospedar. Ahora, te resultará aún más sencillo ganar dinero como coanfitrión, encontrar uno, consultar información importante sobre tus ingresos y comunicarte de manera más eficiente con los huéspedes. También hemos presentado opciones más personalizadas para los huéspedes en la aplicación que incluyen nuevas funciones de búsqueda.

Nos encantaría saber lo que piensas sobre estos cambios. Puedes dejarnos las dudas que te surjan en este hilo antes del 22 de octubre. En dos semanas, responderé a las principales preguntas.

Gracias por ser una pieza esencial de la comunidad de Airbnb.

Un saludo,

Christy

👉Ten en cuenta estas pautas cuando vayas a formular tus preguntas: 

• Trata con respeto al resto de anfitriones y al equipo de Airbnb. Utiliza un tono constructivo y habla sobre temas que sean relevantes. 
• Céntrate en plantear las dudas que tengas sobre el lanzamiento de invierno del 2024 y en dar tu opinión al respecto.
• Puedes utilizar la sección de comentarios para preguntar todo lo que quieras sobre las mejoras que hemos presentado y el botón Me gusta para votar las dudas que quieres que resolvamos.
• Procura que tus comentarios sean claros, describe lo que quieres saber y explica por qué crees que es importante para nuestra comunidad de anfitriones. 
• Revisaremos todas las preguntas y daremos prioridad a las más relevantes y populares.
• No utilices este hilo para hablar de problemas relacionados con tu cuenta. Empieza uno nuevo si necesitas ayuda con alguna cuestión que solo te afecte a ti.
• Nos reservamos el derecho de eliminar los comentarios que no se ajusten a estas pautas.
• Haremos todo lo posible por resolver las dudas más importantes sobre el último lanzamiento.

🇧🇷 🇵🇹 Leia este tópico Portuguese: 

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Olá, comunidade de anfitriões, 

Meu nome é Christy Schrader e sou diretora de Engajamento da Comunidade no Airbnb. Estou muito feliz em receber você na sessão de perguntas e respostas sobre a edição de outubro de 2024.

Hoje, o Airbnb anunciou várias novidades para ajudar você a receber hóspedes. Será mais fácil encontrar um coanfitrião, ganhar dinheiro como coanfitrião, obter informações valiosas sobre seus ganhos e se comunicar de forma mais eficiente com os hóspedes. Também anunciamos um aplicativo mais personalizado para os hóspedes, que inclui novos recursos de busca.

Aguardamos seu feedback sobre as atualizações mais recentes. Compartilhe suas dúvidas nesta conversa até 22 de outubro. Compartilharei as respostas para as principais perguntas em algumas semanas.

Agradecemos a vocês por serem uma parte tão importante da comunidade do Airbnb.

Cordialmente,

Christy

👉 Siga estas orientações ao elaborar perguntas:

• Mantenha o respeito nas suas interações com outros anfitriões e com a equipe do Airbnb. Use um tom construtivo e aborde temas relevantes. 
• Concentre-se nas novidades da edição de outubro de 2024 e forneça feedback relevante sobre o assunto.
• Use a seção de comentários para fazer perguntas relacionadas à Edição de maio e o botão de curtir para votar nas perguntas que você quer que respondamos.
• Faça suas perguntas com clareza: descreva o que você quer saber e por que acha que a informação é relevante para a comunidade de anfitriões. 
• Analisaremos todas as perguntas e priorizaremos as mais relevantes e populares.
• Não use esta conversa para encaminhar assuntos específicos que afetam sua conta. Inicie um novo tópico se você precisar de ajuda com algo específico para você.
• Nós nos reservamos o direito de remover conteúdo que não siga essas diretrizes.
• Faremos o possível para esclarecer as dúvidas mais importantes sobre a versão mais recente.

🇩🇪 Lies diesen Beitrag auf Deutsch: 

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Hallo liebe Gastgeberinnen und Gastgeber, 

mein Name ist Christy Schrader. Ich bin Director of Community Engagement bei Airbnb. Ich freue mich sehr, euch angesichts des Winter-Updates 2024 Frage und Antwort stehen zu dürfen.

Airbnb hat einige Neuerungen angekündigt, die euch beim Gastgeben zusätzlich unterstützen sollen. Ab sofort ist es einfacher, Co‑Gastgeber:innen zu finden, euch selbst als Co‑Gastgeber:innen etwas dazuzuverdienen, wertvolle Einblicke in eure Einkünfte zu erhalten und effizienter mit euren Gästen zu kommunizieren. Außerdem haben wir die App für Gäste noch weiter personalisiert und neue Suchfunktionen eingeführt.

Wir freuen uns schon jetzt auf euer Feedback zu den neuesten Upgrades. Bitte teilt eure Fragen bis zum 22. Oktober in diesem Nachrichten-Thread. Ich werde in ein paar Wochen Antworten auf die wichtigsten Fragen geben.

Danke, dass ihr die Airbnb-Community zu dem macht, was sie ist.

Herzliche Grüße

eure Christy

👉 Bitte beachtet die folgenden Regeln für die Fragerunde:

• Geht respektvoll mit anderen Gastgeber:innen und dem Airbnb-Team um. Bitte achtet darauf, dass die Kommunikation themenbezogen und konstruktiv bleibt. 
• Konzentriert euch bei euren Fragen und eurem Feedback auf das Winter-Update 2024.
• Ihr könnt eure Fragen zum Update im Kommentarbereich stellen und über den „Gefällt mir“-Button eure Stimme für eine Frage abgeben, zu der ihr euch eine Antwort wünscht.
• Formuliert euer Anliegen so klar wie möglich, beschreibt genau, was ihr wissen möchtet und warum ihr glaubt, dass eure Frage für unsere Gastgeber:innen-Community relevant ist. 
• Wir prüfen alle Fragen. Wir werden die relevantesten und beliebtesten Fragen priorisieren.
• Bitte verwendet diesen Nachrichtenverlauf nicht, um Angelegenheiten anzusprechen, die sich auf euer Airbnb-Konto beziehen. Bitte erstellt einen neuen Nachrichtenverlauf, wenn ihr in einer bestimmten Angelegenheit Hilfe benötigt. 
• Wir behalten uns das Recht vor, Antworten zu entfernen, die gegen die oben angegebenen Richtlinien verstoßen.
• Wir werden uns nach Kräften bemühen, auch kritische Anmerkungen zum Update zu berücksichtigen.

🇳🇱  Lees dit artikel in het Nederlands:

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Hoi allemaal, 

Mijn naam is Christy Schrader en ik ben de Director of Community Engagement bij Airbnb. Welkom bij de Q&A voor Airbnb 2024: nieuw deze winter.

Airbnb heeft vandaag verbeteringen aangekondigd speciaal voor hosts. Zo wordt het makkelijker om een co-host te vinden, geld te verdienen als co-host, inzicht te krijgen in je inkomsten en efficiënter te communiceren met gasten. Daarnaast hebben we een meer gepersonaliseerde app voor gasten aangekondigd met nieuwe zoekfuncties.

We zijn benieuwd wat je van de verbeteringen vindt. Heb je vragen, stel ze dan vóór 22 oktober onder dit bericht. Over een paar weken kom ik bij jullie terug met antwoorden op de belangrijkste vragen.

Bedankt voor je bijdrage aan de Airbnb-community. 

Hartelijke groet, 

Christy

 👉 Volg de onderstaande richtlijnen voor Q&A's:

• Houd het netjes wanneer je contact hebt met andere hosts en het Airbnb-team. Het is wel zo prettig als alle communicatie zinvol en opbouwend is. 
• Stel alleen vragen over Airbnb 2024: nieuw deze winter en geef relevante feedback over dit onderwerp.
• In het opmerkingengedeelte kun je al je vragen kwijt en met de vind-ik-leuk-knop stem je op de vragen die je graag beantwoord wilt zien.
• Formuleer je vraag zo duidelijk mogelijk. Verwoord wat je precies wilt weten en ook waarom je vraag volgens jou relevant is voor onze community van hosts. 
• We lezen alle vragen. We geven prioriteit aan de meest relevante en populaire vragen.
• Gebruik dit draadje niet voor vragen die specifiek over jouw account gaan. Daarvoor kun je een nieuw draadje openen.
• Wij behouden ons het recht voor om reacties te verwijderen die niet aan de bovenstaande richtlijnen voldoen.
• We gaan ons best doen om op al jullie kritische kanttekeningen over de nieuwe verbeteringen te reageren.

[Francesco602]

This could have been said in one sentence :).
I’m not entirely sure whether Co-Hosts should get the Superhost status or not. In many situations, co-hosts are not the property owners, meaning they still hold lower responsibilities compared to main hosts.

[Anton7298]

Hi,

improving features for co host is something I have been hoping to see more in airbnb because in most cases, co-host do most of the heavy lifting.

since this feature of co-host network is not yet available worldwide, Can you at least add a feature where co-host worldwide can start getting reviews from guests and hosts so that when the time comes to open co-host network in other countries, strong and deserving co-host will already have strong profile to market themselves and all their hard work will not go to waste. This way, there is also strong and clear separation for experienced co-host and new co-host.

perhaps deserving co-host co host should have the ability to become super co host.

In my case, my co-host is a lot more deserving to wear the badge of a super co host. If I can transfer my badge to my co host, I will. 😊

Apology if this post sounds more like a feature request than question. 🫣

Cheers!

-antz-

[Annie1928]

Hi Christy, I just reviewed the new releases and I have two questions:

1. I am not seeing the option to list more than one location for offering Co-host services. I have properties in multiple locations and would like to offer services to hosts in those areas, but I am able to list only one location. As it turns out, the location I listed is not accepting any more co-hosts. How can I change the location to see if any of the other locations are available? I don't see an option to edit that. 

2. What is the reasoning behind offering the option to alter and unsend messages for 24h? Based on feedback I have seen in multiple STR groups, guest extorsion for refunds has become a widespread issue. I am fortunate that I have never experienced this, but I know people who have. Until now, hosts have been able to prove when that happens exactly because messages are not editable. As a host, I think this compromises the integrity of the conversation. Neither host nor a guest should be able to change or unsend messages. I literally cannot think of any circumstance when that would be warranted, except when one of the two parties doesn't want on record that they have abused, threatened or in any way intended harm to the other. Please, advise why this change is being implemented. 

Thank you!

Annie

[Tammy557]

HI Christy-  I have a question about the co-host release and the algorithms for this.  I understand it matches the one with the most experience however it doesn't seem to consider the most local co-host to that person or doesn't list that anyway.  My question I guess is that why wouldn't it?

[Francesco602]

Hello @Christy-Schrader, and thank you for opening this thread aimed at collecting feedback on the Winter Release.

I hope my feedback doesn’t come across as too harsh or overly critical, but as a designer and a long-term host on Airbnb, I believe there are a few issues with the Co-Host Network that Airbnb is aiming to build. I fully understand that Airbnb wants to maximize control over the overall guests' satisfaction by utilizing metrics and criteria aimed at delivering an 'almost perfect guest experience'. However, this will always remain an unattainable goal as long as Airbnb stays a community-based platform, where hosts bear direct responsibility for what guests experience during their stay. Airbnb may excel at handling everything peripheral to 'providing the service' (support, payment, transparency, app UI, and so on...), but it will never have complete control over what a guest actually experiences once they are in our homes.

I believe it’s important to highlight this because the marketing for the new Co-Host Network seems to mislead both inexperienced hosts and guests. It presents co-hosts as if they have 'superpowers' in managing almost every aspect of hosting, despite the fact that, from my understanding, co-hosts can 'claim' what they’re capable of - most of which seems to be 'self-assessed.'

Let me break down a few points from the main landing page:

1. Create your listing.
This phrase is somewhat confusing, and perhaps I’ve misunderstood. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to say 'tailor' or 'craft' your listing? As far as I understand, you already need a listing to hire a co-host - right!?
However, what guarantees me that a potential co-host will be good enough to craft the listing the way I want or exceptionally as per Airbnb's standards? We don't have records whether the co-host took part or not in the previously managed listings (I guess).

2. Take listing photos.
Is this really accurate? There’s no evidence that the co-host metrics account for the quality of photos used in previous listings managed by the co-host, unless Airbnb is employing some AI that analyses these images and scores them. Without such a system, this claim feels misleading, as co-hosts are not necessarily experienced photographers.

3. Clean and maintain your place.
Once again, this is something Airbnb has no real track record of monitoring. We don’t know if co-hosts are generally responsible for cleaning and maintenance, as in many cases, cleaning services are outsourced, or the host handles it themselves. For example, I have 4.99/5 when it comes to cleanliness in approximately 400 reviews - however this doesn't imply that my co-host is good at cleaning since he has never cleaned the listing indeed! 

4. Get hosting permits.
This point is particularly unclear. Airbnb lists “Get hosting permits” as something co-hosts can handle, but what does that even mean? Are hosting permits somehow meant to encapsulate all the other tasks described, like managing the listing, cleaning, and setting prices?

The biggest flaw of this program is that Airbnb is attempting to market something that’s inherently difficult to guarantee: performance. We all know that delivering a great experience on Airbnb depends on several factors that cannot be consistently replicated, such as:

1. The variability of guest needs
2. The unique features of each property
3. Location
4. Demand fluctuations
5. External factors beyond anyone’s control
6. And so on...

Relying on past performance as a predictor of future success oversimplifies what goes into good or exceptional hosting, in my opinion. Additionally, the requirements to join the Co-Host Network are essentially the same as those for becoming a Superhost. Over the years, we’ve seen that these metrics, while easy to achieve, are not enough to guarantee a consistently great guest experience. This is why Airbnb experimented with the Plus program (which I was part of, now discontinued) and now uses badges or special callouts to better distinguish between bad, good, average, and exceptional listings.

I’ll try to give a few practical examples based on what I see in my area (Naples, Italy). Here, there are already approximately 15-20 co-hosts available, though not all of them offer to do 'everything,' which is fair. If someone doesn’t want to handle cleaning, it makes sense they wouldn’t make themselves available for that.

However, imagine these scenarios:

Scenario 1) Listing Setup Being Poor.
As a host who has a poorly setup listing, how do I know that? If I setted it up that way, perhaps I do think there's not much more to do. Are these hosts going to value and be able to understand they need to improve their listing? I have the feeling that a correctly setted up listing is valued more by the host already capable of doing so, rather than those unaware. This seems quite paradoxical. Airbnb should perhaps recognize listings in need for improvements and suggest them to hire a co-host. Additionally, even if I decide to go ahead and hire a co-host - how do I select those people? I read, for example:

Co-Host 1) Helped 2 new hosts.

Co-Host 2) Helped 1 new host.

How do I decide between them? Based on their profile picture? Again. There seem to be lacking of a clear metric here to let me correctly choose based on my preferences. What if the co-host is not nice, and I don't want to collaborate with them?

Scenario 2) Cleaning.
We all know differences in cultures and guest needs play a relevant role when it comes to cleaning scores. Leaving that aside, I do think - as previously mentioned - Airbnb should keep track or records of those co-hosts that have been responsible for their cleaning scores or not. 
In my case, I see the following:

Co-Host 1) 4.85/5 rating for cleaning
Co-Host 2) 4.83/rating for cleaning

How do I decide between them? Is 0.02 really making a difference here? What guarantees me that the potential co-host will be able to clean my property?
There are a lot of metrics / missing information that should be accounted in this parameter from the previously managed listings, such as:

- Size of the listing.
- Number of beds / rooms. 

Easier to clean a small flat with one bedroom versus a 4 bedrooms one, right? What if the co-host isn't capable of really helping me out given my unique listing conditions? And the list could go on forever...

Scenario 3) Managing Bookings.
The wording is quite misleading here, as I don’t fully understand what this refers to. If my understanding is correct, the metric Airbnb is trying to highlight brings up the dilemma of quality vs. quantity. It appears that this page showcases how many reservations a co-host has managed while co-hosting. Great! But what does this actually tell me? Unfortunately, not much. It doesn’t show crucial information, such as the number of managed listings, and only provides the number of reservations. It’s easy to have more 'stays from guests' if someone manages 10 listings compared to just 1. Additionally, quantity does not equal quality - and it’s surprising Airbnb isn’t more aware of this. Historically, hosts managing more listings tend to have lower scores. For example, I see:

Co-Host 1) Helped with 3563 stays
Co-Host 2) Helped with 448 stays

I might assume Co-Host 1 is more experienced, but Co-Host 1 has an overall score of 4.76/5, while Co-Host 2 has a score of 4.93/5. Again, quantity is not quality. So, how does this page help me in selecting my Co-Host?

Solution!? Naah. Too Complicated.
If Airbnb truly wanted to ensure consistency, it would need to take responsibility for delivering the on-site service itself, much like hotels do. This would undoubtedly involve higher costs for the platform (requiring employees), and such listings could be branded as 'Premium' to reflect this enhanced level of service.