Building and Improving the Superhost Program

[Airbnb]

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.

[Lara-and-Manpreet0]

@Cherie63 

Even the doctors at Kaiser now have to explain and request the same thing. That’s crazy!!  And inaccurate!! So the ER doc asks me with a worried expression to please mark all 5 stars because anything lower is a fail & reprimand, but for me to give a 5* on, say, waiting to be checked in because I happened to walk in right behind a few ambulances, would not be accurate nor fair to the doctor who genuinely had no control of that situation.... it turned me off to writing reviews at all. And honestly I felt repulsed by these highly educated professionals being lowered to have to “beg” for 5* reviews just so they can do the job in a way that is expected of them. ... This is sometimes how I feel as a host.

[Karen1627]

Hi - first of all, I'm fairly new to hosting, just started at the end of February, and second of all, I don't understand the 'Level 2' or Level 5's etc under each hosts' name.  But - my question @Cherie63  is - not only are YOU ASKING guests to leave reviews, but you're asking them to only leave good 5 star reviews, AND you're reminding them repeatedly to leave that review??  I don't understand why.  I've only been reviewing guests who reviewed me, so that I can read their review of me, and I've been reviewing guests that were first timers that I took a chance on so that they can book easier with other hosts in the future. I have only 60 reviews in 5 months, and they're all 5 stars.  If YOU feel the process is "degrading and embarrassing", which I totally agree it would be, then I'm curious WHY you're pressuring past guests and chasing reviews?

[Cherie63]

@Karen1627 because Airbnb requires us to have so many reviews and because anything less than a 5* will hurt your rating because we have to maintain a 4.8 to keep superhost status and one lousy 2* retaliation review can drop you from a 4.8 to a 4.7 overnight and cost you your superhost badge.  And guests don’t understand the rating system so they don’t know a four star rating can kill us

[Alon1]

@Cherie63 

Many Guests will leave Review without being prompted. So there is no need to stress.

  The 'dire need' is only for those who hanker after the badge. 

   Hosts can well survive and prosper without being SuperHost. (i did for 6 years before receiving SH for first time July 1st. It's also important to note that SH didn't exist when I started hosting.)

Lastly, losing SH does not automatically mean you get bumped down in search results.

• Reviews: Search ranking looks at the number of trips that have been completed, and the reviews and ratings that were left by guests. While good reviews are essential to performing well in search, a small number of negative ratings or missed reviews from guests will not necessarily have a substantial impact on your ranking.
• Price: We find that price is one of the big decision factors that our guests look at when comparing listings. For that reason, it’s important to set a competitive price within your market.
• Superhost: While the Superhost designation doesn’t boost a listing, the factors that earn you Superhost status do.
• New listings: To make sure brand new hosts can get established successfully, we make sure new listings show up well in search rankings.

[Rebecca181]

@Robin4 is absolutely correct. And then there is the issue of retaliatory reviews being allowed to stand in many cases, even when the review was obviously written following a damages claim or some other kind of dispute. These issues could have been fixed months and months ago. If Airbnb wanted to fix them, that is.

[Robin4]

@Rebecca181 

Bec, if we don't bring these things to the attention of Admin, we have no hope of having them addressed.

Like many others I am currently a participant in the Global Development team and am working to try and get some of these issues on the agenda.

I am convinced Airbnb do consider a hosts voice to be worthwhile and hopefully by bringing our grievances into the public arena we can eventually get a fair and equitable deal.

I guess, all I can say is.....watch this space!

Cheers.....Rob 

[Stephanie365]

The problem is, AirBNB rarely listens.  The cubicle dwellers at Corporate have no clue what it's like out here dealing with guests face to face.  They have their "ideal" world platform where guests poop marshmallows and fart rainbows and are convinced their way is the only way.

There used to be a forum called Host Voice where hosts could bring up problems and solutions that allegedly were reviewed all the way to the top because "they cared" and "wanted to hear what we had to say".  Bwahahahaha.  It didn't take long for them to  "temporarily suspend" the forum because they grew tired of being bombarded by the same issues that they don't want to do anything about. That temporary "pause" was implemented 16 months ago and there is no sign of its return. (roll eyes)

[Robin4]

@Stephanie365 

Steph every problem has a starting point.....we all have to start from somewhere. What you are saying is quite correct, the 'cubicle dwellers' as you put it are not there because of their hosting success and expertise, they are there to crunch numbers, write programs, dream up advertising and promotional campaigns.

None of them have to suffer the consequences of what they do.

When I started here in 2016 it was still possible to email Brian Chesky himself, his email was brian.chesky@airbnb.com  I have no idea who would be at the end of that email address now. There is possibly a staff pool that man that address! These guys at the top don't host, they have moved on!

I know Admin get sick of hearing the same old issues, that's human nature! Both you and I get sick of seeing the same old questions coming up here every few weeks, but to the person asking, the fact that the same question has come up before is not their issue, they don't want a generic answer. But changes do come about if we keep beating the same drum. 

What you are saying is we should not bother saying anything because it won't do any good.

I would hope that you are wrong Steph....and as annoying as it might be to some, I am going to keep on trying! You never know we might just get lucky!

@Rebecca181 

Cheers.....Rob

[Stephanie365]

@Robin4 , no actually, what I'm saying is we hosts have been beating so many of the same dead horses for so long, there aren't even bones left to rattle. They've been pulverized into dust.  We keep bringing these issues up and AirBNB keeps ignoring them.  I'm not saying we should stop complaining.  I'm saying AIrBNB needs to actually pay attention.  

While They throw out platitudes claiming to care about what We Hosts go through, when They removed "Host Voice" and refuse to provide any other avenue to communicate to them in their cubicles for over a year now, They made it quite clear to us that They wished the Peanut Gallery would just shut up and leave them alone. They don't want to be bothered with our trivial annoyances.  And they don't care if Hosts get fed up and leave.  Another will come along to take their place until THEY get fed up and leave... and the cycle continues....

~Location ratings - useless - this is a private rating for hosts to see. WE CANNOT CHANGE OUR LOCATIONS SO WHAT IS THE POINT? It's not like we can say, "Gosh, we keep getting 4 stars on location. Let's pick up and move down the street so we can get 5 stars!" 

~Not counting kids against our guest count if we charge for more than X-number of people. Kids require MORE effort by hosts to prepare for. We should be compensated.

~Forcing us to allow fake Emotional Support Animals into our pet free accommodations. If it's not recognized by the ADA we shouldn't be forced to accommodate them. Every dog that has booked with me has been FAKE; this is just a loop hole for guests to exploit so they can bring Fluffy where Fluffy isn't welcome.  Furthermore, in the state of Virginia, it's against the law to impersonate a Service Animal "Any person who knowingly and willfully fits a dog with a harness, collar, vest, or sign, or uses an identification card commonly used by a person with a disability, in order to represent that the dog is a service dog or hearing dog to fraudulently gain public access for such dog pursuant to provisions in § 51.5-44 is guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor." We should be allowed to charge an additional significant cleaning fee for fake service animals.

~Allowing guests to write reviews when they've never set foot in our accommodations after THEY cancel,  which is complete and utter BS. They have no right to review something they haven't seen. Why is this even a thing???  

~Penalizing hosts for every little thing and the guests get off Scot-free. If we have to cancel for a family emergency, we are penalized.  If a guest wants to cancel, they can circumnavigate any potential penalties by crying "Extenuating circumstances" and leave the hosts with nothing for their efforts.

~There should be a dedicated option to charge a Pet Fee for those who allow animals in their accommodations.  The same for those who are dealing with people constantly wanting to check in early or check out late.  There should be a dedicated space where we can charge X-dollars for early check in/late check out.

~Ways to red flag bad guests or prevent them from booking that is as obvious as less than 5* on a host's listing.  We shouldn't have to spend 15 minutes back tracking a guest's behavior to find out they are a nightmare to host. Or hosts should be allowed to cancel any guest with more than one "Less than 5* rating" penalty free. 

~If there is a claim by a Host for damages, or other significant dispute like a host asks guests to leave (through AirBNB support) because they've violated House Rules, the option for a guest to review should be blocked automatically. The discussion boards are riddled with hosts who've had retaliatory reviews that were posted because a guest was pissed they had to pay for damages or were asked to leave because they violated rules.  AirBNB won't remove them so the host is ultimately penalized twice; they had to put up with a crappy guest and their Super Host status just went down the drain through no fault of their own.

The list goes on and on and on....

  

[Cherie63]

@Admin0  please reinstate the HOST FORUM

[Rebecca181]

@Robin4 I do hope that all you say is so. But sad to hear that you have to work to get these known 'hot' issues onto the agenda - issues that are long-standing and have been a primary concern for hosts for years. 

[Janice289]

Hi I have just lost my super host status. I have had all 5 star ratings for past 3 years. And excellent reviews. I had to cancel a guest and I went through the advise of Air B and B as to what to do as I have a funeral to attend in another country and so could not host the guest.

I have also blocked off quiet a few weeks dues to other commitments and so have not the same amount of bookings I had last season. I just got an email from Air B and B to say I have lost my superhost status dues to not meeting criteria . I am disappointed that Air B and B have done this 

[Rebecca181]

@Janice289 You should not have lost your super host status. I would call Airbnb to request that your super host status be restored as you were attending a funeral. If they won't help you, try @airbnbhelp over at twitter and let them know you why you cancelled. They tend to be able to correct wrongs quickly - at least, I hope this is still true. Also, I had to cancel once for similar reasons and got the same email as you - But it was a mistake. And I never did actually lose my super host status. So that may be what happened, but best to check. Good luck!

[Janice289]

thank you Rebecca for that info. Yes I will try your suggestion.

[Stephanie365]

Ok, so....

1. When will AirBNB dispose of the completely useless "Location" rating?  Since the individual ratings are supposed to be private critique for the host so they can improve their offerings, pray tell exactly how a host is supposed to "improve" their location rating? We can't move our locations.  We can't make these people read maps. We cannot do anything to change or improve our "location" so aside from giving guests another opportunity to mark down hosts, it is completely USELESS.

2. When is AirBNB going to remove the huge loop hole that is frequently exploited requiring hosts to accept  Emotional Support Animals? This is just a means for dishonest guests to bring Fluffy to our pet-free spaces. Or, if you're going to require us to accept ESDs, allow us to charge a pet fee. This would not apply to legitimate service animals, but to animals who are clearly pets and don't have any service training.