Check out your Superhosts rewards

[Airbnb]

Earlier this year, Airbnb announced that it was expanding its rewards program for Superhosts. Several new benefits were introduced, including an extra 20% cash bonus for referring new hosts. (Hosts can make up to $600 in referrals, depending on their location.) That’s in addition to the benefits Superhosts have long enjoyed, like priority placement in search results and the Superhost profile badge.

Since then, the Airbnb team has done more research to improve the Superhost experience even more. That’s why they’ve decided to adjust certain rewards to focus on the most impactful benefits. The goal is to expand the rewards program in the next year or so. Stay tuned for announcements on this— hopefully by early 2019.

If you’re a Superhost and want to learn more, log in to your account and visit the Superhost rewards portal.

The Airbnb team would love to hear your thoughts on Superhost rewards. Which benefits do you enjoy most? Which new benefits would you like to see?

We look forward to hearing from you on this one.

Thanks!

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[Erin162]

Superhosts are the lifeblood of Airbnb's business model and they should be better rewarded for opening their homes and treating guests to a good experience. Here are some changes I wish to see from Airbnb: 1) Multiple Superhost status wherein each listing is tracked separately: I am a successful Superhost of three of my own listings. Airbnb and guests rate my properties separately, yet I receive only one set of benefits for being a Superhost (I'd love to get professional photography for all three of my listings, for example). As well, my Superhost status is at risk if I get a bad review at one listing. I feel confident that I can keep up the good work, but sometimes there is an outlier guest, which leads me to... 2) Ability to remove one obvious outlier review or at least let it fade after a year. I received one bad review more than a year ago, and its still affecting my average. 3) A better way to track referrals: Because of my success at hosting, several friends have asked for my help in getting them started with Airbnb, to which I've happily complied. Because I either didn't send a link out first or they didn't choose to use my link, I have not received credit for any of these very profitable listings even though I have proof in email threads of my referral. 

To be clear, I'm a fan of Airbnb and am grateful to be able to run my own successful business on the platform. But I find very little benefit to the Superhost program as its currently set up. 

Thanks for reading!

[Michelle-And-Lance0]

My husband I really enjoy our super host travel reward - especially when it's converted to NZ$ as it means we get a three night holiday as a treat for our hard work. Sure, more rewards would be nice but a little holiday is much appeciated.

I also understand why some super hosts would like to be able to cancel the odd booking but here's the flip side we learnt from one of our guests .... he had three seperate hosts cancel thier bookings on him in peak season so he ended up paying more for accomodation with less options when he had to re-book. He was so dissapointed! Now he will only ever book with a super hosts as he feels 'safe' no one is going to cancel his reservation.

We always try and put ourselves in the shoes of our guests and for this reason alone we work really hard at making our calandar acurate. Once we made a mistake while we were overseas and a booking came in - Mum came to the rescue there as we refused to cancel the booking. We have also stuck with superhosts when travelling ourselves for this very reason - they won't cancel on us. 

[Susan170]

I have a suggesion, not limited to Super hosts.  Could there be a search category for "Alcohol free" sites.  Today there are plenty of people who would enjoy being able to find a site, especially when multiple sites are in one area (like mine) where there is alcohol (or drugs) is not allowed.  My site has attracted quite a few families and folks in recovery from addiction because my sites are alcohol free.  On the other hand many folks who are just unconcerned about being able to drink alcohol also choose to stay at my site. 

As far as being a superhost, I really did enjoy the 100 dollar travel coupon I recieved.  It encourages me to explore other Airbnb's which I have really enjoyed doing.  I would also like to learn more about offering experiences and working together with other airbnb's on offering experiences.  I have a friend with a super cool airbnb about 10 miles from me - and we are both close to the Finger Lakes trail.  We have been imagining folks staying at one of our Airbnb's and then hiking to the other....staing in Lean-To's on the state land along the way.  Thanks!

[Valerie-And-David0]

I read some of the responses here and generally it felt harsh.

i have to say I agree with not liking instant booking but I turn it off.  I want a conversation before I book someone.  BUT Airbnb allows me to turn that off.

i was frustrated with the cancellation policy but it was a rookie mistake on my part and it causes me to not use instant booking.  If I don’t feel good about the person I don’t book them.  Plus our conversation helps me meet their needs when they arrive.  

Another one I read was it would be nice to remove a couple reviews.  I get that because some people are just jerks and don’t get the whole Airbnb experience.  We had one guy that gave us low points for cleanliness because the grill wasn’t clean.  I hadn’t even thought of cleaning the grill.  I did, however, spend six hours cleaning the place top to bottom.  Very frustrating.  I don’t blame Airbnb for this.  I communicate differently with people because of it.  Every bit of feedback I get from our guests causes me to either step up my game or communicate differently.

i consider feedback a gift no matter how painful or frustrating.  This is my business and I’m the one with the power to improve things.  If I don’t know how people are thinking I can’t make changes.

airbnb has allowed me to have a business when I never would have so I’m pretty happy with it.

if I could get a reward...

cash is good.  Travel credit is good.  The actual discount on the nest thermostat is great.  

Maybe there are more things that Airbnb can use their size to get discounts for us like that, like digital door locks, smoke detectors, CO2 detectors, or discounts for consumables like toilet paper or soap, etc. 

thank you for the opportunity to have input 

[Gianni13]

Hello. I just wanted to chime in. You are an enterprise with global reach, hence my expectation is to see a truly global perspective on what would be useful for Superhosts based in developing countries as the reality is very different compared to what would be applicable to hosts based in the US or Switzerland.

Let me provide an example based on what I just saw in your Superhost rewards portal:  we can get up to 30% off Nest home products so we can pre-heat or cool our home from our phone to help make guests feel welcome.  Do you know how common it is to have central heating or AC in developing countries? I grew up in Peru, which is where all my listings are, and I have never been or heard of a residential property with either, not even in the tony districts. We purchase portable heaters in winter and fans in summer so your Nest offer is of no value.

Another example just to finish illustrating my point. Let's say you are thinking about offering a discount on smart locks. Please consider that developing countries tend to have spottier/less reliable internet service and -because of security issues- houses tend not to have just one lock but several ones placed in different directions so they are interlocked in order to prevent doors from being pried open...and sometimes there is even a metal fence right in front of the door. 

Not sure how you segment your hosts and what % of them are in countries similar to mine, but I hope you have a more diverse approach so that we can all enjoy the rewards because they make sense to us.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Regards

[Chris1456]

I just want to be treated fairly, as any host. 

I dont want special treatment that could skew reviews. 

I feel issues when they arise they too often are favoring the guests at the expense of the host. 

I hate that Airbnb asked me to remove a review after I was the victim in order to receive compensation! Good thing I’m not hurting for cash, screw that! Let the guest keep a semi-negative review. 

I dont want want anything special. Just treat me fairly. 

[Anna---Jonathan0]

Thank you for Superhost reward. I intend to enjoy using my $100 credit on travel. 

[Kerstin99]

Like others I don’t feel it means much to be super host ! Kind of silly 

[Kerstin99]

Looked to use credit in San Francisco and find prices way to high. Would rather stay in a hotel 

[Sarah977]

@Gianni13   Good post!  My outside doors are all hand-crafted iron. They don't even have doorknobs that you could put a lock-box on. Wifi service is spotty and not even available at my house unless I turn it on from my phone, which acts as a modem. A lot of fancy homes here do have AC, but normal homes don't, and mine sure doesn't. And I'm not really a traveler, I have a property to manage, a large dog, and a business (aside from renting my guest room) so just picking up for a vacation, even a weekend away, takes a lot of planning, so the $100 travel voucher isn't of use to me. I do go to Canada for a month once a year, but I have friends and family there to stay with.  What everyone can use is money. Wish they'd just send us a $100. Or even $50. Something I can actually use.

[Andreas-and-Anna0]

Cut your fee and let me keep more of my money. Now that's a true and meaningful incentive but..... doubt it would ever happen

[Angela608]

I just used my Superhost discount for a Nest thermostat, thanks ABB! 

More discounts on things for the home would be great!

[Iren3]

I  have just received my $100 reward as a superhost  and I would be very happy to use it for my own travelling. So thank you Airbnb.

I agree with other superhosts that it would be great to be able to remove at least 1-2 reviews per year without going all that lenght to contact Airbnb help section, as there is always that one person that cannot be pleased no matter what you do and there are plenty of non-readers expecting something else, what has never been promissed in description of your listing.

Superhosts should be granted the priviledge, to refuse / cancel  at least one reservation per year without explaning  the reason. Superhost is only a human, no cancellation at all is way too strict. 

[GalanteVasques0]

In the past it was a pleasure to work with Airbnb, not anymore.

In my experience the guests are using more scams and Airbnb always protect the guests.

Another thing is that, for me as a Portuguese, it´s really hard to find someone that speaks Portuguese from Portugal in the line, always putting me talking with Portuguese Brazil or other kind of Portuguese. I don´t know if people realize that it´s a different language even though we understand each other in a unprofessional conversation not in business or professional talking’s. Even more when we must make fast decisions and need help from the support.

[Nanette14]

Air bnb "Response team," is so not responsive. When I have documented damage from a guests, with pictures which I submit for reimbursement so I can keep my home at high standards for the next guest.

I have to call in many, many times and have been told, yes we have have someone call you today from the response team.  This is always the script and then don't receive the call or even an email.

Also, it is REALLY odd that there is no way to directly talk to the response team bc they don't have their own phone number,  and you can't even be transferred to them from Customer Service?!?

The 72 hour avg stated in the Help Center of working with the host to get property damage fixed is NOT TRUE! My first claim took 4 months to be reimbursed.  I have a claim out still for a guest that checked in for 3 nights 9/14/18 and have still not received resolution and I have a damage deposit???

I am very frustrated bc Air bnb advertises the $1 million Host Protection promise to attract more hosts and give them peace of mind if something goes sideways with disrpectful, damage causing guests. But I feel it is false advertinsing and the host had to put in many hours just trying to get their fair reimbursement.