Long term pricing

[Tom121]

Hello, all,

For hosts renting 30 or more nights, what is your pricing strategy?

Do you simply set a lower nightly rate on your airbnb calendar, or do you have a higher nightly rate with a deep discount? Thanks in advance.

[Nirvana20]

For longer stays, I usually set a slightly higher nightly rate but then offer a substantial discount for bookings over 30 nights. This way, it feels like a good deal for guests, and I still maintain a reasonable overall rate. I’ve found that offering around a 20-30% discount works well for attracting long-term guests without underpricing. It also helps cover utilities and other expenses that can add up over time. Curious to hear what others do!  **

**[Link removed in line with the - Community Center Guidelines]

[Gisele181]

Bonjour @Tom121 ,

Je loue une chambre AirBnB en appartement partagé, de ce fait, je privilégie les long séjours, cette formule me convient tout à fait et me laisse plus de liberté.

La chambre est louée en tarification intelligente entre un prix moyen et un prix plus élevé, j'accorde une remise de 20%, cela me permets obtenir un taux d'occupation continu.

Je suis intéressée de connaitre ce que font ls autres dans mon cas d'appartements partagés.

---

Good morning,

I rent an AirBnB room in a shared apartment, so I prefer long stays, this option suits me perfectly and gives me more freedom.

The room is rented at a smart rate between an average price and a higher price, I give a 20% discount, this allows me to obtain a continuous occupancy rate.

I am interested to know what others are doing in my case of shared apartments.

[Google translation added by OCM]

[Maggie633]

Hi @Tom121 !

CAUTION !!!!! BE VERY CAREFUL WITH RENTING GREATER THAN 30 DAYS !! Specially in Los Angeles!!!!!
if these guests receive any mail, correspondence or  junk mail to the property it becomes their residence as “tenants”  and in LA tenants  have more rights that landlords. And these people know the system. 

You will not be able to evict them without a nightmare. 

I don’t do greater than 15-20 days. Be cautious no amount of money is worth that headache.

Maggie 🫤

[Joan2709]

@Tom121 

Some good advice already offered by other Hosts. Most Hosts do offer 20-25% discounts for monthly stays. I would not get pressured by a potential guest to go higher than that, as their are scammers who negotiate a steep discount in exchange for a 3 month stay for example. In reality, they have no intention of staying for 3 months. Remember, Hosts are only paid monthly for long term stays. The guest will simply cancel after one month (at a steep discount), or simply fail to pay and Airbnb will cancel the booking. Meanwhile, your calendar has been blocked for 3 months for this guest; sometimes long in advance of check-in. Cancellations for long-term stays are different than your short term policy.

Long term stays can be an option for Hosts. However, I would thoroughly familiarize yourself with the long term stay policies on each platform before offering them. This will help you avoid some common (and costly) mistakes made by other hosts. Some hosts prefer not to offer long term stays, due to these issues.

Long Term Stay – CAUTIONS

Getting Started with Monthly Stays

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2729

Tenant Rights

In most states, if a guest stay is more than 28 days, they are now legally considered a “tenant” and not a guest. If they refuse to leave after their stay, you will have to go through court proceedings to get them evicted.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/805

Cancellations

Cancellations for long term stays are differnt than your short term cancellation policy.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/475

Guest Reservation Alterations

Guests can alter a long-term stay reservation without Host approval in some circumstances.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1361

Payouts

Payouts for long term stays are different than short-term stays.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/285

Price Calculation Errors

Price errors occur more often with long-term stays. This requires the host to verify each one for accuracy (sometimes weekly or other discounts you have set are incorrectly applied to a long term stay).

[Marie8425]

@Tom121 

I do a lot of contract employees so usually minimum stay is 30 bdays, I think my longest was 6 months.

I don't allow a 6 month booking, I usually will do monthly or weekly with extensions submitted and I usually approve.  If the Guest does an extension rather than a new reservation then fees are not  applied again.  This way neither of us in a position were we have committed to 6 months and just not compatible or the company unexpectedly decided to send the employee elsewhere.  I don't guarantee an extension, they aren't guaranteeing thy will submit an extension.

If they were so comfortable that they could commit for 6 months, then most likely they would go the cheaper route and sign a 6 month lease.

[Tom121]

Thanks for all of the great feedback.  As an addendum to the original post, do host listings with a deep discount show up higher in the search results?  

[Joan2709]

@Tom121 

Pricing is one of the factors Airbnb says has a big impact on search results rank, so discounts you apply to your listing (like a monthly discount) do help. Most Hosts offer at least a 20% discount for monthly stays. Beware of scammers and of offering too steep a discount, as some guests have figured out the can ask for a very steep discount, never intending to stay for the full length of the reservation. Sometimes they will make up issues in order to get refunds on the already discounted rate AND cancel early. Meanwhile your calendar may have been blocked for 3 months and then the guest trys to cancel with a refund. Cancellations for monthly stays are very different than the standard cancellation policy on your listing for short term stays. I would spend some time reading up on that. 

How Search Results Work

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/39#section-heading-0

• Pricing. Because price has a large impact on search results, one of the ways Hosts can most directly affect the performance of their listing in search is by adjusting their price or offering discounts. For example, many Hosts offer lower prices or discounts to attract guests to newer listings or during less busy travel seasons.

Also, beware of "stacking" multiple discounts unintentionally. If you have an early bird or last minute discount that applies to the monthly reservation, those can be "stacked" on top of the monthly discount. Supposedly, a weekly discount should not be stacked on top of a monthly discount, but I have seen Hosts report that it has been incorrectly applied to a long term booking.