Pet Fee

[R-C--Building-Inspections-0]

I'm fairly new to Airbnb. I do allow pets at my STR and have set a pet fee. My issue is that when guests request a booking and tell me that they have a pet, the pet fee is not showing on the booking request/reservation. How do I know if it is being added. I have heard that it is added as part of the booking fee, but I don't see the increase in the nightly rate if that is the case. Please help me figure this out.

Thanks in Advance.

[Deb216]

@R-C--Building-Inspections-0 

I believe you need to communicate all details with your Guest via Airbnb message. Do not text or call...keep everything on the Airbnb platform in case you need to refer to the agreement later. 

State exactly how many pets you allow.

Have the Guest AGREE in writing to go to the RESOLUTION CENTER after you send them a Request For Payment. 

Ideally the Guest will receive your Request, and hopefully pay it (not guaranteed according to many hosts, and not backed up by air bnb support either).  Good luck. 

I recommend entering the words "Pet Fee" in the search community box.

[Debbie1192]

You can enter the pet fee separately. Go to “Pricing” and scroll down to “Additional Charges” and add your pet fee (this is also the area where you already entered your cleaning fee). The pet fee will be an overall fee, not a per night fee. You should then see the pet fee listed separately, along with our cleaning fee, when you receive a reservation request and the projected income. Hope this is helpful!

[Mike518]

@Debbie1192, This is a good clarifying comment! Thanks. 

Cheers, 

Michael

[Pete-And-Courtney0]

I had some one add their pet in a reservation change. We charge $50 and only received $41. 

I thought it was added like a cleaning fee. But this is the response I got from Airbnb. I think they are spreading it across nights so they can make commission off it. 

—- .

As mentioned in my initial message, the pet fee $50 was distributed to your nightly price. I know that you are seeing the pet fee added after the Host fee, this is Airbnb way to show transparency of the price breakdown however, the system still automatically adding this to your nightly price.

Please see the calculation below. This is how the system distributed the pet fee $50 to your nightly price. Kindly check the comparison as well.

Original:

A$258.90 X 3 Nights = A$776.70
Cleaning fee = A$130
Service fee + VAT = (A$149.61)

Total payout: A$757.09

After alteration:

A$275.57 X 3 Nights = A$826.70
Cleaning fee = A$130
Service fee +VAT = (A$157.86)

Total payout: A$798.84

A$258.90 (original nightly price) - A$275.57 (nightly price after alteration) = A$16.67

A$16.67 (difference in nightly price) X 3 Nights = A$50 (pet fee the guest will pay that was distributed/added to your nightly price)

Airbnb service fees:

[Alex1485]

@R-C--Building-Inspections-0 If the pet fee is not showing up as a line item on the reservation and/or the nightly rate has not increased, that would indicate:

1.  the guest did select “pet” in their booking,

2. Technical error on airbnb site, when you set up the pet fee up-charge  …:)! 

Have you reached out to the guest, and asked graciously if they added pet?  they may not know there is an added fee, or do not know how to select, we find many do not know how to use the site. 

When you set your pet the cost, make sure you set it per pet… 1 dog takes less time than cleaning after 3 :)!

[Joan2709 · Accepted solution]

Hi @R-C--Building-Inspections-0 

Airbnb used to show the Pet Fee as a separate item on the reservation detail. They have since changed that and now the Pet Fee is added to the price per night and spread out over the days of the booking. IMHO, I think that is not helpful for guests or Hosts and guests think they are being charged a higher nightly rate than advertised and Hosts can't readily discern if the Pet Fee was included in the reservation. I believe this is as a result of all the negative press about "Airbnb Fees" so they are adding it to the nightly rate instead of showing it as an addl fee on the reservation. If you had a $100 pet fee/stay and the guest booked 4 nights, the price per night should increase by $25/night x4nights (assuming you have added a Pet Fee to your listing):

Pet Fees

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/3171#section-heading-1-0

"...Guests love traveling with their pets—they’re part of the family. To make it even easier for Hosts to welcome pets, you can now add a pet fee to your pricing. If you choose to charge a pet fee, it’ll be spread out equally over the course of the stay and shown both as part of the nightly rate, and in the total price at checkout..."

[Joelle43]

Hello @Joan2709 

So grateful to you for this explanation Joan about the change in the pet fee parameter as I hadn't realised that there had been a change.  I totally agree that the fact that it is incorporated into the nightly fee is confusing for both host and guest and feel that it would be more transparent for all parties if the pet fee showed up separately - in the same way that the cleaning fee does or the taxes.  

Maybe the cleaning fee will go the same way?!

[Joan2709]

Hi @Joelle43 

I have been hearing that Airbnb is going to require Hosts to incorporate the cleaning fee in the nightly rate and thus spread the cost out over the length of stay (just like with Pet Fees). Some Hosts are already doing that by using the "Managment Fee" instead of a separate cleaning fee. I believe the extra guests fees are now being treated the same as the Pet Fee. They used to be a separate item in the reservation detail and now I believe they are spread out over the nights of the reservation. We shall see? 😉

[Joelle43]

@Joan2709 Oh boy more changes afoot then😂 thanks for the heads up but having said this, are Management fees refunded when guests cancel prior to check-in?  

So if cleaning fees are incorporated into the nightly rate, I hope that guests get that refunded if they have to cancel?

[Joan2709]

@Joelle43 

I never even thought about that! Thanks for bringing that up. The hosts I have been working with have not gone the Management Fee route (yet). You bring up a very good point about the cleaning fee and the management fee if incorporated into the price per night and a guest cancels before arriving? 🤔

The guest should get both those fees back if they cancel before arriving I would think? Guests have always received the cleaning fee back if cancelling before arriving, but the whole management fee thing is new, so not sure? The management fee was not really designed for what some Hosts are using it for?

More questions than answers right now for sure.

[Rebecca]

Hey there @R-C--Building-Inspections-0 👋

How did you get on with adding the pet fee? Did any of the answers below support you in making a decision? If so, it would be great if you could mark it as a 'best answer'. It's a huge thanks to the Hosts that supported you, but it also helps people who have the same question! 

Looking forward to hearing from you, 

Rebecca 👋