Airbnb will remove my listing on December 28th. I have been ...
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Airbnb will remove my listing on December 28th. I have been a host for 5 years and it has been a wonderful journey. Sure, som...
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Was just thinking about my pet fee and was wondering what everyone else charges?
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We charge $20 per night per dog, and collect a fully refundable $250 security deposit per dog. Our maximum is 2 dogs. Guests are asked to complete and sign a copy of our Dog Agreement (contract). We have several restrictions - no puppies under 1 year, dogs must be spayed or neutered (less likely to mark, to be aggressive, to roam, often are more calm, etc.), dogs must be well behaved on leash, and owners must agree to keep dogs on leash whenever they are outdoors. We have lots of wild critters here - bear, deer, turkeys, fox, eagles, coyotes, etc., and the leash rule is intended to protect wildlife as well as the dogs and our neighbors. It is amazing how few problems we've had. Vacuums are available to guests at both of our homes and we tell guests if they clean up after the dog/s and there are no damages, we'll refund 100% of the deposit. I don't know how many visiting dogs we've had over the years, but it's a lot. The owners are thrilled to be able to bring them along on vacation, and we have found that dog-owning guests are often better than those without pets. In 5 years we have only withheld money once from the deposit. We have dogs ourselves and allowing them at the rentals is really a win-win.
Sorry this is so long, but I want to add a comment about the new restrictive policy Airbnb has implemented. If you check the 'pets accepted' box, their default is 5 animals (!!! right??) and you're required to enter a per-stay fee. The host has no flexibility to charge per night, instead of per stay.
My workaround is to message guests immediately after booking with a copy of our Dog Agreement. The Agreement contains information about our fees and deposits. I bill through the Resolution Center and, after the stay, I promptly refund the deposits. Not ideal, but there doesn't seem to be any other way to do it.
Hi, how do you charge the fee? I am new. Do you add it to the listing description and get at check in or do you add it to be charged somewhere on air bnb?
$69 for up to 7 nights. Then $10/night thereafter up to $129.
Is this PER pet or altogether?
Just wondering how do hosts charge their pet fee? It's frustrating that the app doesn't allow to charge or alter the cleaning fee based on length of stay. I've seen a few listings that say pet fee is "cash-only payable upon checkout' and I've also seen 'cash only payable upon checkin'. Just curious how those who charge pet fees do it? I don't currently charge but I'm feeling like I should. I recently had someone stay with a St Bernard and it took days to clean the place 😞
Oh my goodness, what a nightmare. I agree that it's frustrating that there isn't a way to charge directly in the app. It's not rocket science; other platforms have definitely been able to figure this one out.
In any event, what I usually do is send them a request for money. I believe you can do this at any time; I'm kind of absent-minded and usually forget about it until I am cleaning after they've left, at which point I just send them a request. Some people have offered to pay through PayPal or Venmo, and others have decided to leave cash. What I'm not clear on is how that works when it comes to pay taxes on the income. I'm still pretty new to this.
One guest so far (out of maybe 30 that have brought pets) has ignored the request for payment altogether. Everyone else has gone ahead and approved the request.
You're right - it's not rocket science. The way Airbnb has set it up is arbitrary and unrealistic. We aren't allowed to charge per dog, per night. They expect us to enter one fee regardless of circumstances. And I about fell off my chair when I saw the default number of dogs is FIVE. If a host checks the "Yes" (I allow dogs) box, but neglects to specify the maximum allowed, the default is five. I was really upset by this. Doesn't anybody think about the host when these changes are made? The properties are ours, after all. VRBO handles it so much better.
I send a request via the Resolution Center. I make it very clear that it must be paid prior to arrival, and if it isn't, the pet will not enter the home. I also withhold the check-in code for the door if it's not paid, but out of 50+ reservations with dogs, I haven't had to do that yet.
I have had to send reminders a few times, which I will do the day before check-in if it hasn't been paid yet.
We love pets but we do charge a 50 euro one time fee, it might increase or stay the same depending on how much extra cleaning it will be (after more experience).
The "logical" reasoning behind this:
- Extra cleaning, we do not want to have a cleaning fee for all guests and we do not want to increase the price for people that do not have pets.
- Being able to bring your furry friends takes a lot of stress off your mind, we never liked to leave our pets.
- Dog/cat hostels, at least where we lived, were 25-35 euros/day.
- We have a big private yard that will be a joy for the animals to use.
With above logic, I think the price is fair, or even in the lower region. In other words, you are getting a major amount of value for a 50 euro fee. The guest that don't have pets get a cheaper price.
it depends how much damage they can do to your rental. But generally an extra security deposit is what we recommend and very clear rules for where the pet isnt allowed to go such as the bed.
Keep in mind that airbnb doesn't cover damage by pets. Not sure how $10-35/dog can pay for any kind of damage. I love pets, used to allow them but don't anymore....I've had a few horrible cases of dogs using the interior as a bathroom, and their claws scuffing up all of the floors in the house, not to mention insane amount of dog hair to clean up everywhere. And these were from 'very well behaved and trained dogs'.
We charge $20 per night per dog, and collect a fully refundable $250 security deposit per dog. Our maximum is 2 dogs. Guests are asked to complete and sign a copy of our Dog Agreement (contract). We have several restrictions - no puppies under 1 year, dogs must be spayed or neutered (less likely to mark, to be aggressive, to roam, often are more calm, etc.), dogs must be well behaved on leash, and owners must agree to keep dogs on leash whenever they are outdoors. We have lots of wild critters here - bear, deer, turkeys, fox, eagles, coyotes, etc., and the leash rule is intended to protect wildlife as well as the dogs and our neighbors. It is amazing how few problems we've had. Vacuums are available to guests at both of our homes and we tell guests if they clean up after the dog/s and there are no damages, we'll refund 100% of the deposit. I don't know how many visiting dogs we've had over the years, but it's a lot. The owners are thrilled to be able to bring them along on vacation, and we have found that dog-owning guests are often better than those without pets. In 5 years we have only withheld money once from the deposit. We have dogs ourselves and allowing them at the rentals is really a win-win.
Sorry this is so long, but I want to add a comment about the new restrictive policy Airbnb has implemented. If you check the 'pets accepted' box, their default is 5 animals (!!! right??) and you're required to enter a per-stay fee. The host has no flexibility to charge per night, instead of per stay.
My workaround is to message guests immediately after booking with a copy of our Dog Agreement. The Agreement contains information about our fees and deposits. I bill through the Resolution Center and, after the stay, I promptly refund the deposits. Not ideal, but there doesn't seem to be any other way to do it.
How do you go about charging for the deposit?
And where in the listing do you have the dog contract, and state the dog rules?
And finally, on the platform I only see the ability to charge a fee "per trip." How are you setting a price per night?
Thank you!
This is an excellent statement! We recently implemented pets into our stays but felt we were missing some key details. The contract and security deposit are great additions - would you mind sharing your template for the contract? As we allow cats as well, I will certainly modify it, however, it would be nice to have a general idea of what to include in the write-up.
Thank you!
This is so helpful thank you! Very clear.
Hi Gerri, we are encountering this issue now, we do not allow pets but would like to make an exception for a potential customer, would you mind sharing your Dog Agreement? I am just curious to know what details you include. Thank you!