Promotions tool using outdated 60-day median prices after host-only pricing switch (bug)

[Wendy1393]

Hi community managers,

I’d like to report what appears to be a system bug affecting all hosts who’ve switched from split-fee to host-only pricing (and soon all hosts, with the Dec 1 full rollout).

When creating promotions, Airbnb’s algorithm uses the median price from the past 60 days to calculate discounts. However, that period still includes pre-switch rates from when Airbnb’s fee was separate.

The result: promotion discounts are calculated on outdated, lower prices, leading to significantly underpriced offers (e.g., current rate $165, median basis $125 → promotion displays ~$100).

Multiple support agents and supervisors have told me they confirmed there’s “no way to reset” this cache, but that’s precisely what’s needed. This is not a user error, it’s a platform-level inconsistency caused by Airbnb’s own policy transition.

Because this affects all PMS-connected hosts now, and will impact all hosts after Dec 1, this needs engineering review and correction.

@AirbnbHelp @Catherine-Powell,  could this please be flagged to the pricing/product engineering team for investigation? I’m happy to provide examples, screenshots, and data showing the discrepancy.

Thank you,
Wendy Usrey (Superhost)

[Joan2709]

@Wendy1393 

Yup..thats a big problem. Are you using a dynamic pricing software and a PMS?

[Shelley159]

Hi @Wendy1393 

I understand how something like this can happen with a change in fee structure. If Airbnb's custom promotions were used (on Airbnb itself), one could just temporarily lower the discount percentage to get the same payout.

Is the issue that you have the promotions on external software, so they pull through to all the platforms you're listed on?

[Joan2709]

@Shelley159 

Not sure how this is going to pan out?

When I run promotions I don't look at the price shown in the promotion area as it is an average price, I look at the new price displayed on the calendar after setting the promotion and change the discount from there. No idea how this would work if using a PMS and dynamic pricing software.

The issue will resolve itself after 60days of course, but in the mean time, but I guess one would have to manually adjust the discounts to include the changes in the Host Fee?

[Shelley159]

Yes @Joan2709 I'm also trying to understand whether @Wendy1393 is setting something similar to Airbnb custom promotions on the external software (I also don't know whether that's a thing that can be done 😀)

I agree the price in the custom promotion tool itself isn't helpful. Ever since the quick display "guest total" feature was removed in May, it's been easiest for me to open another tab where I look at the guest total as a guest and adjust the promotion accordingly. So for me - if my 60-day history was wrong because of a fee structure change - I'd just find myself setting a smaller percentage promotional discount.

I'm not sure whether the PMS is causing Wendy to be in a different position though.

[Wendy1393]

Thanks for the reply!  No, I’m using the custom promotions directly in Airbnb.  I understand I can adjust it, but part of the point to using it is the benefits at higher discounts (like being in emails at 20%).  Further, it’s too far off from the new rate so it’s not even possible to lower the discount enough to work.  It’s because they use the 60 day median to set that price so it’s basing the discount off the rate pre-policy change price.  

[Wendy1393]

Here is a screenshot that shows what I’m describing (click on the pic to see the entire thing).  Old price  was $124-$129/night, new price is $164-$169.  But the discount is coming off the $124-$129 so it’s setting prices much  too low.  Even a 1% discount doesn’t solve it (and you lose the perks associated with the discount at that low of a price so there’s no point anyway) 

 

[Joan2709]

@Wendy1393 

Screen shot is from November 2024 - not November 2025?