The Flexible platform has eliminated my monthly stay exclusive listings from Search! Views data reduced to zero.

[Susan990]

Since the launch of this flexible platform with its Anytime Anymonth search system my 2 guesthouse listings, which I only rent monthly since the pandemic hit, have disappeared from the platform and not seen in searches. View data proves this factcrashed to zero.  It took me a whole month of vacancy starting Dec. 18  and continued until  Feb. 1 when a guest input the specific dates she wanted and booked my Parkside Crash Pad. Then the light bulb went off.  I  then tested the flexible functions and discovered that the program totally eliminates both my listings from search discovery  " when searching from a computer".  When i search from my  Apple  Iphone or Ipad  they both appear in search results. 

    I have deduced that the programing for the flex thing is geared to discover holes in calendars which it can fill in with a Weekend or Week or Month of vacant time. Only those properties  are presented- along with the dates it found for the search requested. It shows you those dates. ONLY.

 The difference with the Devices is that they do not show those dates available in holes in calendars.  When I search my devices all I put is my city, click Monthly Stays  and both listings show up !  Devices compress and abbreviate data so my listings are not eliminated because it does pull dates.

    My business exploded when I went monthly after COVID hit and I have never looked back. Last year occupancy 93% going monthly only. I can only imagine a lot of other hosts have done the same thing. 

 Please I beg Airbnb to study the occupancy data of the supper high occupancy listings from 2021, to 2022 now. Not also data of December 2021 when the Flexible was launched.  

    And the very idea of renting an Airbnb for a monthly rental works perfectly for the gig economy worker, the  remote on-line worker, medical travel nurses, etc. So why did they remove the Monthly Filter? It captured that huge market perfectly. Most guests rent for more than one month!

   Now all that is destroyed.  I remember when they took away the Monthly search bubble.  I complained about it then. Was told people can just put in a search for the dates they want .  It does not work that way. When searching for a place to rent monthly they think the word Monthly is showing properties that rent monthly-literally. 

  THIS IS URGENT.  I have reported this entire mess to Airbnb weeks ago. Nothing is happening. How can they not realize they just killed the cash cow that saved thousands of Hosts from going broke by going Monthly all last year.  All because some bone head geek  thinks of filling holes in calendars is a way to make more money???

   Airbnb occupancy rates are at 11% right now according Airbnb Automated.  My occupancy of 93% is probably the same for my fellow Monthly Hosts.prior to  Dec. 2021. 

We need for Airbnb to restore the Monthly Platform  right now.  Not only restore but promote it as a new way for Hosts to succeed and prosper by going monthly .  The world  of travel and housing and work has changed. 

   Airbnb was sitting on its greatest idea because it accommodates the change. It serves the change.  And it solves  COVID issues !

[Susan990]

In Conclusion-- the inclusion to the flexible platform of the words Monthly and Any Month  must be removed immediately! With just that change the public will not be mislead in using the flex platform to search for properties which welcome monthly reservations  when they are being blocked from viewing those very listings which they think they are being shown. The Monthly only like mine are blocked out.

   Even when they destroyed the Monthly Stay filter my occupancy still  soared simply because  of the demand for monthlys and people simply scanned the calendars for availability by hand. My occupancy has been 93%.    So when offered what appears to be a search filter for just what they are searching for they tap that filter believing it is searching for them. 

 This terrible problem could go away in a minute if they just Removed the Monthly search filter from the flexible platform.  Then guests would return to how they discovered the properties they wanted for long-term reservations as before and we can all return to our pre-flex  days.

[Emiel1]

@Susan990 

To check under with conditions your listings show up you can use your direct link to the search system:

https://www.airbnb.com/s/homes?host_id=8599742&map_toggle=true

(first zoom in 1 level to have the "add dates" bar available at top of screen)

When entering matching dates (available and minimal 31 nights), your listings show up.

When using flexible, option monthly, your listings do not show up

Your listings have a minimum stay of 31 nights (it will not fit in a month with 30 days) .Maybe change it to 28 (what Airbnb considers as minimum for long term stays).

[Susan990]

Oh my god. Is that my big mistake? Just fixed it to 28 days. No one has helped me in the Super Host customer services to discover this detail.  The only reason I started posting 31 days instead of 28 is that I did not want my guests to book less than 31 days to avoid being  taxed. ABB does not discontinue taxes until the 31 days- which is not compliant with state law which should be 28 days.

a million thanks to you ! 

[Emiel1]

@Susan990 

I do not pretend to offer a solution, just a suggestion to see if it solves the problem !

The platform has some strange quircks, and we need to work around them.

Example: In former days (but seems resolved) listings with offer stays of 28 nights and longer did not appear in search system when there was not a "monthly discount" set..

I will have a look again at your listings this evening.

[Susan990]

I remember that bit a while back. And I complied by offering the monthly discount. But I think that fell off the platform at some point. But honestly it never occurred to me about the 28 day definition of a month having any connection with the minimum days setting. You just solved that mystery for me today!  Much thanks.

[Emiel1]

@Susan990 

As you can see both listings show up now when i search with option "felxible" for a month in April, May or June. Airbnb Customer Support should visit this community more frequently to learn how the platform works.....

[Debra300]

@Susan990,

I know what you're experiencing, because my listings in Cobb County Georgia are taxed for stays that are 28-30 days, but Airbnb is abiding by your city's Transient Lodging Tax regulation.  The tax is applied to stays that are 30 days and less.

https://www.redmondoregon.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/11966/636262995203100000

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2324/occupancy-tax-collection-and-remittance-by-airbnb-in-oregon  

[Susan990]

@Debra300    @Emiel1 Thank you Debra for your message. Now I know it is not just Oregon! So now what we know is that ABB, for no beneficial reason is collecting taxes illegally up to and until the reservation is 31 days. (31) And  thanks to Emil I discover that the reason my listings were filtered out is because I set them at 31 days minimum stay just to protect my guests from being taxed illegally. ABB has set 28 days as the filter for Monthly searchs.

   Pause to consider the implications of this  information.  So i FIX my error and my listings show up in the Anytime Anymonth search--but what does it produce?--sit down for this-- a random selection  of just one each of a 28 day vacancy on my calendar which overlaps between 2 months- not all in one single month- for each listing. On both there is nothing at all on the calendar-  totaly clear open because I only rent monthly.  But the public thinks that the ABB search just "found" 28 days here and there.

  How does this help increase bookings? How does this help the consumer find a place that hosts long term stays by design and intention to serve the mobile worker, the health care travel nurses, the gig economy worker, the contract construction worker--all needing a place to live and work in this new economy which serves their needs in a special way which conventional rental properties cannot?

   When ABB destroyed the Monthly Stay filter they killed the cash cow that was saving the day for all of us Hosts who pivoted post-COVID to longer term lodging to fill the housing needs of the day.

   And bonus benefit--the argument by some localities that ABB Hosting was costing the community a loss of rental inventory and hurting the community is destroyed!

  To the contrary--only ABB properties are able  add to the housing needs of the community by creating a new kind of longer term rental agreement which can tailor itself to the specific needs of the renter/guest. Politically it means that ABB can undermine the argument by the property management industry that it is not hurting the community needs , rather it is serving the needs in a new way for the new economy of working people--not vacationing people.

ABB MUST RESTORE THE MONTHLY STAY FILTER NOW! THE NEEDS OF AMERICANS FOR THIS TYPE OF HOUSING OPPORTUNITY IS EXPLODING AS THE BUILD BACK BETTER PROJECTS LAUNCH NATION WIDE AND THE REMOTE WORKER COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO BUILD. IF ABB DOES THIS NOW AND PROMOTES IT TO THE HOST COMMUNITY IT WILL SKYROCKET THE OCCUPANCY RATE FROM THE PATHETIC 11% TO WHAT I ACHIEVED LAST YEAR 93%.

  nOTE: WHEN YOU GO MONTHLY ABB LETS YOU RENT THE GAP BETWEEN THE MONTHLYS FOR A SPECIFIED DAILY RATE WHICH YOU SET $$$ SO YOU DO NOTE WATE ANY TIME OR MONEY.  THAT IS HOW I ACHIEVED THE 93% OCCUPANCY RATE IN 2021.  I WORKED WITH THE TOOLS PROVIDED . ALL OF WHICH HAS BEEN DESTROYED POST DEC. 2021.

[Debra300]

@Susan990,

No, that is not what I was saying at all.  Airbnb is correctly collecting lodging taxes on stays at your places that are 30 days and shorter.  When a reservation is 31 days or longer these taxes  not collected.  That's how it works on my listings.  I have seriously considered adding a graphic in the photos that informs guests that they can save several hundreds of dollars if they book for 31 days vs. 28.

[Susan990]

@Debra300 @Emiel1 @Colleen253  My correction ! The 28 day definition of monthly is therefor an ABB guideline with no connection to state law regarding taxing definitions of short term/overnight lodging taxes or state rental law guidelines. No Connection to the real world ! So to be included in the Monthly filter we are forced to put 28 days for no good reason.  OR IS THE REASON TO HIDE FROM THE PUBLIC THE BENEFITS OF GOING MONTHLY THROUGH ABB BY BLURING THE LINE BETWEEN ST AND LT WITH THE TAXES ISSUE ?  Again, ABB has by coding design destroyed the   Monthly Stay market for Hosts to participate in and attain super occupancy rates!  The Hotel and Property Management industry were gifted  Dec. 2021 in every way possible.  Hosts are now blocked from full and equitable participation in the new and growing industry of longer term stays as and also blocked from renting the gaps between monthly rentals as nightly lodging bookings to fill in  calendar thanks to the programing of minimum stay 28 day thing.

  How does ABB think it can grow the business and  valuation when it has destroyed it's market tested proven formula for increasing it's market share in the housing/lodging industry?

[Debra300]

@Susan990,

It is an industry standard to consider 28 days as a monthly rental.  You will find this on Vrbo, Booking, Expedia, etc.  Even Lodgify, the host for my personal site, calculates monthly rates and discounts on stays that are 28 days.  I don't know why this is the standard, maybe because each month has at least 28 days.   It is the governments who set the definition of short-term vs. long-term stays for tax purposes, and they do so without the consideration of the industry standard 28 day month.

I am not following your statement that hosts are blocked from long-term stays.  Hosts are not required to set their minimum stay at 28 days to take advantage of monthly stays.  That length of stay is just the point in which a monthly discount is systematically applied.  A host can set the minimum to 1 day and their listing would still appear in the results for a month-long search.

I don't take shorter stays in my Atlanta spaces, because I have a two day buffer between bookings.  The cost, effort and time for cleaning is about the same as for a longer stay, and s short stay would not cover the expenditures.

[Susan990]

I forgot you respond to your statement 'that length of stay is just the point in which a monthly discount is systematically applied"  Not correct. In pricing settings there is the option to apply discounts  specific to time or other.

  And the " to take advantage of monthly stays" statement is misguided. When the monthly stay filter was created it was created to Serve the Monthly Stay Market in a unique way that only ABB could- which did upset the regular  monthly rental housing market. It created this brilliant alternative to the standard lease agreement which worked perfectly for people who need a place to live for one or 2 o3 or more months specific to their needs . It saves them from having to live in a hotel room for a few months.  A person can go insane in a hotel room.

  ABB Hosts to the rescue!  Airbnb Automated just reported that in cities where there are new construction projects in the works and the companies are scouting out the housing in the area for their workers are resorting to booking hotels- and the hotels are jacking up prices to $300 - $400 a night taking advantage of the housing shortage for their workers who need single person occupancy lodging for the time period of the project.

  If ABB would reinstall that Monthly filter now then lots of Hosts would gear up to serve that market! But that flex platform totally  ruins it by misleading the public into thinking it is searching for monthly stay rentals which it is NOT>

[Debra300]

@Susan990,

Cool.  You do you.

[Susan990]

Dear Host Community, my deepest appreciation for you all in guiding me to the solution to my problem. I somehow knew the answers I needed would come from this place. Know that when I first contacted ABB Support I specifically asked if there was anything wrong with my Settings. And I stated I did monthly exclusively. Not once did anyone offer to look at my settings to determine the source of the problem. They instead referred it up the chain to a higher source to solve the big mystery. They did not even know how to navigate the flexible platform! Go Figure.