I have a suggestion for Airbnb. Currently, they have a very inefficient policy that they pass off onto the traveler.
I have a credit card that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees (like many other avid travelers) - my bank covers these fees for me. Airbnb charges foreign transaction fees to book based on location - in fact, if you are booking and you switch the currency to the local currency of the listing, you will see a 3% lower cost (the foreign transaction fee cost) than if you look at it in another currency. For my last 2 trips I have attempted to pay in the local currency (for example, if I am travelling to France, I will try to pay in Euros), but Airbnb will not let me do this. Instead, they force me to pay in US dollars because I live in the US (even though I want to and have tried to pay in Euros), then they take my US dollars, convert them to Euros themselves, charge me a 3% fee (which my bank would have done for me for free!), and then pay the host in Euros. This is dumb and inefficient - even worse, they pass this inefficiency off on me. Give customers the option to pay in the currency of their choosing.
Hello Jeff,
I'm sorry that you've been back and forth a few times with a few different case managers. Bottom line, if a guest is paying in a currency different from the default currency of the country where the listing or experience are located, Airbnb will charge a 3% conversion fee on your total cost; the conversion fee accounts for Airbnb’s holding costs and foreign currency risks.
Thanks so much and sorry if you're displeased with the fees Airbnb applies to particular reservations,