Can hosts exchange stays?

[Joyann4]

I thought about a good reward for being into tourism service. Just wondering if airbnb has a bnb exchange? A place where I can go to see your place in the world and you can come to mine.

Airbnb exchange.😍

Has airbnb ever considered this?

Wouldn't this be fantastic!

[Anonymous]

@Joyann4  it's not a functionality on Airbnb, but there have been much smaller platforms such as HouseSwap (or something like that) which tried it. Some friends have had spontaneous luck organizing exchanges on social media through their peer networks. I've done it myself with people I was already acquainted with, though my experience didn't leave me wanting to try it again. 

I don't see Airbnb as a good fit for this arrangement for several reasons. First, it has to take a cut off of everything booked through the site, which makes it impossible to do a 1-to-1 transaction. But also, the odds are vanishinfly slim that each host will find the other's home the best match of available options for their needs while also having exactly the same travel dates.

I think your idea fits better with Airbnb circa 2010 than the multi-billion dollar corporation it's metastasized into since going public. It's not really about connecting people, it's just a broker for short term real estate that profits immensely from displacing risk. If you prefer the old spirit (which was much nicer, it not entirely genuine) I'd suggest finding some non-commercial hospitality exchange groups in the most low-tech networks you can. 

[Richard531]

@Anonymous  nailed in start to finish.  

I would have been a little more brief and just said, "Yeah, there's a way to exchange stays, you pay for the person you're exchanging with's place and he/she pays you for yours.  Boom!  Exchange complete."  

This question gets me a little snarky because we get proposed by folks for exchanges every now and then and we find it rather irritating/insulting.  You go look at their crummy $75/night listing in backwater/cartel infested north Mexico, and I'd never want to stay there even if it was free. Meanwhile, they're offering it "in exchange" for my $250/night place.  Nope!  

"Exchange" is done with currency.  Airbnb brokers the "exchange" and they want a portion of that currency (to be expected).

The last dying bastion of "exchange" would be to/from someone you actually know.  However, you need the listings "exchanged" to be 1-to-1 for the exchange to be "fair."  And even then, as @Anonymous  mentioned, the "experience didn't leave me wanting to try it again."

Why do you even want to do an exchange?  Why not make your place as great as you can, get lots of money for it, and then use that money to stay where you want?  

[Kristina46]

No incentive for Air to offer this. The only reason they exist is because of service fees. 

[Loretta126]

The U.S. tax laws consider swapping to be personal use and that can change your income tax structure or increase the taxes you pay. So it isn’t as straightforward as it sounds.