Professional Photo Rewards.

[Rob-And-Debbie1]

Why haven't Airbnb reinstated the professional photo shoot reward for super hosts? If guests can stay in our properties surely a photographer can come in and take some photos post covid restrictions. The photo reward was a great bonus. We have two listings and opted to use our first photo reward to capture our smaller property which is now more popular than our main listing simply because of the photos, they really make a difference. Please reinstate this reward.

[Susan990]

The reason ABB discontinued the photo shoot as a reward is because they developed a product called Plus Properties available for purchase by any host for any property. This product seems to have not been successful at least in my area and was the topic of discussion from disgruntled consumers on this platform for a while.

[Rob-And-Debbie1]

Never seen the Plus Properties scheme. We were told that the reward was stopped because of covid but that can no longer be the reason.

[Christine615]

Why not reach out to a photography department at a local university. My daughter did commercial photo shoots as a student in film school and it was great to have things in her portfolio when she was looking for jobs after she graduated.

Students have the right camera equipment (or can rent the lighting from local suppliers) and are less expensive than professionals.

There were a lot of complaints about Airbnb's photography program. Sometimes it's the right decision to retire a resource that isn't working as intended.

[Rob-And-Debbie1]

Thank you for the suggestions.

[Huma0]

@Rob-And-Debbie1 

I am not sure the rewards system worked all that well. I was initially told by CS that I was entitled to a free shoot and I was really excited about it as I have done some improvements (like add extra bathrooms) so really wanted to update the professional photos. As I still had almost a year to use the reward, I decided to wait for the spring so I could get better photos of the gardens. CS told me, no problem. 

However, when I went to book, it didn't work and when I called CS they told me I wasn't eligible because I'd already had a photoshoot some years before. They said they were only providing the shoots to new hosts. I argued that this didn't make sense because, in this case, it was supposed to be a reward for maintaining Superhost status for one year, so how could it just be for new hosts? They couldn't explain. They just said those were the rules. 

This particularly infuriated me at the time because Airbnb had spent a whole day taking photos of my house for their own marketing purposes, didn't pay me for this and wouldn't let me use any of the photos on my listing. In fact, I only saw one of the photos. They wouldn't even show me the others and they spent an entire day here taking photos and videos of me and my house. But, when I want a quick shoot as my rightful reward for maintaining Superhost, it's a no.

So, it's possible that you wouldn't have gotten another shoot anyway, even if they were still running the reward. On the other hand, maybe you would have because it's for a different property. I don't know...

Anyway, at some point, I am going to get a photographer round myself and have the photos taken. I think it's worth the investment. As you say, it can make a big difference to bookings. 

I know that some hosts have done a barter with a photographer, e.g. offered a free stay in exchange for photos. Maybe you could try that? Just try to make sure the photographer has experience of and the right equipment/lenses for shooting locations/interiors, to ensure you get good results.

[Rob-And-Debbie1]

Many thanks for your reply. It sounds a familiar Airbnb support story. Hope your shoot goes well when you arrange it.