Paying balance of reservation and using gift cards and coupons

[Kimzie0]

I have many Airbnb reservations coming up, some over $2000. They give you an option to pay partial now and the rest later. 

There is no link to pay balance when viewing your itinerary.

I just spoke to Airbnb representative and they said I can not use any Airbnb gift cards or Airbnb coupons on these reservations.  I have hundreds of dollars in Airbnb giftcards and coupons. If it's Airbnb currency, I believe it should be allowed to pay for my Airbnb reservations.

They need to figure this out soon.  Very disappointed and not practical. 

[Dave-and-Deb0]

Hi Kimzie

Unfortunately you did not read the terms and conditions of the Pay Less Upfront option.

With the Pay Less Up Front option, the system is automated and there is no way to pay earlier or change the payment method.

In the Pay Less Up Front terms, it states, "You agree that by selecting the Pay Less Upfront Feature, you may not be able to pay for the booking with a different Payment Method or pursuant to a different payment schedule." This can be found here: https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/1696/pay-less-upfront-terms

[Sam680]

What the poster above me is saying is that you need to spend hours reading every word on this website or else you may fall into a trap. Nobody treats gift cards the way airbnb treats them. 

I just found out their gift card policy the hard way. If you want to use a gift card: 

1) You must apply it to your account before starting the booking. 

2) You must pay in full at the time of booking. If you pay half up front, Aribnb will not use your remaining gift card balance to pay the rest. Instead they will charge your credit card. 

I paid only half up front, and later they tried to charge my credit card when I had sufficient credit balance. After an hour on the phone and multiple escalations, I was able to get my trip canceled and I re-booked, paying the full amount all at once with my gift card. 

I spoke with four representatives to try to understand their policy, but none had a reasonable answer as to why this policy exsits.