Avoiding fees by hosts

[Rhonda45]

Can an Airbnb hosts advertise to book directly through them to avoid fees?

[Sarah977]

@Rhonda45  Advertise where? Airbnb doesn't own your rental business. You can market it any way you choose. Plenty of hosts list on several platforms and have their own direct booking sites.

You just can't try to shift a guest who contacts you through Airbnb to a direct booking. But after a guest has booked through Airbnb and stayed with you, you can give them your contact info if they ever want to come back.

[Anonymous]

@Rhonda45   What Sarah said. 

You can advertise direct bookings anywhere EXCEPT:

-  Your Airbnb listing

-  Your correspondence on the Airbnb platform with a prospective guest who requests your listing

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Rhonda45 Also worth knowing that you can tell Airbnb guests that if they want to return they can book direct.

[Rhonda45]

I just saw a posting on the local tourism area Facebook where an Airbnb host posted to call directly and avoid Airbnb fees.  Seems like it’s making it difficult for other area Airbnb hosts.   But there is also a vacation rental here who has signs outside and on her Facebook page as Airbnb and VRBO and isn’t on either.   I always prefer to book through Airbnb. We have one or two return guests who stayed with us before we were on Airbnb.  I just think it’s safer to book through Airbnb and avoid double bookings.  

[Katrina314]

Rather audaciously, Airbnb DO actually appear to feel that they have ownership over hosts' repeat bookings, and have prohibited hosts from asking or encouraging guests to book outside of Airbnb for any return stays, under penalty of suspension or delisting. 

Imagine ordering a lovely dish

from a restaurant you discovered on Uber Eats, and then Uber Eats trying to forbid you from ever going directly to that restaurant when you fancy a meal from there again... 

Hilarious.