Airbnb is NOT paying hosts who referral other hosts.
My friend who is a host referred me to be a host. I've activated a listing and completed my first stay, and am in middle of my second. They are qualifying reservations, but neither me nor my friend got our reward. And from what Airbnb told me, we are not going to.
I just got off the phone with them. I provided a copy of the referral link as well as the screenshot from the page the link leads to, that still says "get an extra $40 after completing your first reservation." From my friend's end, it says he gets $600 if he makes a successful referral.
They claim they discontinued that program since May 2022. However, it STILL says on the website and the app that I can get reward for referring a host.
When I pointed this out, all I got from the rep is that he doesn't know why the website isn't updated, that he thought it was, and that he will make sure to give the feedback to the right people. However from browsing this forum, it seems like the lack of payout has been going on for months and months.
It's very shady Airbnb practice, there is nothing on their website or app that says it's been discontinued. In fact, there's still the information about the program on the website and option for me to send referral links to new hosts.
Fix your deceitful business practices, Airbnb!