Children under 2 Free? NO !

[Mark-And-Pearl0]

These new policies have me somewhat confused.
I dont mind who stays at my place as long as they pay me so I can meet my requirements e.g. gas and electric, council rates, mortgage, insurances etc on the property.
What I am concerned about is the policy stating that children under the age of 2 no longer count as the maximum amount of people that can stay.
We can accomodate 4 people only at any one time.
If 2 adults come with there 2 children that are 2 years old or under book with us this means we get paid for the adults only.
How can we allow this.
If beds are used by children of ages 1 to 2 years old then all linen and towels will have to be turned over for our next guests on those particular beds.
These 2 year olds or unders will use there required share of hot water, electricity, clothes washing in the laundry. There rubbish will be places into bins that we as rate payers pay the local councils for through rates. 
How can this be there are costs involved with every person that we host, from infants to retirees.
Please some one let me know if I am wrong.
Regards Mark.

[Nikki39]

Thank you for alerting me to this. I think airbnb may find they need to back track if the majority of people change their listings to "no under 2s".  The cost and inconveince for 2 year olds is no less and possibly more for the under 2s.

[Michelle140]

I had always in the past sent a special offer including the pet fee, so that is no change for me (unless they mean I must wait until after the person has checked out to "resolve" the addition of the pet fee?). However, the fee was in my listing description, not the rules (but has since been added to the rules, per their request).

My problem is that the people who checked in yesterday (instant booked that morning, before the email was released) brought two dogs with them without notifying me. Not only do I have a pet fee, but there are also extra steps I do to the home before pets will be visiting.

First of all, am I screwed because of this rule change? Or not, because she booked before I had the chance to update my house rules to the new change?

Secondly, I think their third guest ended up sleeping out in their van (I was not notified of this, I was just making an inference from the extra third person space I set up having not been used). So the $20 for the third guest is the same fee as the $20 total pet fees. I do not have to wash the unused sheets or blanket, but I also had to set it up (which is not normally set up for use), and I could assume he may have come inside last night to use other facilities? I don't know. I was not home last night, and only came back once they were already in bed.

Regardless, it will be reported in my review of them, since I feel they did me a disservice by not notifying me they were bringing two dogs, but I may not bother with trying to claim the pet fees. What do people think? 😕

[Michelle140]

Also, for the pets, it seems they are going in the opposite direction here than what makes sense. It's pretty normal in hotels and other businesses to charge EXTRA for pets. I wish it were an implemented part of the process to ask if there will be pets and how many (for listings which allow them), and then add the host-determined fee automatically.

[Jan204]

I just learned (5/18/2017) that guests are now able to bring infants (under 2) for free.
First, since this is a new policy, that I, as a host, would expect to be informed about...this is an important change!
Second, as a host, I feel that Airbnb took away my right to define infant or choose to if I agree with such a invasion of my control over my own property! Having infants can be more costly then having children or adult, since they: can cause more damage (they can move @ by the 8th month), cause using more utilities for their comfort, add more waste to the disposal (diapers,...)...
Third, where is any limitation on the number of infants? Guests could bring any number of infants for free and the only thing I could do is to reject the reservation, which will no go well with them or with you (with your statistics).
I see that there is a major rage online regarding this and I expect to be contacted directly and have all my question directly answered!
Sincerely,
Jan **

[Phyllis24]

Hi folks. I'm a super host and have just run into my first proper snag with respect to children under 2. This family booked for 1 person when in fact it was mum, dad, a 3 year old and a 1.5 year old. I've had no end of trouble contacting Airbnb 

[Phyllis24]

Children under 2 count as people, guests, consumers of resources, mess makers, noise makers and forces to be reckoned with!  They should attract the same fee as any extra guest would