how do you charge a pet fee

[Madelyn1]

I want to allow folks to have pets... but to me there is potential for both extra damage... and almost always extra clenaing.

TO that end, I would like to charge a nightly pet fee for $10. How would I do this.  (or a one time pet fee of $40) and increase the security deposit to $200.

[Michael1551]

SOLUTION: Create two listings for same Rental and Link them so never double booked - Price one 'No Pets' and price other 'Pets Ok'' you can either raise the nightly fee or increase the cleaning fee on the 'Pets Ok' listing. Not the best solution but easy work around that still allows for instant booking and collection of all fees. Site isn't perfect, but 100x better than using craigslist to rent a property. Work with what we have.

[Marjorie56]

Hi.  I am aghast that Airbnb has not been listening to this and dealing with what is a reasonable request.  I have thought about directing the guests to the vrbo listing we have where the fee can be collected.  Have you actually used this proposed solution in real life?  How has it worked?

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@Michael1551 wrote:
SOLUTION: Create two listings for same Rental and Link them so never double booked - Price one 'No Pets' and price other 'Pets Ok'' you can either raise the nightly fee or increase the cleaning fee on the 'Pets Ok' listing. Not the best solution but easy work around that still allows for instant booking and collection of all fees. Site isn't perfect, but 100x better than using craigslist to rent a property. Work with what we have.

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[Tamsin26]

Sounds a complicated way of doing it- why can't Airbnb just allow you to enter a dog fee?

As a retired veterinary surgeon I'm a dog lover but also pragmatic.

Apart from assistance dogs, dogs are luxury.

Currently in the uk people are paying £1,000's for a puppy.

If they are left at home there's a kennel fee to pay.

I understand that many people like to take them on holiday as part of the family. But they do create mess, smell and can cause damage( sometimes unpleasant). As a superhost I'd like to be able to simply charge an extra fee to cover cleaning and risk of damage.

[Tamsin26]

Another solution: sign up with VRBO who allow pet fee. Take pets through Vrbo - don't take pets through Airbnb.

[Ginger17]

Yeah-I'm really surprised that AirBnB hasn't added a way to add the pet fee automatically. I suppose that on the bright side, it gives me an opportunity to ask what type of pet they have and if they shed or not. Then I can charge the pet fee depending on that. Also, I have had the occasional cat stay at my property.

I alway send the request via the Request Money from Guest feature under "Extra Services: "

My pet fee also varies depending upon how many pets there will be and communication with guests and whether or not I'm really wanting to get certain dates booked right away.

The major issue for me with requesting the pet fee separately through the request money feature is that it can't be done when guests book partial payment....a feature that AirBnB added last year. 

This has happened a couple of times, so what I have to do is go into my calendar and make a note to remind myself to request the pet fee once they complete the payment process.....I REALLY don't like that AirBnB is letting guests book and block dates with a partial payment!!!!

Much more work for us hosts in the pet fee situation in particular.

Anyway, so far, that's been my work around. I still way prefer AirBnB over VRBO and I have my property listed on both sites. 

AirBnB is my absolute favorite, even with issues I've encountered over the past 2.5 years.

[Sharon828]

We have added to our rules: 1 dog equals 1 person.  After 2 people each person or dog costs $10

[Meghan140]

Hi everyone,  I wanted to charge a refundable pet deposit.  I think what I will do is use the "request funds" option and request the pet deposit (still not sure how much to charge)  and once the check out and the space is clean and undamaged I will use the "pay funds" option to refund.  I have not done this yet but am going to try it.  Hopefully it works out ok. 

[Tamsin26]

Why can't Airbnb just allow you to enter a dog fee?

As a retired veterinary surgeon I'm a dog lover but also pragmatic.

Apart from assistance dogs, dogs are luxury.

Currently in the uk people are paying £1,000's for a puppy.

If they are left at home there's a kennel fee to pay between £10-20 a night.

I understand that many people like to take them on holiday as part of the family. But they do create mess, smell and can cause damage (sometimes unpleasant).

As a superhost I'd like to be able to simply charge an extra fee to cover, provision of pet facilities ( bowl bed etc),  extra cleaning and risk of damage.

[Tamsin26]

Another solution: sign up with VRBO who allow pet fee. Take pets through Vrbo - don't take pets through Airbnb. Maybe then Airbnb will take note of our requests to add a pet fee. It can;t be that complicated to add this to their site.