Extra guests

[Caleb-And-Heidi0]

I charge $10 extra per guest after 2 people. Mostly to offset laundry costs and keep people honest about how many people are coming. We constantly have so many people trying to change the amount of guests "last minute" to add extra guests and ask not to be charged "the extra fee"...how do most hosts deal with this?

 I've become really annoyed with this. Currently the situation isnt awful (when we have parties of 12 its way worse) but I will use this as the example of why it annoys me.  We have guests coming for two nights. They have reserved for 6 but 5 are coming. For one night. The 2nd night they would like to have 7 guests. For the price of 6. This means 2 extra loads of laundry  which doesnt seem like much but it is college football season and we have an extremely high turn over rate during this time of year. It makes it extra difficult to flip the house and clean it properly for the next guests as well as eating the cost of 2 extra loads of laundry for another bed. 

I feel like as a host, you can't say "no" because we are so dependant on business through good reviews. However I think it is so rude to do last minute changes and ask not to be charged extra.

Thoughts????

[Imogen11]

It doesn't bother me when a guest asks for anything as long as they aren't bothered when the answer is no. How a guest handles "no" can give you a useful insight into their character, always helpful.

In your position I would never waive the extra fee, and I wouldn't explain or apologise either. "Thanks so much for the updated guest list, a fresh cosy bed will be waiting for each of you! The fees are fixed so the total cost is $X. You might like to see XYZ local spot while you're here, it's a hidden gem with great coffee. Looking forward to seeing you on Friday"

[Karen-and-Brian0]

Hi @Caleb-And-Heidi0 It might help to increase the amount charged per extra guest after 2 people - seriously $10 is so cheap, I can't imagine anyone asking to not pay it! - and to beef up your listing to say something like: "The presence of unconfirmed guests will result in immediate cancellation by AirBNB and termination of your stay. Additional guests must be approved by the host and must be added PRIOR to check-in."

And charge those guests for the additional people. It's a business, not a charity. I hope that helps - Karen

[Caleb-And-Heidi0]

@Karen-and-Brian0 @Branka-and-Silvia0 @Imogen11 I totally appreciate the feedback!!! I thought it was a fair price for just trying to offset laundry costs and I agree that it is cheap enough that who would care, ITS 10 DOLLARS. But maybe we should increase it. I just can't believe the nerve of people....I travel airbnb all the time and never ever try to "negotiate" liket that. I feel we are more than flexible with many things, but the amount of people asking us to change our prices or to "waive a fee" for this and that is ridiculous. We dont do a deposit, we only charge $10 per person after 2 people and we even allow dogs for a pet fee. GAH. So many people just want a free ride, its a business, not a charity!

[Ron103]

@Caleb-And-Heidi0 It is time to start raising your rates. I don't know your market but $94 for a whole whose that sleeps 12, and with twelve that only brings $194? is cheap, even from what I could see in my search of similar homes in your city. Your weekend price might be right.
But I think you are attracting budget guests. That is why they are asking for price breaks. And from a look over your profile, you have way more than a budget property. My experience, (I have over a year on another listing as Superhost) is that budget guest are also the ones that break things and don't tell you, stain things and hide it, and try sneaky things like smoking or bringing in unregistered and unpaid for guests.
Rule of thumb when you are trying to find your price, You have to start somewhere. And you did, now bump up the base price at least 10% and defintely raise the per guest after 2 charge.  And consider a cleaning fee.
I do not give weekly discounts and I do not book for more than 7 days as the cleanup after that length of time is much longer.
You need to check local regulations concerning bookings for more than 28 days. In many places, that makes them long term renters, and if they refused to leave you would have to go thruough eviction processes which can take anywhere from 6-12 weeks.
Good Luck!

[Caleb-And-Heidi0]

@Ron103 Thank you so much for the advice! I appreciate it. My girlfriend has been saying for weeks that we are targeting the wrong people. However, over the past couple months,  the market seems to have become flooded making it difficult to stay booked. There has been a fine line of "competitive pricing" this summer as we want the business, but also understand that we maybe *too* low and as you pointed out, attracting the wrong type of guests.  Football season last year we were brand new to the airbnb hosting arena, our house was completely booked for football season. Now we are seeing more than 200 houses still available for many football games, and hotels are even still available. Last year this time of year it was mpossible to get a hotel or an airbnb for a football game.... Notre Dame had a rough season, but it is still unusual for this area. Finding the right price for this area seems to be tricky...as you said...without finding the wrong type of guests.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Caleb-And-Heidi0 I agree with @Karen-and-Brian0 and @Imogen11

we also charge 10€ per extra guests and nobody ever asked to stay for free (maybe they stayed but never said) . We prepare as much beds and towels as guests booked. I think clean sheets, towels and peace of mind is worth 10€ per day. 

[Paul154]

I always love manipulation.

The veiled threat

"if you don't let me do what I want, we'll cancel and you'll be out ALL that money"

Guess what - It's FOOTBALL SEASON! They can't go anywhere without breaking the bank!

The power is yours. It's your house, your rules. Just say no to manipulation and don't stress.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Caleb-And-Heidi0

Don't be afraid of having an empty room/listing. Charge a fair amount - enough to cover expenses, extra utilities, and pay yourself a decent rate for the cleaning and laundry you do as a host and then some. Henry and I have always thought, it's better to have an empty room than a guest who is not worth hosting. You are hosting on Airbnb to make extra money (in addition to the experience) - if you are feeling charitable, donate to a charity or a food bank for the needy, not to annoying & clueless guests who don't even have the brains to realize what a good deal they are getting.

And don't be afraid to mention that the guests made these rude, last minute requests in the guest review your write - just keep things factual.

[Kelly251]

Just so happen that this happened to us last night ! 1 slipped in during the night as seen on our publically known surveillance camera. I messaged her this morning and told her she is in violation of her Airbnb contract and to send the nightly additional fee for 1 person. 

[Maria-Lurdes0]

Just popped in here for the first time in many months, and saw this post.  Not 5 minutes ago, I received this message from a guest who just booked:

Hey Maria!! Thanks for letting us stay in your beautiful house. I already have a request ... and am sorry about that. I have a couple of friends, in addition to the 5 already staying w me, who have decided to join us just for a single night - Thursday night in NY. Is it possible to accommodate these two in the house for just Thursday night? If not two at least one of them. I read through your FAQs and understand in some cases you may have the ability to accommodate. If you cannot I understand and I should start looking for hotels nearby, but it sure would be easy for us to be under the same roof for just that one night. As an FYI - one of my six friends staying on Friday night will be leaving on Saturday and so we will be only 5 on Saturday and Sunday night. Again, thanks for letting us stay and let us know if you can accommodate this request.

This happens all the time,  What a PITA

[Maria-Lurdes0]

Just popped in here for the first time in many months, and saw this post.  Not 5 minutes ago, I received this message from a guest who just booked:

Hey Maria!! Thanks for letting us stay in your beautiful house. I already have a request ... and am sorry about that. I have a couple of friends, in addition to the 5 already staying w me, who have decided to join us just for a single night - Thursday night in NY. Is it possible to accommodate these two in the house for just Thursday night? If not two at least one of them. I read through your FAQs and understand in some cases you may have the ability to accommodate. If you cannot I understand and I should start looking for hotels nearby, but it sure would be easy for us to be under the same roof for just that one night. As an FYI - one of my six friends staying on Friday night will be leaving on Saturday and so we will be only 5 on Saturday and Sunday night. Again, thanks for letting us stay and let us know if you can accommodate this request.

This happens all the time,  What a PITA

[Caleb-And-Heidi0]

@Maria-Lurdes0 for realsies, it is so obnoxious... And to the others in this post, I 100% agree this is a side business, not a charity. It is incredible how much people want "extra" but at no additional cost...we have had some really great guests as well, so i dont mean to dump on the whole idea. I love meeting everyone, hearing their stories and getting to do the whole bnb thing, whcih has always been a dream of mine. We just had a lovely airbnb visit for our own vacation. I love talking with other hosts. Most are really positive things that are said. However, I feel if you book for 4 people and I verify that you only need 2 beds, and then you decide to bring extra friends...I feel I have every right to be irritated that you got into the linens,made up an extra bed, then made tons of extra laundry and also didnt think to "add guests". THAT COSTS EXTRA MONEY. Thats extra time for cleaning. We also once had a guest that booked for 3, asked specificially for 2 beds, then went ahead and gave us a snotty review....despite them BREAKING A BED AND NOT TELLING US, using enough towels for 10 people that they helped themselves to in the linen closet, as well as making up the second bed so they had somewhere to sleep after they broke the bed. They checked out late, and because they had dirtied so much extra linen I did not get the house ready in time for the next guests arrival time. Lucky for me traffic was bad and the next guests were late, I was sweating a mess and just finishing up the cleaning when they arrived. Guests really dont think of all those things when they act like that....