Add a pet fee button already!!!

[Scott44]

The lack of a pet fee button is totally unacceptable. I've sent messages to AirBnB directly about this for years and I've aired my gripes on the community forum before, but their lack of action is simply riddiculous. We get many requests from guests with pets and the added hassle of requestion the fee through the resolution center is not an acceptable solution. Many guests don't respond to our message about the pet fee after the initial booking request and so we have to decline the reservation or risk AirBnB's wrath for not accepting/declining within 24 hours.

In the past 30 days we've lost out on 2 different reservation requests because of this and now we're getting warnings from AirBnB for declining too many requests. It's a lose/lose situation that has cost us over $1000 in reservations just this month.  We're not going to accept reservations unless people agree to fees and so we feel boxed into a corner for absolutely, positively no reason other than AirBnB's clear refusal to add a simple pet fee button to allow guests to add the fee to their request.

We are pet friendly, but AirBnB is being deliberately unfriendly to pet owners and hosts that are pet friendly. When are they going to make this simple change rather than greedily sucking up added fees through the "special offer" option that costs hosts and guests?

[Suzanne302]

You are not alone! I've seen this come up many, many times. I have found that it's easier to get guests to accept a refund, than an additional fee, so my "workaround" is to set my cleaning fee as a pet fee and then note that if a guest is not bringing a pet I can either do a special offer or change reservation with a refund. 

This is may hurt my bookings if people don't read the description and think my cleaning fee is too high, but I'd rather have that money in the bank than have to keep asking the guest for more. And even my pet cleaning fee isn't outrageous, but I'm happy to attract dog owners as there aren't many properties here that do in my price range. 

Why they can't just add a pet fee like an extra guest fee I don't understand! It can't be that hard!

[Michelle1588]

2 years later and they still haven't included a pet fee on their site. Ridiculous. I'm happy I found your post though because I literally just did it the same way. Before seeing your post I realized I wanted to prevent hassles so I went ahead and added a higher cleaning fee and deposit on my listing. I revised my listing to read "If you are not booking with a pet, let me know at booking and I will send offer without those fees." Wish me luck! I hope they read through!

[Zoe34]

That is very annoying.  I stayed at a pet-friendly Airbnb last NYE (thank goodness for you pet-friendly hosts!), and they had the fee listed in multiple different areas, and it had to be acknowledged before you booked. So then, after I booked and paid, they sent me a message and said, "We're now requesting an additional $45 for the pet fee."  And they used the "Request Money" button... I found that worked great, but I am a host... so I understand the system much more than most guests.  But just a tip for your listing!

[David126]

@Scott44

I think the reason that they do no thave one is that pretty much every dog you are likely to come across is in AirBnB terms an Assistance Animal, and you can not charge for them.

I only have had dogs stay with me, no cats etc, and the only way I could have collected any fees would have been from Guests not familiar with ABB terms and conditions.

[Lisa723]

@David126 I do not find that to be the case at all.  We regularly accept dogs at our vacation rentals, with a pet fee, and only once has a guest claimed their dog was a service animal.  https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/322 has previously stated that Airbnb is going to add this button, and like so many other hosts I do not understand why the heck it is taking so long!

@Scott44 I have "additional pet fee will be separately requested after booking" in my rules that guests must acknowledge before booking. I've never had one subsequently decline to pay... so I don't think you need to be losing bookings due to this inconvenience. It is a major nuisance though.

[David126]

@Lisa723

I have only had one service dog stay and I think that was a fake, not that it mattered.

[Scott44]

We've had service animals. We don't charge. 

[Rebecca181]

What confuses me is that Airbnb has been transforming itself so that it appeals to property managers of host-less homes. Yet, several policies that I assume Property Managers need to work under would make Airbnb an unattractive choice as a listing site, such as there being a no 'Pet Fee' option. Weird. Any Property Managers here that would like to comment? Or do you have options that us regular hosts don't? 

[David126]

@Rebecca181 That is what I wonder.

Now they do have acces to Super Strict Cancellation, but what about this and Extenuating Circumstances?

Probably a few others that no major corp would agree to.

[Ned-And-Laura0]

Is there a way to use the additional person fee for pets?  Just make it clear that they need to book an additional person for any pets and I think you can adjust the reservation in the manner yourself can't you?

[Lisa723]

@Ned-And-Laura0 no, that doesn't work. For one thing my pet fee is a lot less than my extra person fee, for another the extra person fee doesn't kick in at all until after a certain number of people while the pet fee kicks in after one pet, for another that would make it impossible for guests to book the maximum number of people plus a pet. @Rebecca181 I'm not sure what you mean by "Property Manager"... we have three listings, one in our home and two vacation rentals, and we have no special options.

[Rebecca181]

@Lisa723 Thanks for the reply! I refer to companies like Vacasa, and other local, regional, national property management firms whom Airbnb has made special arrangements with, and special provisions for, such as their having the ability to choose a 'Super Strict 30' or 'Super Strict 60' cancellation policy. They have their own URL with Airbnb as well. I am wondering if they have the ability to select a Pet Fee option. 

[Scott44]

Our pet fee is a one time fee so that wouldn't work for us.

[Jean76]

Pet fee already!!! Couldn't have said it better myself. EVERYTIME I contact Airbnb I mention this and EVERYTIME your associate agrees and says that many customers have the same request.

Vrbo managed it, why not Airbnb???? Why don't I EVER get a response from Airbnb? Seems like that would be a simple curtousy. Guests sometimes don't mention that they have a dog because there isn't a pet button and they don't read the fine print. Then when I request the fee, often I can't because they haven't paid the fee in full so I am supposed to wait until 2 weeks before the guests arrive to request payment. Then we have a sort of "bait and switch" situation. Lately I have guests paying me in cash or check and forget about Airbnb for the pet service. They are as confused as I have become. Is Airbnb losing business? Possibly. Furthermore, does Aribnb even read these?

Extremely Frustrated