Hi Community! After many years of hosting, I finally decided not to allow dogs because of the cumbersome addition of adding the extra service fee after the booking occured. After not reading or hearing an answer to "why no dog fee" (not in forums or FAQ), I would like to uplevel the suggestion to something even bigger: that Airbnb program in optional spots that can be customized by the host for extra services that can be added to the initial instant book, request or inquiry. Perhaps better yet, if an extra service box is ticked, then those would be bounced into the inquiry mode so that expectations between guest and host could be worked out before the booking occurs (i.e. dog size, what time meal will be prepared, what time education or tour arranged).
Say for example, a guest would like to bring their dog: they tick the dog box and a fee is either added or not (if none), but then the host or guest can start a dialogue or send a saved response including information/expectations. This makes for an easier way to bring that extra service to the guest. Currently, adding a service afterward is cumbersome to many guests. We've had guests unable to navigate the email link, we've forgotten to add the extra service fee, and we have been unable to collect the extra service fee at the time of booking because the guest has not fully paid airbnb for their stay. I understand that there is a way to add a extra fee or alter the reservation after it is made, but I'm interested in a platform that includes extra services upfront, at the time of the booking, and am fine if Airbnb takes a cut of that to make it more inclusive. (I just don't like requesting the money for the extra service of hosting a dog after the reservation has been made.)
Other services such as a meal, hands-on learning, or pick-up from the airport could also be added into this custom service field. Services such as the experiences that are offered in a limited number of cities could be added to any person who is hosting. These services could differentiate or add to the experience and the specifics of time could be worked out during the inquiry phase of the booking.
After listening to the last two Q&A's it seems that this is the direction of making airbnb a robust, upfront _but easy to use_ platform for both booking a stay, having a local experience and standing out as a host.
PS. I'd love to see this or at least the dog fee issue get added to the next Q&A (and I'd love for the questions for the next q&a be compiled from the last two long lists of questions so that hosts could actually see and vote on which ones we'd really like answered rather than starting the process over with thousands of similar and non-compiled questions scrolling by--but that's another thread). 😉 Marcy
