Extra guest charge Information is not displayed now.

[Natasha3]

Airbnb changed the format of how a listing is presented to guests.

If you had a tiered pricing for different number of guets, it used be an indication that the rate was for a certain number of people, and each additional was an extra charge. Now all that information is not displayed.

Therefore guests are confused and frustrated about additional charges they didn't anticipate, or don't follow up with a request.

I had several guests asking why the price changed, which I dismissed as them not reading description.

As it turned out that information is not displayed at all, so the guests are in the dark about possible charges. Unhapphy guests, unhappy hosts.

Arbnb - please make information about additional charges visible!

[Ange2]

@Natasha3   Not exactly sure what you are referring to - do you mean each guest  broken out as separate  line item instead of all added in one lump sum ?  This is what I see on your listing. 

I have noticed a lot of glitches in the past few days – Airbnb overhauling the site?   You may get a better answer by calling Airbnb directly, especially if this is a technical issue.

[Natasha3]

@Ange2 thank you for looking into it.

Many hosts use a base rate for up to a ceratin number of people then an extra fee for each additonal guest above that. I don't know if you use the same price structure but that information was clearily displayed on the listing page under Additional charges section.

Say, you didn't put a correct number of guests while searching for listings; or decided to bring additional guests (within a limit) after you made a reservation. There is no way for you to know why you are being charged more; or why the price changed. It's confusing and frustrating to face a charge you didn't  know about, 

I had several of such instances recently, but dimissed them as guests not reading a description until I talked to other hosts who reported a similar pattern.

[Ange2]

@Natasha3   Do you mean the 'Extra Guest Charge' which showed on the Description,  Amenities, etc?  I noticed it is missing on mine, it explains an inaccuarate low star rating I received from a guest - I didn't understand what they were talking about at the time!  It could be seen as not being straighforward when you see the increased nightly price after adding more guests. I may add it in my description.

If not, I don't understand why people would be  confused, the number of guests is written above the price and the price only changes if the guest changes the dates or number of guests or the host sends an alteration request to add more guests.

I do have a charge for an additional guest.  I always confirm the number of guests is correct when I reply to their reservation and add a note about additional guest charges, ocassionally they have booked for one instead of two so I ask them to make an alteration request to include two people, which again draws their attention to the extra charge if they haven't read my message or the description.

[Natasha3]

@Ange2 Yes, it can be a truth in advertizing issue as well. 

Say someone is looking for a place and stumbled upon a listing that says accomodates 4 people and the price is $xxx. Since there is no information about extra charges it's safe to assume the price is for 4 people staying. How would anyone know that there is an additonal charge and how much it is - $10, $50, or $150?

Now, someone is booked it and wrote me a nice intro that their family of 4 is looking forward to stay there. I ask them to put a correct number of people and now they see the price goes up. Very upsetting! 

Or, someone books a place for themself and then decides to invite his friends since he's paying for up to 4 people. Again, he asked if it's ok, then was very unpeasantly surprised that there will be an additional price.

Those are actual instances. 

[Ange2]

@Natasha3   I have been thinking about how misleading it is not to mention the Extra Charge upfront like it used to be presented - a revision on my last post as I had not spent time looking at how it changed the integrity of my listing.  I agree it is confusing and upsetting. I looked at my listing and realized that a potential guest sees 2 Guests and a price, and they have no way of knowing the price is for one guest and there is a charge for a second, nor do they have any written explanation for why the price increases when they put in 2 guests.   I added a Host Voice about it, feel free to thumb up if you agree.

[Natasha3]

@Ange2 Thank you for posting it in Host Voices. 

Airbnb Twitter  reps suggested to send a feedback to a Product Development Team.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/feedback?utm_campaign=Social&utm_medium=CX&utm_source=Twitter&utm_conten...

[Monica4]

Yes, saw that today.

I could be construed as deceptively false advertising. The rate shown on a map, without typing in the number of guests, is so much lower than when the potential guest enters the number of people in the booking. No explanation given for the discrepancy in prices. Also, with the previous format a guest know exactly how much each extra guest cost, so if Uncle Joe wanted to come along for the trip the extra cost for his stay was clear..

This perhaps explains why my bookings for next year have all been through VRBO so far.

[Effie13]

Ok so why is the extra guest fee invisible from guests? I find it really frustrating to have to explain to my guests that after 5 people I charge extra all the time! I’ve have many situations when I tell guests about the extra charge and they go like “what? Where is that stated? “