Moderate - Non-refundable Beta

[Nick30]

Quick question for other hosts. Is it indicated anywhere on a reservation whether the guest opted for the 10% moderate beta discount in exchange for forfeiture of the nightly booking fee?

[Eliza68]

I would like to know this informtion as well!

[Nick30]

Unfortunately Airbnb customer support are either unable or unwilling to answer the question. As far I can tell there is no information available within either the app or the website to indicate which option the guest has booked with. Not very transparent from Airbnb!

[Sarah977]

@Nick30  Can you not deduce from the amount the guest paid and your payout amount whether they received a 10% discount?

[Mark858]

I have just had a booking where the guest opted for the 10% discount. It was a 3 night booking where the last night was lifted by AirBNB smart pricing due to high booking levels, but the customer took the 10% non refundable option, for a booking next week - being sure they are coming, and got the 3 nights overall at 5% under my minimum - Dang!
Now I would like to turn OFF the 10% non-refundable option, but cannot find any way to turn it off.

Has anyone found a way to turn it off as it doesn't seem to be an option anywhere in the pricing module.

[Jody79]

@Mark858 I'm part of that program as well and have tried to turn it off without success.  I think I read somewhere (probably on this forum) that you can't opt out of a beta program once you've joined.

[Mark858]

Ah thanks - sucked in again . . . .  Seeing what they have done in the past, we may be beta-guinea pigs for another 10 years.

May have to try lifting my base rate a few percent and see how it affects bookings.

- I lifted it $10 recently - from $65 to $75, as we were running 90% occupancy and most of our vacancy was the "dead day" between average 3 days bookings  (our minimum stay is 2 nights) 

- didn't take a booking for 3 weeks. Dropped it back - and have taken 5 bookings in 5 days ....

Well we now know we have our off-season price point pretty well nailed.....

- Despite this AirBNB software still suggests we drop our base rate for $45 a night . . . . . their software is totally knaff.

[Angelina-And-Preston0]

Hello-

I JUST had this happen to me as well. I was on my hosting profile and there was an option of - do you want to make more money- click the non refundable option. So I did, not knowing what was going on. After I got 2 bookings LOWER than my minimum rate I thought there was a tech Airbnb error.

After talking with one Airbnb rep he finally figured it out that the guest was booking the non-refundable option and getting a discount for a holiday weekend (Labor Day) where we usually charge 10-15% OVER our minimum. This does not show up on our profile as we only see the nightly rate. 

Airbnb needs to fix this to let hosts know the full extent of non refundable option. That you are offering a discount when you turn it on. We are turning it off.

[Terrill0]

I noticed this November that ALL of my guests booked using the BETA option (I've been using it since it came out but its been rare that people take advantage of it). Then while I was scrolling around checking out new listings in my area I noticed mine was now shown at the discounted rate. Essentially Airbnb has put me on permanent 10% discount.  I have tried to keep my listing fair while not undercutting my neighbors in a "race to the bottom", so I was pretty bummed out when I saw that. It did however explain why some of my neighbors who had kept their prices higher were now lower than they have been in three years since I've been following them. Its a BETA switch they may not even be aware of.

Now I read above that people don't know how to change the BETA booking. I just found it: 

In pricing:

This is the text shown when you click on "learn more" in the Moderate or non-refundable option:

What’s a non-refundable option?

Hosts can choose to offer a non-refundable option—guests get 10% off the base price and hosts keep their entire payout if a guest cancels, minus the cleaning fee if the cancellation occurs before check in. The discounted base price will appear in search results and make the listing more competitive.

The non-refundable option can only be offered with the Flexible and Moderate policies. When paired with Flexible, it will be available to guests up to 1 day before their desired check-in date. When paired with Moderate, it will be available to guests up to 5 days before their desired check-in date.

This non-refundable discount will be combined with other discounts you offer (ex: weekly, monthly, early-bird). Guests may also cancel for extenuating circumstances (documentation required) and get a full refund.

Although hosts in our pilot earned 5% more on average after choosing to offer a non-refundable option, individual host performance may vary.

My response to this was to raise my rate 5% so that the price people see while searching is my actual price.  I'm going into a slower season but I also have to work harder to maintain my cabin for visitors in the winter by clearing paths and heating the space. 

I am seeing a lot more places out there now that are cheap. One place in Bath Maine is offering a place to pitch a tent with a fire pit that includes wood for 20.00 a night no cleaning fee! They give access to their kitchen and bathroom! I'm blown away by this.. We work really hard communicating with guests and  being accessible when they have questions... keeping the area very clean with lots of little extras so I don't understand how people can undersell themselves like that... I also travel and like a good deal but I like a clean well located place to stay with a host who can answer a question at 9 at night...I don't know if these people will do a bad job or get burned out or what..but I can't imagine how this is good for anybody.