Pet-Friendly Hosts...How do you collect a pet fee?

Suzanne302
Level 10
Wilmington, NC

Pet-Friendly Hosts...How do you collect a pet fee?

I am just curious as to the different ways hosts collect pet fees. After realizing it's easier to get a guest to accept a refund (via change reservation) than it is to request extra money, I build my pet fee into the cleaning fee and simply change the reservation to $25 less if a guest is not bringing a pet.

 

This has worked quite well, but I've always wondered if:

 

1) I miss out on some bookings from guests without pets, because my price will seem high in a specific date search. (although I had 100% occupancy in June and 91% for July)

2) If this method screws up my stats, because in order to change the reservation, I can only adjust the "per night" price and a $40 night suddenly goes down to $15 per night for a one-night booking.

 

Thoughts?

 

I'd love to see other ways hosts handle this just to compare. (I've searched the forum as well) This would be sooooo much easier if ABB would just add a freakin' pet fee button already!

 

And for the record, I love hosting guests with dogs!

93 Replies 93

I love your Pet rules! Thank you for sharing! 

Bryon4
Level 2
Calgary, Canada

I charge a one time $25 pet fee - requested close to the day of arrival.  (Regrettably I frequently forget to collect!) . 

I'm the same as Bryon4. 😄 I'd actually collect it just after booking, but half the time, Airbnb won't let me send a request for money because the guest hasn't yet paid the booking in full (and then I forget later). Annoying that make it so difficult; HomeAway allows me to specify a dedicated pet fee that is automatically added if the guest selects that they're bringing a pet, and it works beautifully. No idea why Airbnb won't get off their butts and make this easier.

 

I like what Suzanne302's verbiage says and I may have to incorporate that into my House Rules and messaging to my guest. I've so far had no issues with pets in the two listings I can allow them in (the others have HOA/COA rules that prohibit renters from having pets) and as others have said, travelers who own and bring pets tend to be more responsible and easier to deal with than most other travelers. 🙂

Dear Chris773, 

 

When we receive a booking request, we ask if they will have pets.  if yes, we simply let them know we charge 50.00 per pet after the request is accepted.  After we message the guest of the fee, they have a chance to reply and this triggers us the ok to proceed with the 'Accept'.

 

After accepting the first request, we edit the reservation and select 'Change Reservation'.  We add the pet fee to the total amount.  We do not change the rate, we simply add it to the total.  it then goes back to the guest to accept/decline or they allow it to expire.  either way, we made sure it is defined in our description and communicated prior to us accepting a request.  

 

Bottom line is, its in the listing description and we allow the guest to make the final decision whether the take it or pass on it.  Their informed upfront.  

I meant to add, don't bother with 'Requesting Money' after-the-fact.  Do this ahead of time by adding it to the total and that way, the total amount is all in place when the guest accepts your alteration.  I sure hope this 2 cents worth helps.  I was a headache before we figured out this was the best option to take.  

Kent76
Level 2
Jacksonville Beach, FL

What i would like to know is when will @Airbnb add a built in option for pet fee like VRBO does?

Kent

I think that Airbnb doesn't want to add it because it would add another tier of liability for them to pay out for damages, where-as for now, it's listed in the contract that they do not cover any pet damage.  

 

I'm like you though, I don't know why they do not add it.  

When we receive a booking request, we ask if they will have pets.  if yes, we simply let them know we charge 50.00 per pet after the request is accepted.  We edit the reservation and select 'Change Reservation'.  We add the pet fee to the total amount.  We do not change the rate, we simply add it to the total.  it then goes back to the guest to accept/decline or they allow it to expire.  either way, we made sure it is defined in our description.  

 

Some may think that 50.00 is too high, but you have to consider what we have done after someone leaves with pets.  We never know if the next guest are allergic.  We completely go over every inch of the home while cleaning.   We never want a future guest to have any indication that pets were there.  

 

Bottom line is, its in the listing description and we allow the guest to make the final decision whether the take it or pass on it.  Their informed upfront.  

I charge $75

I do the same thing, but it could be created far more efficiently.

Kent
Pete2785
Level 3
Owings, MD

This could all be solved if AirBnB added an option to charge a fee. I'm new to the Vacation Rental industry, but have owned residential rental properties for a decade and a half. Am I the only one who finds that this very simple feature not being available is absolutely asinine,  especially when there is a very clear need by host?? It's so simple to implement an optional pet fee which get's applied at the time of booking when guests select the option at properties which allow pets.

 

AirBnB, why has this not been implemented? This feature should have been a feature of v1.0, and you're still ignoring repeated  questions about it from multiple hosts? We're your bread and butter, and this type of wanton failure to respond is amateur hour Bush League.  Give us the features we need, and we'll do our part and keep Guests happy.

Christine1522
Level 2
West Caldwell, NJ

They should 100% add a pet fee button!  That’s how VRBO works and it’s perfect that way. 

Christine1522
Level 2
West Caldwell, NJ

Does AirBnb ever respond to these inquiries?

No response from ABNB on pet fees.  I have inquired 10x times.  a real mistake by air bnb management.

 

Captain-Jason0
Level 2
Jacksonville, FL

There are a few things that I do when excepting dogs at my property. The first thing that I do is require that the guest request permission to bring their dog as I don’t allow every dog to stay at my property. It should never be assumed that it’s automatically ok to bring a dog without asking permission first. The second thing I do is vet the pet owner and their practices. I asked them if they use a crate, or will the dog be left unattended for extended periods of time etc.  Asking these questions allows me to make a better informed decision if I would like the dog and their owners to stay at my property. I have declined some reservations in the past if I feel that the dog is going to be a nuisance. A guest can leave their dog at home and travel without them or stay at another property. Either way my property will rent for that period of time. The extra pet fee I charge is for the wear and tear and extra cleaning of the property and I’ve found that requiring your guests to acknowledge that they have read your house rules pertains to pets will help tremendously.