Why is the Extra Guest Charge lower limit is so high for some countries? Hosting challenges.

[Ram15]

Hi all,

Am a host in India and have been facing issues with the reasoning of the Extra Guest Charge lower limit.

1. I am guessing the minimum extra guest charge is USD 5 in Airbnb USA.
2. I am guessing because the minimum guest charge in India fluctuates between INR 350 to 360 and obviously Airbnb is calculating that off the dollar rate which fluctuates.
3. I have a problem with USD 5 as the minimum guest fee. While it may be a small amount in the USA, the equivalent of it in India (around INR 350) is quite substantial in India.
4. Example - You get a wonderful meal for INR 350 for one person in a restaurant while you cannot claim the same in the USA.
5. For price sensitive countries like India, the minimum guest fee needs to be lower like INR 200(USD 3) and cannot just be calculated as the local currency equivalent of USD 5. I am sure hosts in other countries too have faced this especially from Asia and South America.

I hope Airbnb makes a note of it and allows for a reasonable minimum guest charge based on the economic and hospitality realities of individual countries.

[Ram15]

[Kath9]

@Ram15 Yes I agree entirely. I recently added an extra guest charge but ended up having to lower my fee for 1 guest because the minimum extra guest charge I could do was 8 AUD (= 5 USD), which is much more than i wanted to charge. The difference must be much greater in India. This is very US-centric and doesn't consider currencies or cost of living in other countries. Hosts should be able to choose whatever they like as they extra guest fee. 

[Ram15]

🙂 @Kath9  Did the same for my base price. Had to lower in order for the additional guest fees to look competitive.

Totally agree it's too US centric and based on the US dollar. In the US, the service fee is much lower than the taxes. In India the service fee is higher than local taxes which is unfair to customers.