climate change

[Anthea29]

I am thinking that Air B and B should take it on board that many guests arrive by plane..this is not acceptable in the long term given that the planet is on the verge of being destroyed. I was therefore thinking that any future guests booking my property and travelling solely by train with a valid train ticket from abroad will be able to get a 40% discount on my bookings.People arriving by train in the UK would get a 20% booking with a valid ticket.. Start the trend and let's all do our bit!!!

[Harold75]

@Sally221   All well said.  Thanks for your reply. 

[Kath9]

@Sally221  good for your granddaughter! You are right to be proud of her. Tell her to ignore the trolls. These amazing kids are leading the way and showing our leaders that they are not doing the right thing. Big thumbs up to you and her.

[Sarah977]

@Sally221  Great post. Congratulate your granddaughter and her friends for me. They are the future and I certainly hope they get to enjoy one. What I don't get is why anyone would think someone was disrespecting the flag or the country by taking a knee. If they were showing disrespect, they'd turn their back on it, not face it. 

[Sally221]

The fact that taking a knee was being defined as disrespectful was part of the reason they joined the protest-"It's messed up that asking for justice is called unpatriotic" My girls are fierce & brave and engaged. They give me hope when I'd slide into despair over everything-to all the valiant, compassionate children

[Anonymous]

@Anthea29  Of course you're free to offer a discount to people visiting from London or Southampton or Cardiff, for whom flights wouldn't be a sensible option anyway, but I don't know of a way they would find your offer in the Airbnb search.

The key question here is whether your discount offer is actually likely to influence your guests' decision about how they will travel to Bristol.  And this is where it seems most flawed. Guestrooms in normal homes are not Destination Listings; they're places that people choose after they've already decided on their transportation. The odds that someone would be on the fence about whether to travel by air or rail, and then change their mind upon seeing your offer, are vanishingly slim.

Example: if a traveler from Berlin wanted to travel to Bristol by train, it would cost between € 276 and  €504 one-way and take a minimum of 14 hours. The flight takes under 2 hours and goes for as little as €54.  Discounts may influence people who are motivated to save money, but booking at your place would not represent a savings compared to simply hopping a flight and choosing another listing. Those who choose the much higher expense of train travel would have their own motivations for doing so.

Perhaps there is a lot you can teach your guests from abroad by example about ecologically-minded home maintenance and lower-impact travel, rather than focus on the way they got there. And of course you can also switch to longer-term guests, as staying in one place tends to have a smaller footprint than travelling in general.

[Sandra856]

@Anonymous I have seen a big change as I wrote in how people did chose to travel this Summer. Quite a few of my guests actively chose trains or busses. I have had a woman sailing from Helsinki to Stockholm and from there train to Copenhagen as an example. She could have saved money and lots of time by flying. I have had guests arriving from Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands arriving by bus/train - I chose not to fly to Oslo - and I could have bought very cheap flight tickets. I don't think it's a bad idea (quite the opposit)  if airbnb made a box hosts could tick if they offered a discount in case the guest chose not to fly. The young generation in particular seems to don't mind making sacrifices - it may still be a first mover thing - but my guess is that lots of people will begin to think about having vacation closer to home so they don't need an airplane for transport. 

[Anonymous]

@Sandra856  Totally supportive of people choosing "slow travel" when they can. I just doubt that a discount on an already-budget-priced guestroom in someone's house would be a factor in this decision.  

To date, Airbnb has never foregrounded host-initiated discounts in Search, and it might be an interesting way for hosts to reach out to their ideal clientele. But it also creates a two-tiered pricing model that appears to penalize people coming from longer distances (and who aren't necessarily on a luxury vacation). Also, how would you deal with someone who arrived in your city by train from a European port that they flew into from overseas? Or someone who hadn't decided on their method of transport at time of booking? Someone who claims to have not flown but can't present evidence? 

These are just a few examples of why discounts are a really crappy way to make a point.

[Sandra856]

@Anonymous I don't think it necessarily would be the pricetag that would be the most important thing for the guest if they are the kind that choose a more expensive way of travelling because of the footprint. Airbnb would also put out a strong signal ; that they care about the enviroment if they made an option like that. A green company that cares about the enviroment ;-).

My guess is that people who thinks about their footprint would appreciate a host that do so too. It is very much about the signal and also the feeling people get when they think they do something good for a case :-). 

[Sandra856]

@Anonymous In my case, if I chose to give 20% discount to guest's who chose an enviromently friendly transport option instead of flying - I really believe that most people would be honest. My guests are usually quite nice and reliable people. 

[Anthea29]

Thanks Andrew my motive is impractical but would be designed to make people think about how they travel and change the way people use airlines and maybe make a sacrifice for the planet. 

I travel up and down to Cornwall by car when it would be cheaper to go by car but I can edit on the train so there's the benefit.

[Mark116]

It's a nice idea and it may be practical for some host/guest interactions from certain locations, but not for everyone.  We get a lot of guests from Europe, and they can't take the train to New York, and it is very doubtful they could add on an extra couple of weeks to come by boat.  Even many of our guests from the U.S. and Canada are far enough that traveling by train would take literally days of travel, not hours.  

[Sandra856]

@Mark116 An example is that where I live (family, friends, friend of friends) used to travel maybe 2-3 times every year and that would be far distance vacations - like New York- Japan etc. It has definitely changed and people seem to be much more aware of the climate.  Instead people travel far distance 1 time a year now and "staycation" or renting a summerhouse 100 km away from home has become a thing. Those nearby places could easily be Airbnb's. Europe is well connected with train/busses and EU is working on making it faster and easier to get around without having to fly. As I wrote, I know that it is difficult in other parts of the world. 

[Anthea29]

I travelled from Toronto to New York by train and it was very interesting. I have also travelled the length and breadth of South America by bus, 24 hours at a time ...all over India by bus and train.....Australia by wicked van..... so much more enjoyable than sitting for hours in an airport!

When my kids were young we took them to Hungary by train and came back by boat up the Danube, they loved it!!