Do you give any discounts for longer stays?

Jenny
Community Manager
Community Manager
Galashiels, United Kingdom

Do you give any discounts for longer stays?

Jenny_0-1675437399925.jpeg

 

Hello everyone!

 

Everyone’s looking to save some money at the moment, including people travelling, and sometimes a special deal can be very enticing and make the difference between someone booking a stay or not.

 

That being said, Hosts are also trying to be careful with costs.  The balance between making a living and getting bookings confirmed must be tricky.  Discounts do mean less income, but they could also secure a longer booking due to a lower cost.

 

I’d love to know, do you give discounts for longer stays?  Do you offer these as weekly or monthly discounts?  Have you any tips or tricks when deciding on a discount to make sure you don’t lose out on income?

 

Let me know in the comments, or if you don’t offer discounts, feel free to let us know why!  

 

Hope to hear from you soon.

 

Jenny 

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20 Replies 20
Lorna170
Level 10
Swannanoa, NC

@Jenny  I calculate my need to potentially discount based on whether or not I have reached the number of nights that I need to rent every month to meet/exceed my goals. 

 

I do offer a discount for week bookings.  

I do offer a discount for 2 week bookings.

I do not do longer term stays, i.e. more than 15 nights, so no month discount.

 

I do not utilize the last minute booking discount settings or smart pricing.  My property has a value (to me) that is greater than the need for heads in beds or attracting bottom feeders. 

 

 

 

 

 

Quincy
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Interesting to hear. Thank you very much for sharing this @Lorna170

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Martin3344
Level 7
Edinburgh, United Kingdom

I used to offer discounts for longer term stays when I first started out 7 years ago, but I don't do that for new guests any more unless there are specific circumstances that warrant it. The minimum night stay parameters tend to do the trick for me. Also as I choose now to operate a moderate cancellation policy I am wary of the risk of potential havoc caused by a short notice cancellation of a long term booking. I do however routinely offer discounts to valued regular or returning guests as a mark of appreciation for them.

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Martin3344 

 

Long term bookings (defined by Airbnb as being 28 days or more) have a different cancellation policy applied to them than shorter ones. 

 

You select which policy you want (in your case moderate) for shorter stays and then you select from a different menu of options (flexible, firm, strict) which one you want for long term stays. 

 

The policies are not the same in the two different categories. For example, a strict policy for long term stays means the guests have to pay for the first 30 nights if they cancel the stay later than 48 hours after booking.

Martin3344
Level 7
Edinburgh, United Kingdom

@Huma0 

 

Thank you so much for this really helpful information. I greatly appreciate it.

 

That is certainly not something I was aware of. I'm not sure if it's something that maybe has changed along the way, or if I have just missed it all along !

 

I was probably thinking of longer term bookings more as being typically the c 7-14 day type requests which come in from time to time. These are the ones which I tend to be a little bit wary of with my moderate cancellation policy due to the short notice cancellation risk, and they wouldn't be covered by the long term cancellation policy that you mention. If they work out however it is certainly extremely nice to be occupied and not to have to do guest changeovers for quite a number of days !

 

I have only had guests staying for the long term stays of 28 days+ that you describe during the pandemic lockdowns. I found myself then unexpectedly hosting people at short notice who got stranded unavoidably in Edinburgh for lengthy periods with the travel chaos that happened periodically during those difficult times. For the most part these unplanned long term stays worked out really well, and a separate cancellation policy wasn't needed. In a couple of cases though I did find that the properties weren't very well looked after, and quite major recovery activity and cleaning were needed at the end of the visits. This wasn't down in any way to them being bad guests, it was just that I think that I was crossing the bridge effectively at that time to the experience of long term tenancy rentals, where the people staying hadn't come to the city for short visits, but essentially viewed the place as essentially their own property for an extended period, but without the homeowner responsibilities, and treated it accordingly. I suspect that regular long term rental landlords would maybe be used to this, but it was something that pained me a little bit at the time.

 

Now that things are back to normal I will probably again therefore not seek long term guests of 28 days or more, but I will certainly take your helpful advice into account if I do ever go down that route again in the future. Thanks again for the help.

 

 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Martin3344 

 

I've been hosting both short and long term stays since 2016, and I think there has been different policies for the two since then but, if not, there certainly have been for a few years. What has changed though is that there used to be one policy for long term, and now there are several to choose from.

 

I actually focus on long term stays now. It's a bit different for me as I host in my own home so can keep communal areas tidy (a cleaner does these once a week and I keep on top of it in between) and keep an eye on things. As for the guest bedrooms, I offer to clean them and wash the linens during the stay for a small fee, or the guests can do it themselves, but I remind them that if they choose the latter option, then they do actually need to do it!

 

If you are hosting an entire unit, I would suggest if and when you do 28 day + stays in future, you include a regular clean of the property and factor this into the price or cleaning fee. Not only will it help to keep things in good condition, but it allows you to spot any serious problems.

@Huma0 

 

Hi Huma how are you?? long time no see.. 

 

I tried once to make 2 year listing .. is a huge property by giving a month trial.. 

 

the problem is there is no furniture..

 

I wrote every thing up front.. and said my true intention..

 

but it does not work.. 

I thought 28 days is not the highest.. was it not 3 months?? 

 

I don't remember.. maybe it got to do if the host and guest got into their neck with each other before 3 months is offer.. 

 

is definitely a different play ball than those for minimum 2 days.. and others accommodation with above 2 weeks rental.. I think 28 was the highest minimum?? 

 

MANASUI

Jeffrey Bong
Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Manasui0 

 

I am well, thanks. How are you?

 

If I understand correctly, you wanted to rent out the house for two years, but start with a one month trial just to make sure everything was okay.

 

I think this is possible. The minimum stay on Airbnb is one night, but you can set your minimum stay at 28 nights or more, and then the long term cancellation policies apply (you can select which one you want, flexible, firm or strict). 

 

In terms of the maximum stay, I have mine set at 180 days, i.e. six months, but when I go to the settings and put in 720 days, i.e. two years, it does allow me to do this. Was the problem that you were trying to extend the guest's stay from one month to two years? If so, perhaps you could have done the remainder of the stay as a separate booking.

 

However, I would probably advise against doing this kind of long let on Airbnb. Firstly, both you and the guest are paying Airbnb fees, and these will add up over such a long stay to a huge amount, which I don't think is justifiable to the guest. After all, you might be paying Airbnb to advertise your listing and handle the payments, but the guest is paying just to find you and they will end up paying $$$$ for that privilege!

 

Of course, it's nice to have the payments handled for you, but beware! Airbnb take the payment for the first month up front and then takes payments monthly after that. If the guest doesn't have the funds on their payment method, or cancels that payment method, and Airbnb cannot collect the funds at any point, there is nothing they can do about it and you could be stuck with a squatter.

 

Also, do you know about tenants rights in your area? This is something to seriously consider before doing any long term bookings. 

 

Airbnb's verification process is very limited compared to landlord or letting agency checks. For this length of stay, you want to get references, both from previous landlords and the person's employer. Perhaps also a credit check. You want a proper deposit, which is something Airbnb does not provide. You want landlord's insurance, because there is no guarantee of Aircover paying for damages, let alone covering you if the guest stops paying the rent.

 

I think, in most cases, for this length of stay, it is better to do a normal long term rental contract and take a deposit. Of course, you can use Airbnb to find the tenant and book the first month's 'trial'. Then, if you are happy, you organise the contract with the tenant directly. You will have both paid Airbnb handsomely already for helping you to find each other and handling the first month's payment. I don't think you need to continue paying fees for two years!

is actually the other way around.. I want to rent the house to guest for yearly.. because is 7 bed room huge garden swimming pool.. but I ended up just getting people just seeing and broke a day .. but no body need that huge house... using agency is actually better .. because suddenly a group of foreign teacher choose to stay there with a split rent it become cheaper

 

well it was there for 6 month some one else sold it because he saw the place well.. Airbnb only get commission when deal is under Airbnb .... but I agree with you ... renting house for yearly cannot be under a platform.. it will be to be to much fight may be or problem cause by the rules we have just to keep every one save.. 

 

is an old story .. I don't think is fair .. I could easily turn it to luxe

... but its back in the days when luxe is not even born..

 

just sharing..

 

so happy to be back here again

 

MANASUI

 

 

 

Jeffrey Bong
Quincy
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Martin3344! Out of curiosity, may I ask how much discount you tend to offer to returning/valued guests?

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Inna22
Level 10
Chicago, IL

Great topic!

City of Chicago has very tenant skewed laws for stays over 28 days so I have no interest in discounting those as I do want to discourage them. 

I enjoy nearly 100 percent occupancy in the summer so also no reason

In the winter I discount about 10-20 percent

My average stay is 3 days

Quincy
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Inna22!, Long time no see! 🙂 Hope all is well! 

 

What is your occupancy like during the winter? 

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@Quincy I guess it is zero now since I’ve just been suspended with no explanation given

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Inna22 

 

Oh no!

 

Are you sure though that you've been suspended? I can access four listings from your profile. Normally, when a host is suspended, you cannot see their listings. Or, did you have another listing that is currently suspended?