Concerned About Host Safety and Control: Discounts Without Consent & No Guest Photos

[Dinamarta-Jose0]

We’ve been hosting with dedication and professionalism since we joined Airbnb, maintaining clear house rules, excellent guest experiences, and a peaceful home environment. But this year,  has been deeply frustrating.

Without our consent, Airbnb applied a 10% discount on reservations that used the “non-refundable” option — a setting we originally selected for cancellation protection only. We were never informed that it would include a discount. This has hurt our income and, worse, we’ve noticed a disturbing trend: guests who book under that automatic discount tend to violate house rules and act entitled, as if they were paying full price and deserve special treatment.

But our biggest concern is safety.

We selected the requirement to only allow bookings from guests with real profile photos, yet we keep receiving reservations from accounts using avatars or generic images. Airbnb has the information, but we — the hosts — are the ones opening our homes without knowing who we are letting in.

In a time of growing social and political tension, this is not only unfair — it’s dangerous. Media outlets show photos of wanted individuals daily. Not being able to see who we are hosting puts us and our families at risk, including from mistaken identity in potential police or immigration-related actions.

As hosts, we open our homes in good faith — but without access to even a verified photo of the person entering, we’re left completely vulnerable to unintended consequences.

Airbnb says we are “partners,” but these decisions are made without our knowledge or approval. How can we be partners when control over our own homes is slowly being taken away?
We would love to hear from other hosts:

What steps are you taking to protect yourselves?

[Joan2709]

@Dinamarta-Jose0 

Yes...frustrating. However, the burden of responsibility for understanding Airbnb's sometimes convoluted and vague wording on policies falls on Hosts. Hosts are forced to put on their "lawyer hats" and scrutinize Airbnb's policies for potential loopholes - and there are a lot of loopholes. Remember, Airbnb will suggest you do or allow things that are not necessarily in your best interest as a Host - but ARE in their best interest in obtaining bookings and their service fees. Other platforms are no different, as they all are in business to make a profit and that comes from the service fees. 

Guest Profile Photo

For example, if choosing Guest Profile Photo required, does NOT mean the guest has to use a photo of their face - they can create their profile with Airbnb using a legit photo, then just change the photo to a cartoon, animal or avatar, and that satisfies the requirement of a "photo" for booking purposes. You would have to add something to your Addl House Rules that an actual photo of the face that matches their legit government ID is required and that they will be required to show the ID at checkin. You can't ask for a copy of their photo ID ahead of time, or at check-in unless it is a regulatory requirement. 

Guest Profile Photo

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/3386#section-heading-4-0

Require Guest Profile Photo for Booking

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2377

Non-Refundable Option - Discount

The 10% discount is shown on the Non-Refundable option when you select it. Did you not notice that when choosing your cancellation policies? Most guests aren't going to book non-refundable unless they get some sort of discount. We don't use this discount as we have found that once guests realize they can't get a refund, they will make up fake reasons to get one and contact Airbnb to get the refund (safety issue, smells, bugs, mold, cleanliness issues, discrimination, etc.). These are all hard to disprove and usually the guest gets the refund and can leave a negative review that you can't get removed:

Cancellation Policies

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/475

Non-Refundable Option - Host

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2600

Non-Reundable Option - Guest

ttps://www.airbnb.com/help/article/3045

[Dinamarta-Jose0]

Hi Joan,

I really agree with your frustration — and I’m also relieved to know I’m not alone in this. Many of us are dealing with similar situations, often feeling ignored or even mistreated by Airbnb agents who don’t offer clear solutions, and instead just send links that have little or nothing to do with our concerns.

I’ve already updated my House Rules thanks to the suggestion you gave about requiring a real face photo . That was very helpful!

This year, I had two separate reservations where the person who booked was not the one who showed up. I reported both cases to Airbnb Support right away — but unfortunately, I didn’t receive any real help or meaningful response that made me feel supported as a Host. One of those accounts even had a profile photo of just the blue sky!

Your message helped me a lot, especially because I wasn’t sure if I could cancel in those situations without being penalized. Now I feel more confident and prepared — thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience and insight!

Warm regards,

Dina

[Helen3]

I think you are a little confused @Dinamarta-Jose0  you absolutely did agree to offer a 10% discount for guests using the non refundable option (that's why I don't have this option turned on) .

Why else would guests select this option if there was no financial incentive for them to do so? 

I have profile only photo option on my listing  and always get guest photos .....if you have guests who aren't providing photos ask them to provide a profile photo and if they don't you can ask Airbnb to cancel . 

[Dinamarta-Jose0]

Hi Helen,

Thank you for your comment. I’d just like to clarify that when I first enabled the “non-refundable” policy, it was not automatically offering a discount. That 10% discount was added later without my awareness or consent — and by the time I noticed it, several reservations had already been made under those terms. I’ve now removed the option from my listing entirely.

Unfortunately, we’re still paying the price for that change. Right now, for example, we have a guest who booked with the non-refundable discount, and instead of enjoying this beautiful Boston summer after 8 months of cold, he chose to turn on the heater without telling us, directly violating our house rules.

We contacted Airbnb immediately, but as often happens, the response was neutral and no real support was given to us as hosts.

I really appreciate the advice about requesting profile photos — and I’ve already started updating our House Rules based on the helpful suggestions shared here in the community.

Warm regards,