Host Early Pay Fee

Airbnb sent me an email saying my account was elgible for early pay. Basically this new feature allows me to get paid 48 hours after a guest books, instead of waiting a day after they check in. It says each payment will have an Host Early Pay fee, but doesn't tell me how much the fee is. Does anyone know?

@CharlesandSteph0 , didn't get the email and still don't find it on my desktop. I wouldn't use it anyways, just want to make sure it's not their new default system, slipping it in automatically, so that you have the option to opt out, but first you're in..... the wording that was posted somewhere above made me think that might be the case, me the lawyer dissecting that statement -

just like nobody told us that they tiered the service fee subtracted from  hosts now as 3% for flexible cancellation, 4% for moderate, 5% for strict.One finds out about such things here, not in any notification from Airbnb. Bottomline, they are looking to raise their fees to hosts, without causing an uproar, just gently slipping it in here and there.

No way! Since when do they charge a different fee for strict cancellation? I never heard this...

@Jason6, these things change all the time, sometimes on a trial basis only, then they change back... go figure, we just need to be aware of it. The tiered service fees according to one's cancellation policy, I clearly saw it spelled out one time, now I only see it like " may range between 3-5%, depending on the cancellation policy", so it is back to wishy washy, not clearly defined, just watch your payout and see what percentage the service fee is. I just checked on my latest payout, having a moderate cancellation in place, I was prepared for a subtraction of 4%, but it (still?) was 3%.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1857/what-are-airbnb-service-fees

Does any one know if this will be applied to reservations that have already been made, or just to reservations made after I sign up.

 

My own question answered via phone call - it only applies to new bookings, after you sign up.

 

Thank you. I was wondering the same thing and you've answered my question. Do you think you're going to use this feature?

When I called about the Host Early Pay Fee, I was told that it only applied to new bookings. However, when we decided to try it, it did pay us for an already-scheduled booking.

Ed-And-Terry0
Level 3
Los Angeles, CA

Funny, I just posted the same question. Thanks for finding out the answer. There is another question about this. What happens if the guest cancels the reservation after the booking fee has been paid out? Does Airbnb take the money out of your account or do they deduct it from another payout?

 

Thanks.

They said if you're paid for a reservation that gets cancelled they will take the balance from your next payment.

@Kalin-And-Marquis0 , who said that, and when? I wouldn't so easily trust what Airbnb representatives tell us upon an inqiry. Often enough, as things change all the time, they haven't caught up with the newest changes and give out wrong/outdated info.

I seem to have read recently somewhere (can't remember though where, thus can't make a link) that Airbnb is not deferring refunds and such anymore to take it out of our next payment, but that they now take it out of our accounts right away. That  makes total sense from a business viewpoint:  like in this scenario, the host would be sitting on some $$$ that are actually not his to keep and Airbnb would let him keep it for a while, like a free loan actually, until the host's next reservation money comes in? host could never have a next reservation, could cancel his account, could disappear..... so the retaking of the money right away only makes sense.

This is correct @Annette33

 

Some hosts have to supply their credit card number and they charge the host for the refund instead of taking it from a future trip as there was some scamming issues.  I have not seen this lately but was dealong with hosts with this issue.

 

David

Superhost Ambassador ~ Host Club Community Leader ~ Community Expert ~ Experienced Co-Host

Birgit0
Level 3
Long Beach, CA

I think that the fee is a huge a scam.  Airbnb already collects the money from the guests.  They earn interest income on that money. They have no additional costs by making the pay out sooner.

@Birgit0 - 

Airbnb would actually be losing a huge amount of interest by paying out funds early. I'm surprised they would offer it. It doesn't seem like the percentage charged would come close to the interest they'd be losing. 

 

Jude

My point exactly..... Why should they be making money with other people's funds. Some if my guests book 1 year in advance. 

Hotels don't charge the customer until they actually use the service.  Thus practice is a negative for some potential guests.

When I have booked a hotel they have wanted paying then and there.

David