Airbnb’s summer release is here — and it’s a big one.
The updates, including more refined maps and new payment options, come after a record year in 2022. And this year, Airbnb is expecting a whopping 300 million visitors.
Fifteen years after launching in 2008 and after weathering the pandemic, Airbnb’s growth has been driven by three things, Catherine Powell, Airbnb’s head of global hosting, told TPG in a phone interview: pent-up desire to travel and connection, people return. hosting as a new source of income and the company’s continued commitment to innovation.
Those three things are also a priority for the most recent release of the platform, which is currently rolling out worldwide.
“With this release, we’ve got almost 400 upgrades and innovations in the last few years,” explains Powell, “and here are the innovations listening [and] understand what our guests need, what our hosts need.”
Powell also explained that many of the improvements in this release are directly related to keeping the Airbnb experience more streamlined for guests — with more transparency in the booking process. In fact, she explains, Airbnb is innovating specifically in terms of “affordability, choice for guests [and] can price competitively for servers.”
After watching the new releases live, I can say that from now on, Airbnb is easier to use and more functional than ever. Here are just a few updates you should know about:
Airbnb is now much more transparent
One big upgrade is that Airbnb users can now see the price of a listing including fees (but no taxes) across the entire platform from the moment you start searching. So now you don’t have to worry about falling in love with a seemingly moderately priced listing, only to have your heart broken when you click it and the price skyrockets (thanks to something like the cleanup fees on the internet). normal).
Fee-inclusive prices are available in search results, price filters, maps, and listings pages. A quick click on the total price will also show an exact price breakdown so you know what fees are included and what they cost.
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With this feature — an extension of last year’s comprehensive price transparency — “it’s no surprise there’s a fee you wouldn’t expect,” Powell said.
And speaking of pricing, a cool new feature is that now in the US and Canada, guests can use Klarna to book vacations and pay in four interest-free installments over six weeks. On pre-orders over $500, US users can sign up for monthly installments.
Another way to make Airbnb more transparent is the payment process.
We’ve all heard stories of how booking on Airbnb comes with a list of paid chores that are more tedious than many of us do for our own homes. Over the past few years, Airbnb users have taken to social media to share some unexpected questions that suddenly make a vacation feel like work — even with the high cleaning fees that come with the booking.
Honestly, people are tired of it.
“We heard it loud and clear from the guests. I think everyone heard it,” Powell said. “We’ve spent a lot of time looking at data and analytics, and the majority of our servers are decent…but there are exceptions.”
To avoid those exceptions, users can now view full payment details on the property’s listing page before booking, meaning if you don’t start doing the tough cleaning chores better, you will know in advance.
Private room is coming back
When Airbnb first launched, its purpose was to help people find rooms in someone’s home. Now, the company is doubling down on that original functionality by introducing a category of Airbnb Rooms that will manage more than 1 million listings. Powell noted that rooms are one of the most affordable ways to use Airbnb, with more than 80% of private rooms costing less than $100 a night, with an average price of $67 a night.
Guests can now learn more about who they will be staying with through the “Host Passport” which allows hosts to share personal information such as some interesting facts and the language used. Now, guests can also easily find private rooms with private bathrooms or locked rooms.
Wishlists, maps and better customer support
If you’re like me, you have tons of Airbnb Favorites for destinations around the world that you’ve curated for years — and then never done anything with. Wish List has now been redesigned so you can easily search for Wish List properties within a selected range of dates to finally make that dream trip a reality. You can also make notes about each property to remember why you loved it in the first place.
With new and improved map features, guests can now find rentals closer to what got them somewhere in the first place. For example, instead of just searching for “Paris,” you can now find listings near the Eiffel Tower — and then see how long it might take you to walk there from the list. Other updates include faster performance, sticky pins when zooming in and around the map, and even mini-pins that can help you find more similar listings.
Another new feature is a dedicated 24/7 support group for those currently traveling. According to Airbnb, the team aims to answer 90% of calls in English in two minutes or less.
There will also be instant rebooking credits offered to travelers if the host cancels the reservation within 30 days of arrival so that the traveler can easily book a new trip for the trip.
What’s next?
The updates above are just a few of the many changes coming for travelers (and hosts) with Airbnb’s series of summer updates. But of course, at TPG, we’re always curious about what’s next.
“I think we will continue to listen, we will continue to understand what the needs of our guests and hosts are, and continue to innovate to meet those needs,” Mr. Powell said. “What are the innovations going to be in November? I don’t know yet, but we’re very, very focused on making sure we stay really active in terms of innovation.”
