Airbnb will soon show you the actual total price you’ll have to pay when you search for a rental on the platform. Imagine that — no more surprise high-priced cleaning fees snuck in at checkout.
Users have long complained about fees hidden from search. As it stands, Airbnb prioritizes the nightly rate, which doesn’t include fees that get tacked on later. Most notably among those fees: the dreaded “cleaning fee” a host asks for, despite them often requiring the vacationer to do a suspicious amount of cleaning. Why pay a cleaning fee and then also have to wash sheets? Those fees used to pop-up only after the user got past the search process.
Airbnb said that come December, when you search, you’ll be shown the actual total price before taxes.
The company wrote in a press release:
Starting in December, we will begin rolling out the option to display total price in countries without existing price display requirements. Total price will include all fees before taxes and be shown in search results, as well as on the map, filter, and listing page. Before confirming their booking, guests can still view a full price breakdown that shows Airbnb’s service fee, discounts, and taxes.
Airbnb also noted that guest would no longer be subjected to undue cleaning requirements. I guess Airbnb has been seeing the tweets and memes.
“Guests should not have to do unreasonable checkout tasks such as stripping the beds, doing the laundry, or vacuuming when leaving their Airbnb,” the company wrote in its press release. “But we think it’s reasonable to ask guests to turn off the lights, throw food in the trash, and lock the doors — just like they would when leaving their own home.”
So go ahead and look for your perfect getaway on Airbnb. Finally you’ll be greeted with what you’ll actually have to fork over.
