Nowadays everyone is looking for a good deal on their stay, and that’s why today’s article is about Airbnb and how to get the best price on a property. We’ll talk about some tricks and hacks, as well as show you how to negotiate with a host to get yourself a discount. If that’s something, you’re interested in continue reading!
How To Save Money With AirBnB?
1. Negotiate a price with Airbnb hosts
Most Airbnb guests don’t know this little trick exists and the best part about it is that it’s completely legal. On each listing, you will find a button called ‘Contact host’ which is essentially how you can get a host to send you a discount. How does it work? When you’re looking to book a place, usually you’ll press ‘Request to book’ and select the desired dates, however, if you do that you’ll most likely get approved for the booking at the listed price. But if you want to get yourself a better deal, you can press ‘Contact host’, put in your stay dates and this way you get “approved” without having to pay. What this does is allows you to speak with the host directly, but don’t forget that when you’re asking for a discount, you have to be respectful and considerate.
When you’re writing a message, we advise you to introduce yourself first and talk about the desired dates without asking for any deals, after you’ve gotten a response is when it’s better to ask the host. Don’t forget that the host doesn’t have to give you a special offer, so find the right time to ask for it. For example, if you ask for a discount on property 3 months prior, the host will have enough time to book the place for the set price. That’s why you should ask for a discount when there’s a week or two left before the date because that’s when they will want to make sure their unit is busy and agree. You other negotiating option is when you’re looking to book for a longer period of time, that might give you the opportunity to ask for a better price.
2. Get pre-approved on Airbnb
If you’re looking for good deals on a listing, but you don’t want to be charged immediately when you request a booking, you should contact the host. When you do as you already read in the previous tip, you can ask for a discount, and if the host agrees, they’ll send you a ‘Special offer’.
Even with that option you still have to put in the dates of your potential stay, and most hosts will go ahead and pre-approve you even if you’re simply asking a question. And if you’ve asked for a discount a few days before the discussed dates, they will most likely you send you a ‘Special offer’ to fill in their empty spots.
3. Book more nights
Many Airbnb hosts offer discounts for extended stays such as weekly and monthly ones. The first thing you have to do is check if the listing you’ve liked has that option and if they do how many nights is it. Even though you might find this unbelievable in some cases, it may be cheaper to book more nights then you intent do, just to get a better deal on your booking.
You might find it cheaper to book seven nights instead of six, even if you don’t plan on staying the last night. Sometimes it can be more affordable to book 30 nights instead of 28, because the listing you’ve chosen is located in a city that has occupancy tax which can be removed for a longer stay, saving you some cash.
4. Get the address of the property
For some reason, Airbnb doesn’t show you the exact address of a property, but if you want to make sure that the place you’ve chosen will be in the right spot, you can message your host and ask for some more details. You can tell them that you want to get a better feel of the area and check out what’s around.
Our advice is to be careful and not make them feel uneasy, don’t push if they don’t want to give you the exact address, ask for the street it’s on or something of that sort. What you want to achieve is to get the needed information without disturbing your future host.
Depending on the person they might give you a cross street or the exact address, which can be very helpful for your holiday plans. Keep in mind that this is someone’s home and you have to be considerate about it.
5. Visit before booking
For most Airbnb guests, this might not be a possible option, but in some situations, it can be a very helpful one. If you’re already in town, you can simply contact the host and ask to check out the place before you book it. This might be very convenient if you’re looking for a place that you’ll stay in for a longer period of time, making sure the listing is exactly what they say it is.
Final words
Always be informed and prepared! Airbnb gives you an impressive amount of options to choose from and if you follow any of the tips above you might get yourself a sweet deal on a listing. Last but not least we want to give you one last advice, and that’s to always pay through the platform, paying in cash won’t protect you from scams since you won’t be able to prove it. If you want to share your tips on how to get a better deal or if you have a question regarding the subject, drop a comment below.
Hey Chip! – Huge golden nugget to visit the Airbnb before actually booking. Never ever thought of doing that – great idea! Definitely helps with expectation setting that isn’t covered in the listing or in guest reviews – e.g., WiFi speed.