Say goodbye to the total-price display toggle: Airbnb announced Monday that guests worldwide will see only the total price of stays, which includes any additional fees but not taxes.
Until now, many guests on desktop or mobile would first see the base nightly rate without fees, and a toggle button enabled guests to choose the total-price view. Exceptions included Europe, Canada, Australia, South Korea and California, where regulations mandated the display of total prices before taxes.
Airbnb introduced the toggle button in the U.S. in late 2022 in response to guest complaints about surprise fees at checkout, which at times became viral on social media.
For example, it wasn’t unheard of for a host to charge a $200 nightly rate, but to take on a $150 cleaning fee. Hosts also sometimes charge fees for pets, extra guests, early check-in/late checkout, hot tub use, utilities and security deposits, for example.
Airbnb said since introducing the toggle button, almost 17 million guests have used the feature when booking a stay, and now Airbnb has made the total price before taxes standard.
Competition With Hotels
The total-price display comes as Airbnb is trying to play up its affordability, especially compared to staying at hotels. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has said that the company’s original tagline was “a cheap, affordable alternative to a hotel.”
After the outrage about cleaning and other fees, Airbnb has taken several steps to encourage hosts to eliminate fees or to otherwise make their listings cheaper. Airbnb has:
- Prioritized listings with no cleaning fees in search results. As of early 2024, 300,00 hosts had removed or reduced cleaning fees.
- Airbnb introduced host tools that enabled them to view similar listings in their neighborhoods to see how the price of their listings compared with that of competitors.
- Airbnb has introduced search tips for guests to highlight potential discounts such as for weekly or monthly stays.
“We’re making it easier for guests to better understand the price they’ll pay, and for hosts to succeed in a more transparent marketplace,” Airbnb said in the announcement Monday. “We believe these improvements will continue to create positive guest experiences from search to stay while also supporting the growth of the Airbnb community around the world.”
Challenge for Competitors
Although Airbnb has introduced this pricing transparency, its rivals haven’t necessarily followed its lead.
Many property managers have continued to merely show the nightly rate up front.
For example, a Vacasa listing for a 7-night stay in a 2-bedroom property in Gulf Shores, Alabama in late April merely shows up front a nightly rate of $205 on average per night. Only when you click for more details do you see the total price includes $258 in fees.
However, online travel agency Vrbo shows the nightly rate and total price before taxes up front, and Booking.com displays the total price before taxes and fees, and shows the latter in a smaller font.
