Back in May, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky asked the platform’s users for the improvements they’d most like to see. Nearly 3,300 users responded with their suggestions, and now, Airbnb is actioning that feedback with five major updates, including a filter for pet-friendly accommodation and the introduction of verified listings.
“We spent the northern summer working on these, alongside other improvements aimed at making the end-to-end experience on Airbnb even better,” reads a press release.
Ahead, we’re sharing – in Airbnb’s words and ours, in layman’s terms – all the changes coming to the platform.
Lower Accommodation Prices
Airbnb has seen your cozzie livs struggles, and is introducing several initiatives “aimed at fostering affordability”. They include new pricing tools for Hosts, and ways that make pricing even more transparent for guests, like total price display.
“Almost 680,000 Hosts have used our new tool to compare their prices with similar listings nearby, while almost two thirds of Hosts offer weekly or monthly discounts,” says Airbnb. “Also, this year over 260,000 listings lowered or removed their cleaning fees – on top of nearly 3 million listings that currently don’t charge one.”
Better Accommodation Search
One of the top suggestions from the Airbnb community was to expand search capabilities. Now, if the accommodation search is limited, it’s adding more suggestions over similar dates.
It’s also added two new search filters: Airbnb pet-friendly stays and king-size beds. “With over a quarter of listings across the platform welcoming pets, it’s now even easier for guests to narrow their search by those that welcome furry friends,” says Airbnb.
“And with king-size beds featured in over a million listings, the new king-size bed filter will help guests easily find the homes that offer them.”
Verified Listings
Later this year, Airbnb will verify every listing in the US, Canada, Australia, UK and France with verified icons appearing on listings from February 2024. Then, around September 2024, Airbnb will verify listings in 30 more countries.
“We firmly believe guests shouldn’t have to worry about whether a listing is fake or isn’t located where it says it is,” says Airbnb. “This year, we blocked 157,000 fake listings from ever joining the platform and removed an additional 59,000.”
Better Customer Service
Finally, Airbnb is aiming to provide more timely, seamless support for users. It reports that in June, it answered 94% of calls in English within 2 minutes. It also extended this 2-minute response time to 9 more languages.
“From November, we’ll start making additional improvements to customer service so that when guests call, they’re going to be matched with the best agents to resolve their specific issue faster,” it says.
In May, Airbnb announced it was introducing Airbnb Rooms, a new category that would let guests more easily find rooms to rent. The idea behind the category was that it would be more affordable for guests and that guests would be more able to meet someone new and experience the area like a local with the help of their Airbnb host. Many listings offer access to shared spaces like the kitchen, living room or backyard.
“With Airbnb Rooms, we’re getting back to the idea that started it all – back to our founding ethos of sharing,” said Brian Chesky, Airbnb co-founder and CEO. “Airbnb Rooms are often more affordable than hotels, and they’re the most authentic way to experience a city. This is the soul of Airbnb.”
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