Airbnb Cleaning Fees Now Included in Total Price Seen in Search Results after Guests Complain of Excessive Fees and Chores.

Airbnb is now going to add cleaning fees to the total price in search. Guests complaining about high clean fees on social media have argued that staying in a hotel is now a more attractive option than booking an airbnb.

Facing this pressure from consumers, Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb updated how travelers see pricing on the booking platform.

I’ve heard you loud and clear—you feel like prices aren’t transparent and checkout tasks are a pain. That’s why we’re making 4 changes:

1. Starting next month, you’ll be able to see the total price you’re paying up front. pic.twitter.com/58zodrzU3g
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) November 7, 2022

Airbnb cleaning fees now including in total price

Airbnb cleaning fees will now be included in the total. Travelers will now be able to toggle on and off ‘Display total price’ which includes all fees, before taxes. Once a customer selects the toggle, they will be able to search by total cost of a booking.

Brian Chesky, when asked about what took so long to make the update, responded that this change took into account feedback from both guests and hosts. At first, they tested showing the total price at first glance. After solicited feedback, many test subjects were confused by the change. Taking the feedback into consideration, Brian elected to allow bookers to toggle if they want to search by total price or nightly rate.

Airbnb Cleaning Fees Now Included with Total Price in Search Results.

Airbnb prices are now more expensive.

The price of an airbnb is now displaying as more expensive. Clean fees have gone up 27.7% since October 2019 (through October 2022).

Airbnb hosts are passing the clean fee onto their guests.

Many airbnb hosts choose to pass the clean fee onto their guests. The flat clean fee makes booking an airbnb much more expensive. For example, a $75 a night rental may have a $120 clean fee. Booking this airbnb for only one night, the clean fee is almost double the nightly rate, so it is understandable why guests have complained.

Airbnb Review of Fees

In May of 2021, Airbnb launched a review of fees hosts charge their guests. Their main findings were:

Hosts need to set their own cleaning fees because they champion host autonomy and cannot control the factors that go into airbnb clean fees, such as home’s size, location, guest capacity, amenities and more.
Reminding airbnb hosts that 45% of listings do not charge a clean fee and cleaning fees should be kept affordable and attractive to guests
Clean fees on average are 10% of the total booking price
94% of airbnb reviews show that guests are mostly satisfied with the cleanliness standard of Airbnb as a platform
Explaining how occupancy taxes and service fees work

This move towards transparent pricing is a direct result of this review and social media backlash over excessive clean fees and chores.