Airbnb Overview

Our Channel Management feature is extremely powerful and can greatly simplify your channel advertising. Learn how it works by reading our Channel Management Overview article.  The most powerful part of our Channel Management is the Channel Integrations we have with certain channel partners.

Before considering Airbnb channel integration, OwnerRez recommends that all users read the following.

• 10 Things You Should Know About Airbnb
• Airbnb's Community Disturbance Policy
• Why Quality Matters on Airbnb
• Airbnb: Hosting Optimization
• Top tips to help improve your ranking in search results
• Improve your response rate and response time

OwnerRez has partnered with Airbnb to provide an integrated channel connection between the two systems. This allows OwnerRez users to easily distribute your existing property content, rates, rules and availability directly to Airbnb and receive back booking and guest information inside OwnerRez automatically.

OwnerRez has also implemented additional functionality for our Airbnb channel-connected users, which can be configured in OwnerRez, which is synced with Airbnb. In 2020, Airbnb introduced reservation screening technology to prevent disruptive parties globally with a 16-guest cap. Also, safety considerations like unfenced pools, nearby bodies of water, and climbing structures can now be added and edited. Additionally, with Airbnb entering the mid-and long-term bookings space, hosts can now configure long-term cancellation policies directly in OR.

• Who can use the Airbnb channel integration
• What you can do with the Airbnb channel integration
• Connecting the Airbnb channel integration
• Airbnb Host Fees
  • Simplified Pricing
    • Simplified Pricing Examples
  • Your Airbnb Settings
• Create an Airbnb Email Template
• Pros and Cons of the Airbnb channel integration

Who can use the Airbnb channel integration

There is no minimum number of properties required to use the Airbnb channel integration.  It's wide open to all users!  Even small mom-and-pop owners with 1 property are welcome to connect. If you're wondering how this compares to other channel integrations, check out our comparison matrix of the technical differences between channel integrations.

We highly encourage all OwnerRez users, no matter the size, to use this channel integration to manage their Airbnb listings instead of iCal sync (calendar import/export) and other manual syncing processes.  Our channel integration supports all of the same functionality that can be found on the Airbnb platform, including messaging, special offers, and reviews, so there is no advantage in continuing to use the platform side.

What you can do with the Airbnb channel integration

There are some functional limitations to the channel integration side of Airbnb but they are basically the same as the platform side of Airbnb.  Moving to the channel integration side will not change those limitations.  For instance, you may know that when moving to the channel integration side of Vrbo, you are allowed to use your own credit card processing because Vrbo will pass the guest's card credit to OwnerRez when the booking occurs.  Airbnb does not operate this way.  Airbnb continues to be the merchant of record for all payments past, present and future.

Here is a list of all channel integration functions, whether Airbnb integration supports it, and details about that support.

If you're wondering how these Airbnb functions compare to the other channel integrations, check out our comparison matrix of the functional differences between channel integrations.

Connecting the Airbnb channel integration

Airbnb is one of the rare channels that allows self-service connections.  In other words, you can connect OwnerRez to the Airbnb channel integration directly without having to ask permission or be approved by the channel.

We've written a detailed step-by-step connection document for the Airbnb channel integration.  Please follow this closely as it outlines each step of the process with pictures and explanations for what you're seeing.

If you haven't already read it, please also take a look at our Preparing to go channel-integrated document which discusses the steps you should take to get your OwnerRez data ready to be distributed to channels via channel integration and the tools you can use in OwnerRez to look for holes and errors.

Create an Airbnb Email Template

Users should follow the instructions on the Request Airbnb Guest Contact Information support article to create an intial Channel Template to collect Airbnb guest contact information. Once your Airbnb guest contact information has been entered into OR via the initial Channel Template, users can correspond with Airbnb guests via email and can create their own Airbnb Email Templates by following the Email Templates (OR recommended) support article.

While users can copy all of their email templates to create duplicate channel templates, it is not necessary, nor recommended because the more templates users have, the more confusion it may cause.

Airbnb Host Fees

Many Airbnb channel-connected users will choose the 3% split-fee pricing by selecting the Add Airbnb guest service fees to your price in their Airbnb Settings. You’ll pay a 3% service fee out of the price you set. Your guests will pay a service fee of up to 20%, which will be added to your nightly price.

However, some US-based "traditional hospitality" Professional Property listings, such as hotels, serviced apartments, boutique hotels, and bnbs, will be subject to Include all Airbnb service fees in your price aka the host-only fee model.  

OwnerRez has observed that even deactivated and Airbnb-disabled OR properties configured as hotels, serviced apartments, boutique hotels, and bnbs can force an account into an Airbnb Host Only fee model. Users can resolve this by deleting the affected properties entirely and reconnecting the Airbnb channel integration connection.

Simplified Pricing

As of December 7, 2020, the Simplified Pricing model, which includes a 15% host fee, is the only fee structure available for all software-connected hosts unless at least 51% of the listings on the account are located in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Uruguay, The Bahamas, Argentina, and Taiwan.

OwnerRez has observed that even properties listed on Airbnb that are deactivated or disabled, as well as cohosting listings in non-excluded countries, can still count towards the 51% threshold. This calculation may push an account into an Airbnb Host Only fee model. Airbnb's fee structure, known as Simplified Pricing, deducts a flat 15% host service fee from each payout and charges no service fee to the Airbnb guest.

Simplified Pricing Examples

If your goal is to keep your final Airbnb host payout, users will need to increase their rates accordingly on Airbnb.

This is the formula to use:

Your Airbnb Settings

Users can change their Service fees by logging into Airbnb and navigating to their Account > Payments & payouts > Service fee and switch the service fee tab to either:

If users have chosen to Include all Airbnb service fees in your price, in Airbnb, they should also select the Professional Hospitality Business = Yes option in their Airbnb channel integration settings screen in OwnerRez.

Once you connect via channel integration, if you select the "Include all Airbnb service fees" option (or if Airbnb does it automatically based on their listing location or property type rules), that setting will be disabled in Airbnb. If you want to switch back, you'll need to complete the following steps.

1. Fix whatever caused the account to be auto-converted by ensuring that a majority of your listings are US-based and any professional hospitality type listings have the property type changed in OwnerRez.
2. Disable the Airbnb channel integration in OwnerRez to enable the option again on Airbnb for the user to switch back.
3. Go into Airbnb and switch your settings back to guest paid service fee.
4. Come back to OwnerRez and re-enable your Airbnb channel integration.

OwnerRez automatically imports various Airbnb host fees to individual bookings as part of the Airbnb Transaction Sync, enabling our users to account for these different host fees or bill them to an owner. Current Airbnb host fees include Reservation host fees, Landlord Commission host fees, Co-host Adjustment fees, Cancellation fees (penalty), and Tax withholding fees and appear on individual Bookings > Transactions.

Pros and Cons of the Airbnb channel integration

Channel integrations are extremely powerful and take can a lot of work off your hands, but they can also be limiting and come with compromises.

Using the Airbnb channel integration will mean that your property changes - content, rates, rules - will all stay in sync from OwnerRez without you having to lift a finger.  If you've used our Channel Bridge tool in the past, you won't have to do that anymore.  If you've wondered "how long will it be until Airbnb calendar updates" when you get a booking, you won't have to wonder about that anymore either - no need to use iCal.

Other channel integrations allow you to get the guest's credit card passed over to OwnerRez so that you are the merchant of record, but the Airbnb channel integration does not do that.  All payments will continue to take place on the Airbnb platform.

You will not be able to see the guest's real email address, as other channel integrations provide, because Airbnb only passes a proxy (pass-through) email address for bookings.  However, you can always request the guest's email address after the booking comes in by using our automated email templates and triggers.

While Airbnb passes the booking, guest, and financial information to OwnerRez, it does not pass along any information about resolutions or resolution payouts. For more information, see our Airbnb Transaction Sync support article.

However, remember that the above limitations are the same for Airbnb whether you switch to the channel integration or continue using the platform.  Nothing is lost or gained when moving to channel integration - these limitations remain the same.  On the plus side, you'll be gaining the enormous benefit of managing property content, rates, rules and directly from OwnerRez without having to keep multiple channels in sync.  There is no restriction on who can join the Airbnb channel integration, so go ahead and get started today!