VRMA Administrator
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said the platform is honing its search results to show total price inclusive of all fees, which will be launched in December. The feature also will prioritize the total pre-tax trip charges instead of the nightly price in its search ranking algorithm. Chesky reported that once users activate the toggle, they will view the total price in search results, map listings, price filters, and listing pages; they also will be clearly able to see a breakdown of Airbnb's own service fee, as well as discounts and taxes for the property and the trip. These changes are being ushered in amid mounting customer complaints about hidden fees. Chesky further remarked that hosts should have "reasonable" checkout requests, like discarding food in the trash, turning off lights, and locking the doors, which should be displayed to guests before checkout. Yet Airbnb did not mention whether it would start penalizing hosts more directly, only that it "will continue to share more" as it implements the updates.
TechCrunch (11/07/22) Ivan Mehta
