AirBNB Travel Hacks

[hgjjgkj]

Hi,

There are a ton of travel hacks out there for Hotels, Airline miles etc, mostly related to credit card churning. Does anyone know of any similar techniques for AirBNB?

[Padonak]

Always be a good guest and have a lot of great reviews. Always leave great reviews if hosts deserve them.

Before traveling to a new place, find a bunch of airbnb apartments and put together a standard message template: who you are, why you need the place, a couple of questions about things not specified in the description (e.g. street address/location, wifi, etc). Send that message to all the hosts of the apartments you are considering. If you have a good reputation on AirBnB and want to stay longer term, you can also politely ask for a small discount.

Also pay attention to booking flexibility (fixed/moderate/flexible). I prefer flexible because I can always cancel even in the middle of my stay and just pay for one more night.

I also target places with at least a few good reviews and a 5 star rating or close. Another strategy is to target new hosts who probably offer lower prices and/or are more willing to negotiate. I skip places with at least one bad review unless it's clear the reviewer is a weirdo. Also, AirBnB leaves automatic reviews if a host cancels a booking before the trip and how many days in advance they cancelled. This to me is like a black mark: i never contact those hosts. The only exception is if it happened a long time ago and there are many recent great reviews and high average rating to make up for that.

[birdiegirl]

Haven't tried them myself but there are a couple credit cards that let you use points/miles to "erase" travel costs.  I believe it was the Capital One Venture and Citi Thank You.  I would think as long as airbnb codes as travel on your statement that could work. 

[Saving in Austin]

AirBNB and VRBO do not code as travel on your credit cards.

It's something like real estate/rent.

Travel miles and points do not work the same as hotels.

[secondcor521]

There are three I know of:

1.  Sometimes there are referral codes or coupon codes.  I think I get them after I've just completed an AirBnB stay.  I think they're something like "Refer a friend and after they register and stay once, you get $20 off your next stay" but I don't remember the exact details (it wasn't that compelling of an offer for me to keep track of it).

2.  If you've stayed with a host before and decide to stay with them again, you can try contacting them and see if they'd be willing to rent to you outside the AirBnB platform.  This requires trust on both sides of the transaction, but you can avoid the platform's fees.

3.  Simple one, but many hosts will discount your stay somewhat if you stay for a certain period of time.  A week stay might be cheaper than six days, or the seventh night may be very cheap after the discount.  I think this is fairly common in tourist destinations.

[Trifle]

If you've stayed with a host before and decide to stay with them again, you can try contacting them and see if they'd be willing to rent to you outside the AirBnB platform.  This requires trust on both sides of the transaction, but you can avoid the platform's fees.

This is a good one, and I've done this even with a new AirBnB -- where I never stayed before.  I let the owner know I was looking for a place for x number of days, told her I was totally fine taking it "off line" from AirBnB and even signing a short term lease if she wanted, and would she be interested.     

[terran]

If you've stayed with a host before and decide to stay with them again, you can try contacting them and see if they'd be willing to rent to you outside the AirBnB platform.  This requires trust on both sides of the transaction, but you can avoid the platform's fees.

This is a good one, and I've done this even with a new AirBnB -- where I never stayed before.  I let the owner know I was looking for a place for x number of days, told her I was totally fine taking it "off line" from AirBnB and even signing a short term lease if she wanted, and would she be interested.   

This is fine if it works for you, but just for context for anyone unaware, this is very much against the AirBNB terms of service, and I'm sure would get either/both parties banned from the site. That's why secondcor521 suggests this only be done with a host you already know/trust. It's a risk for both parties, especially the host if they make their living from AirBNB (which some do).

[rubybeth]

AirBNB and VRBO do not code as travel on your credit cards.

It's something like real estate/rent.

Travel miles and points do not work the same as hotels.

Huh, back in 2014 and 2015, it coded as travel on my Barclay card and I was able to use points to reimburse. I'd contact the credit card about this.

My tips for AirBnB in general: places run by women (or couples) seem to have more of the general "comforts of life" type things, with throw pillows, kitchens with some basics, etc. I also like to Google walk the neighborhood to see if it's near conveniences like transport, restaurants, groceries, etc.

[Trifle]

If you've stayed with a host before and decide to stay with them again, you can try contacting them and see if they'd be willing to rent to you outside the AirBnB platform.  This requires trust on both sides of the transaction, but you can avoid the platform's fees.

This is a good one, and I've done this even with a new AirBnB -- where I never stayed before.  I let the owner know I was looking for a place for x number of days, told her I was totally fine taking it "off line" from AirBnB and even signing a short term lease if she wanted, and would she be interested.   

This is fine if it works for you, but just for context for anyone unaware, this is very much against the AirBNB terms of service, and I'm sure would get either/both parties banned from the site. That's why secondcor521 suggests this only be done with a host you already know/trust. It's a risk for both parties, especially the host if they make their living from AirBNB (which some do).

Yes, understood and points well taken.

[Padonak]

There is one airbnb travel hack i know about (don't know if it still works). If you have a wells fargo card which gives you $100 travel credit (eg Propel World), you can buy an aibnb gift card through United miles shopping app and it will be coded as an airline purchase. This worked in August, don't know if they closed the loophole yet. You can search Doctor of Credit website for details.

[Bracken_Joy]

AirBNB and VRBO do not code as travel on your credit cards.

It's something like real estate/rent.

Travel miles and points do not work the same as hotels.

Huh, back in 2014 and 2015, it coded as travel on my Barclay card and I was able to use points to reimburse. I'd contact the credit card about this.

My tips for AirBnB in general: places run by women (or couples) seem to have more of the general "comforts of life" type things, with throw pillows, kitchens with some basics, etc. I also like to Google walk the neighborhood to see if it's near conveniences like transport, restaurants, groceries, etc.

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/which-purchases-count-as-travel-chase-sapphire-reserve-preferred/
Chase Sapphire categorizes them as travel.

[Poeirenta]

AirBnB codes as travel on the Barclay Arrival Plus. Just used my travel credit on a stay a couple of months ago.

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

[merula]

My AMEX (Starwood Preferred Guest) coded AirBNB as travel this February, and a different AMEX (Delta) did the same in 2016.

I would think that if any card were to not consider AirBNB travel, it'd be a hotel-branded card, but it might be a situation where AMEX controls the categories.