Airbnb: what kind of service is this

The review will focus on Airbnb. What it is? This is the name of the service for booking accommodation. Thanks to him, in almost any country you can find for rent even a chic mansion, even a simple trailer. In the article, we will consider how to book a house and get a good discount.

About service

We said above that this is Airbnb. Most often it is used by people who like a separate vacation. The service is especially relevant for families with children, because it is necessary to take into account the age and preference of the child in food, but this is not done in every hotel.

Another argument in favor of the service are rather low prices compared to other sites.

Of course, the first time a person is lost on a resource and does not know what to do next, but over time it passes, speed appears, and booking takes no more than a quarter of an hour.

So what is Airbnb? The magic wand of all travelers, but first things first.

registration

To use the service, you must register on the site. Registration will be completed only after a new user confirms it. This is not difficult, because everyone in their life was registered somewhere, which means that there will be no problems.

True, not everyone knows that Airbnb is a service on which the user receives permanent buns. For example, if a user signs up at someone else’s invitation, they receive $ 20 in their account. It is important that the invitation is sent by another user of the service, only in this case the money will come. The bonus can be spent on booking accommodation throughout the year. This is an absolute plus, because money can be used, they will not hang on the account just for beauty.

So, let's move on. After clicking on the link and accepting the bonus, the site system offers to log in. It is very convenient that this can be done through a Google or Facebook account, that is, you do not have to remember a new password and login. If you come across a user who is not sitting on social networks, then he will also be able to register using e-mail.

After registration, the account must be confirmed, now we will explain how to do it.

Account Verification

Airbnb service (rental housing) has its own rules, according to which account confirmation is required. How to do it? Here is a quick guide.

On the site you need to find the line “Edit Profile”. By clicking on it, you will go to the line "Trust and Confirmation." What is considered confirmation?

1. Phone number. This is to ensure that during booking it was convenient to communicate. You can turn out to be not only a guest, but also a host, and people come across completely different, someone will not be stopped by the distance and prices for telephone communications.
2. Email. Not only messages, but also notifications come to the confirmed address, which is very convenient.
3. Social network. We have already said above that you can connect a social network to Airbnb (rental housing), but if it is not there or is not there, then this is not necessary.
4. Reviews Nowadays, people do not buy anything and do not use services without feedback. Accordingly, the better you acted as a guest or performed the duties of a host, the more positive opinions will be left about you. This also increases confidence.
5. Photo. In order to avoid problems after the transaction, homeowners order professional shooting of an apartment or house. Such photographs accurately convey the state of housing and its dimensions.

To earn trust in the service, you need to get the "Confirmed Profile" sign. It is by looking at it that other users will evaluate your page as potentially possible. Nothing other than a completed profile attracts tourists, and if you also tell a little about yourself, then the guest or tenant will also be for you a pleasant company for the rest.

Why you need confirmation

Not only guests very carefully choose housing. The owners of apartments and houses sometimes very carefully study the profiles of all guests and have a number of their requirements. And here such a principle works - the more you know about, the more likely your transaction is. To confirm the request, the landlord has days, and therefore the profile of the applicant should be as informative as possible.

Another important point is that the Airbnb service (rental apartments) provides guarantees for two parties. The property owner will always be compensated for the damage caused by the guests, and the guest can be sure that the apartment will correspond to the description. Everything sounds great, but there is a condition. To get all these buns, you need to deal with financial issues through the service.

By the way, if suddenly you brought several profiles on yourself, the site administration can block you for life. This is due to the fact that the site employees doubt the decency and honesty of the multi-page and therefore try to avoid their appearance on the service in every possible way.

Selection and reservation of housing

When registration is successfully overcome, it is time to do what the site is designed for - search for an apartment and booking. For convenience, we configure Airbnb in Russian. You can also choose the currency that is most convenient. To configure the service for yourself, you need to go down to the very bottom of the site.

How to find housing? In the search line of the service we write the country in which it is necessary to rent a house, the date of settlement and the number of guests. After you click the Search button, the system will begin to search for convenient options. By the way, children under six years old can be omitted if desired.

Under the search box there are options for housing that can be rented on Airbnb. If there are special items, then in the upper left corner you can find a filter, thanks to which additional parameters are configured.

The application also contains a map, which is very convenient, because you can find offers in a specific area of ​​the city or even on a specific street. On the map you can see the approximate cost of rent in different urban areas.

Important points

In Russia, Airbnb is only gaining momentum, so not everyone knows how to work with it and, as a result, does not get what they want. How to avoid this? Carefully watch all the filters and choose the right one. Let's get it right.

The type of accommodation is different. For example, the service offers to rent a house or apartment as a whole, and live with the owner. The last option involves a separate room for living. You can rent a place in the common room with the owner or other tourists - this is the most economical way.

The price is also configured on the service. The traveler simply sets the range, and the site already calculates the average price and offers options. What determines the cost? As a rule, it is affected by the location of the living space, the type of apartment or house, and, of course, seasonality. Popular options are parsed quickly, so you should take care in advance. But still there is a way to save.

For example, new options without reviews are set at a lower cost, because owners need to secure the trust of travelers. On the one hand, it’s scary to give money for a pig in a poke, but on the other hand, you can get luxury apartments at a bargain price. After a while, reviews will appear, and the price will jump every five times.

All other requirements - the availability of the Internet, the number of bathrooms, bedrooms and other things - can be entered by clicking on "Filters" and ticking the box. As you can see, Airbnb support has everything.

You can not only choose the district of the city, but also read the recommendations on the site about each one. The bad thing is that basically there are represented large cities such as Paris, London, Tokyo, but, nevertheless, it is better than nothing. Such a function is also useful to those who travel for the first time and do not navigate in the city.

Instant reservation

What does it mean? To book accommodation with this mark, you do not need to wait until the owner approves you. Money is debited from the account at the time of booking confirmation, and the only thing left is to agree with the owner on the transfer of keys.

So it turns out that booking on Airbnb can be quite pleasant and fast, you just need to choose the right ad.

Discounts and reviews on the service

There are quite a few discounts on Airbnb. For example, renting a house for seven or eight days will be slightly cheaper than five. And there are many such cases, you just need to look.

As for the reviews, you must read them. After all, it’s from them that it’s more clear about housing than from the most professional photographs. You need to pay attention to additional living conditions, a description of the housing. Some hosts charge extra for late guests. Of course, all this is prescribed in the rental conditions, but if the traveler is inattentive or lazy, then he just did not read it, which means that by the end of the vacation he will get an unpleasant surprise.

The living conditions of previously unplanned guests are also spelled out in the description, so do not be lazy and read.

Cancel reservation

In addition to discounts on Airbnb and conditions, you must also know the cancellation policy. If you are still not sure what you are going to go, then look for apartments with flexible conditions of reservation. So that you don’t get confused, we will tell you about the cancellation conditions.

1. Flexible. If a person cancels the reservation a day before arrival, the owner will return all the money.
2. Strict. Only half of the amount is refunded and then, subject to cancellation of the reservation one week before arrival.
3. Moderate. The owner will return the full amount, but you need to warn about changing plans in five days.
4. Super strict 30 days. We are talking about the refund of half the payment in case of refusal 30 days before arrival.
5. Super strict 60 days. The essence of the condition is the same as in the previous paragraph.
6. Long term. If you have booked accommodation for more than a month, then in case of cancellation back you will receive a monthly advance. True, this will only happen if homeowners are warned for 30 days.

Since Russians have not yet fully mastered Airbnb, there are often misunderstandings due to the amount of return. To avoid this, remember: the cleaning fee and service charge are not refunded under any condition of cancellation.

What is a cleaning fee? European apartment owners often add cleaning fees to the rental price. The amount varies from 10 to 30 dollars and depends on the desire of the owner. To choose the best option, you need to read the terms of the lease correctly, otherwise your expenses will increase many times.

In addition to the fact that the irbnb rental service offers many discounts, some owners also add a discount on their reservation. This should be read in detail in the rules.

How to pay for a reservation

The service contains a lot of things: discounts, promotional codes, Airbnb coupons. But the main advantage remains the reservation of housing, but not everyone understands how to pay for the reservation.

After the apartment is selected, it is time to pay. And there are two options:

1. Instant booking. In this case, the money is immediately debited from the card.
2. Normal reservation. In such a situation, you must first send a request to the owner of the apartment, and only after confirmation the money will be withdrawn from the card.

What to write in the request? To rent an apartment on Airbnb, you must indicate in the letter to the owner when you are traveling how many people. In addition, in the same letter you can ask about what interests, for example, there is Internet in the house, free parking nearby and more.

It is important to remember that several requests cannot be sent, because after confirmation the money is withdrawn from your card, which means that in case of repeated requests you will pay the reservation several times.

As for the language, then Airbnb rooms is an English-language service, in the sense that most of them are Europeans. For this reason, the request is best sent in English. If you don’t know him, then don’t be in a hurry to be upset, because any translator will cope with the letter, whether it’s Yandex or Google. Do not worry about not knowing the language, because it is possible that the second side does not know it either.

When booking an apartment for several people, do not forget to indicate their number.

Now for filling out your billing information. Airbnb in Moscow and around the world has the same columns for payments. What should be done? Choose what the payment will go through: bank card or PayPal. Next, fill in the billing address. It is not necessary to write the address for registration here, the actual coordinates will suffice.

Conversion

To make booking an apartment on Airbnb as easy as possible, you need to choose the right currency. You must choose the one that matches your bank card with which payment will be made. If this is not done, then the site itself will convert the payment, and not the fact that you will like the result. This is especially noticeable with large amounts.

As soon as the landlord approves the reservation, SMS will be sent to the applicant’s phone, and an e-mail will be sent. The latter contains the phone number of the owner and the exact address of the apartment. It is noteworthy that prior to payment this information is not available to the guest.

As soon as all messages have arrived, we can assume that housing on Airbnb has been found and will be waiting for you. All arising issues can now be discussed directly with the owner of the apartment.

Airbnb apartment rentals: pros and cons

To understand how reliable the service is, let's summarize. So, what is the advantage of renting through the service?

1. This is the broadest housing service worldwide. All photos and reviews are real, which is very important. Indeed, travelers often travel somewhere for the first time and have little idea of ​​what awaits them.
2. Prices. Renting on the site will be many times cheaper than living even in budget hotels. The kitchen is a plus, that is, it will be possible to save on food.
3. Reliability. Financial transactions go through the service, which means that fraud is excluded and the money will reach its goal. Even if you want to cancel your reservation, the funds will still be returned. In situations where the owner of the housing is to blame, you will not lose anything either, because the problem will be fixed and new apartments provided.
4. Simplicity. It seems that the site is too complicated, in fact, everything is clear and understandable. For users there is round-the-clock support with employees who speak Russian. Yes, and the site itself can be translated into Russian in the settings.
5. Full immersion. If you live in an apartment with the owner or just communicate with the local population, you will get invaluable experience and a guide. It’s also a good way to practice your language.
6. Booking confirmation. It is no secret that foreign consulates require confirmation of their reservation. So, receipts from the service are accepted at the consulates without any additional documents.

It sounds more than good, doesn't it? But what about the cons? Let's consider them too.

1. Service Commission. It is equal to 15% and is removed for each reservation. But do not consider this as a huge drawback, because any service or site needs funding.
2. Full prepayment. It is being done in order to protect the owners of apartments or houses - and this too can be understood.
3. Human factor. The owner of the apartment can cancel the reservation even the day before the arrival of the tourist, and he has the right to do so. Of course, the money will return to the applicant, but the nerve cells will not be able to recover.
4. Strict cancellation policy. Usually, the owners choose more loyal conditions, but there are those who fight to the maximum. Agree, it is not so nice to lose half the amount, because a person can cancel a reservation for various reasons.
5. A new person at the service. Sometimes the receiving party may refuse to book simply because the profile does not have reviews and information. This is because people are afraid of scammers and are trying to protect themselves.

Goodies for users

To attract people, the service provides many discounts. Let's see which ones:

1. Airbnb first booking coupon. Only new users get it. By the way, since 2016, the terms of provision have changed somewhat, but more on that later.
2. Discount for users who have long been on the site. It is about 11 dollars.
3. Discount for inviting a friend. The amount is pretty impressive - $ 100.
4. Corporate customers receive a discount of $ 50.
5. Seasonal coupons. Their amount may vary as well as for residents of different countries.
6. Gift Certificate. Given for help or service.

So, let's talk about each bonus separately. The coupon for the first reservation is received by an active new user who has registered by invitation. If you register without an invitation, then do not count on a discount. But immediately after registering with an invite, $ 20 comes to the bonus account. They can be spent on booking apartments. You can use the coupon within 12 months of receipt. The second condition is the amount of reservation. For the discount to be activated, the reservation must be no less than 78 dollars.

It is important that the coupon for the first reservation can be used only once, it cannot be combined with other discounts and certificates, even after canceling the reservation the coupon is considered spent, they cannot pay for cleaning the apartment.

Booking and discount

We already said above, the site is constantly developing new bonuses, discounts, Airbnb promotional codes, but they have not yet described the procedure for use. This is what we will do. So, you found a home for $ 110 for 4 nights, how does the discount work? It is immediately deducted from the amount of the reservation. Now you can click on the "Request Booking" button. Further, everything happens according to the usual scenario.

What if the reservation costs less than 78 dollars? Nothing, the discount stays in place, you can use it another time.

Invite your friends

Immediately after registering for the service, you become a member of the system, which means you can invite your acquaintances and friends. This is beneficial for both parties, because friends will also receive a discount of $ 20, not to mention you. So how to earn 100 dollars?

1. If the invited friend rented a house, then you will receive $ 20 in your account.
2. When a friend, registered by invitation, has leased his home, you will receive $ 87.

All accrued bonuses are visible in your account, they are summarized. Each bonus for an invited friend is a one-time bonus; the coupon is valid for a year. The maximum discount on rental housing is 5 thousand dollars. By the way, bonuses are not cumulative with seasonal discounts. The coupon is considered used if you cancel your reservation or make a lease for more than $ 78.

All About Promotional Codes

If you enter a certain combination of letters and numbers, you can get a discount on rental housing at $ 11.

So what airbnb promotional codes are there?

1. POLOGNE2015. It operates not only in Europe, but also in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, and Poland.
2. CROATIE2015. It works in Croatia, Europe, Belarus, Ukraine.
3. MAROC2015. Extends to the Canaries and Morocco.
4. SARDAIGNE2015. Also valid in the Canaries and in Morocco.
5. NORVEGE2015. It works in the Balkan countries, Norway, Finland, Greece, Estonia.
6. MALTE2015. Extends to Greece, Turkey, Malta and the Balkans.

Typically, these promotional codes are used by those who need to spend the night just once. If you choose the right option, then housing can cost only one dollar.

Since everything is clear with discounts, we will move on to the analysis of certain situations.

For corporate users

This is a relatively new option for the site, now it is only gaining popularity. What is its essence? Discounts for corporate customers are $ 50, while for regular customers they are only $ 20. Moreover, there is no reservation limit, which, you will agree, is also very pleasant.

How to get such a discount? The user must have corporate email. You can get it at work or register yourself. The latter only works with bloggers or website owners.

If corporate mail is available, then at the entrance to the account you need to select the item "Business Travel", where the email address is entered. A letter will arrive in the mail with a link. You need to go through it to activate. Now you can find the cheapest accommodation and book.

Before paying, check again that the business trip is indicated. After completing all the points, it remains only to wait for the letter indicating the discount and use it throughout the year.

Transfer money past a service

What if the landlord wants to get money bypassing the system? You must immediately stipulate that you do not agree. Although the desire is understandable, because property owners also pay interest to the site, but remember that in case of a conflict, you can no longer contact support. Of course, you can take a chance, but is it justified?

Expectation and reality

What about the situation when the photos and description remained on the site, and you arrived in a completely different housing? If this happens, you should immediately contact Airbnb support. You will be asked to leave a claim, which is what needs to be done. The choice is yours where to do it: directly on the site, by phone, on a social network.

As soon as the claim is received, the trial will begin.

Where the service does not work

Now you can rent a house in Cuba, but still there are several countries or places where you can’t get through the site. These include Syria and Iraq, the DPRK and Crimea. The latter was introduced due to US sanctions.

Are reviews required

This is perhaps the most frequently asked question. The site gives two weeks from the moment of eviction so that the person leaves a review. Of course, you may not do this, but then on your page you will not see reviews from homeowners. And as you already understood, reviews on this service play a paramount role.

And don’t you want to help other travelers, because you chose your accommodation based on someone’s opinion? Maybe someone will be guided by your review.

Well, the most significant argument will be getting discounts and various goodies from the site.

Conclusion

As you can see, booking on Airbnb is not so complicated. The key to success is attentiveness and caution. Remember that the less a person inspires confidence, the greater the likelihood of fraud.

Carry out all operations through the service, then there will be no problems with the return of money. Be a pleasant guest or a friendly host, because in any case it is a colossal experience that cannot be replaced by anything.