While many individuals feel that renting accommodation on Airbnb is becoming more and more expensive, the platform is also trying to be more transparent, especially in its various fees.
Whether for the Easter holidays, for the long weekends in May or even in anticipation of the summer holidays, many French people are looking for accommodation on Airbnb. In 2022, nearly 86million nights were reserved in France. However, if it was previously widely popular compared to hotels, in particular because of attractive rates, booking on Airbnb today seems to be suffering from a price increase that many holidaymakers find difficult to understand.
An article from World dating from the end of December 2022 reveals that between 2018 and 2022, the average price of a night in France increased by 16.4%, and up to 61% in Paris. In the same article, we learn that 40% of the towns studied knew between January and October 2022 higher rates of 30% compared to the same period in 2019.
Stable prices since early 2021 in France
The All About My Finances newsletter reports that renting Airbnb accommodation cost on average 142euros per night in 2022, according to the latest report from AirDNA, a specialist in analyzing data from vacation rental platforms. It was 13% cheaper than a year ago, but up 26% from 2019 (before the Covid-19 pandemic).
Faced with criticism, the rental site had however responded to the World that the method used by AirDNA is only a photograph at time T of the posted prices of the accommodations remaining available for a date and a destination, and considers that prices have been stable since early 2021 in Francewith an average price of nights booked during the first three quarters of 2022 (…) of 130 euros per night.
But then, who decides the prices and according to what criteria? When asked, Airbnb says that hosts on Airbnb set the price per night and the cleaning fee in their listing based on their needs. Information confirmed by Jolle Dorchies, manager of the Lille guest club: We are supervised in the sense that we have the visibility of the prices of other similar properties rented in our geographical area. Then, Airbnb hosts take into account the events around their home and can therefore set their prices accordingly. Airbnb is a platform, they don’t dictate anything, we are just accompanied if we need information.
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According to her, the majority of guests do not charge a cleaning fee. For the rest, Airbnb charges 3% of the guest price. For the traveler, most service charge is less than 14.2% of the booking subtotal, details Airbnb on its site. With MoneyVox, the platform also assures that service fees have not increased since the Covid-19 pandemic.
More clearly displayed fees
Why then does it feel like nights on Airbnb are getting more and more expensive? For several years, the site has been focusing on transparency. When you make a reservation, you get the full cost. Before, we had the price of the room, you had to click on the ad to get the cost details, while now you have it directly. It’s much clearer, welcomes Jolle Dorchies. In France, the total price of a stay is always displayed before booking, confirms Airbnb MoneyVox. Indeed, before confirming a reservation, travelers have access to the detailed price: Airbnb’s service fees as well as any cleaning fees, discounts offered by hosts and applicable taxes (for example, the stay).
The other avenue put forward to explain this feeling of a price increase would come from the ever more toffee offer offered by the platform. There is a huge range of possibilities on Airbnb, with many atypical properties that are not offered elsewhere. There is therefore necessarily prices, for certain goods, which are higher than a hotel night for example, wants to believe Jolle Dorchies. Finally, there is everything, all prices. And if a guest decides to charge 300 euros for a night for a property that is not worth it, it is ultimately not certain that he will succeed in renting it.