Kaveri wrote a blog post

2016-05-30

minutes - words.

Top 5 tips to save money on Airbnb during travel

Five ways by which one can save money on Airbnb while travelling

Airbnb is one of the fastest growing startups in the past decade. This is because one can save a lot of money using Airbnb while travelling. Airbnb will always prove to be much cheaper than staying at a hotel, but you might face a few difficulties initially in minimising your expenditure, especially if you are a new user. Here are 5 tips to help you save money by using Airbnb in the most optimised manner.

1. Choose the proper filters

Although Airbnb is normally quite easy to use, they do provide several important features in their search interface which you might miss if you are not looking carefully. They provide several filters which you can use while searching for flats. By choosing that option, you will be presented with many other filters to choose from you can choose apartments which provide WiFi or air conditioning or even opt for a gym. Also, if you have your pet with you while travelling, there is an option to select that too.

2. Put more emphasis on flats with no reviews

While booking flats on Airbnb, our intention is to choose the best place within our budget. We normally look for those flats which have at least 80 90% 5 star reviews since that proves that the flats are reliable. However, when you are trying to save money, you should ditch those and consider flats with zero reviews.

The main reason is that these flats are new to Airbnb, and that means their cost will always be lower than their competitors. If someone has a few 5 star reviews, then he or she has no incentive to lower the cost. However, for those with no reviews, they are ready to bargain extensively, since they know how crucial those 5 star reviews are if they want more sales in the future.

3. Get rid of the cleaning fee

While booking, if you find that you have been charged a cleaning fee, look for an alternative. This cleaning fee is quite expensive, almost around 15 -20% of per day rate. Also, there is no hard and fast rule that hosts have to ask for the cleaning fee. Look for a different offer, since you will find many alternatives on Airbnb.

4. Dont book immediately

After choosing a particular place on Airbnb which you think is a good fit for you, the website will suggest you to book it immediately, but that is not a good idea. If you scroll a bit below, you will find an option to contact the host.

Click on that button and send the host a message asking about the most important things that are essential to you while travelling. For example, maybe your Internet plan wont work where you are going, so you will have to rely on the hosts Wi-Fi to meet your internet speed. Also, ask for a speed test as proof. This should also help you understand how responsive your host is.

5. Rate per day decreases if you stay for a longer period

The rate per day decreases significantly if you stay at a particular place for a longer period, sometimes by over 10% and if you are staying for a month, it might even decrease by 30%. Hence, you need to plan properly before you choose an apartment on Airbnb. This rule wont be applicable for all flats, but if you are intending on staying at a place for more than 2 weeks, its a good idea to choose places that provide this feature.