Looking to save money on your next international trip? Booking an Airbnb is a great start but here are 5 Airbnb tips to save money on your next booking.
Airbnbs have been a great option for us to save money while traveling. Over the last year, we have learned how to save even more money and want to share these Airbnb tips to save money with you!
We go over how reaching out to your host prior to booking can help you save up to 50% of the original price. These questions will help with the accommodation price and with the extras you may not think about!
This article is all about Airbnb tips to save money.
1. Travel Slower
This is the #1 tip to save money on Airbnbs. Airbnb has a great option for hosts to add an automatic discount to stays one week or longer and one month or longer. If you book longer stays you will likely get a lower nightly rate than if you were to book quick trips.
By traveling slower you are also reducing the number of cleaning fees you pay. Each host will have a specific cleaning fee (especially with COVID cleaning practices in place). By lengthening your stay you are reducing the number of accommodations you stay at and thus cleaning fees you pay.
As an added bonus, this will also reduce your transportation expenses between accommodations and cities.
2. Ask your Host for a Discount
You can message any host before booking and why not ask if they can give any better rates?
We have found this to only be effective during slow periods for a destination. When there is plenty of demand for the hosts, they will be less likely to give a discount if someone else will simply book at the full rate.
It also helps if your stay is long-term. When we stayed in Panama for 3 weeks, we were able to ask for a discounted rate and provide them with the security of having someone in their unit for three straight weeks. That helps them save money, too as each turnover costs money!
Of course, they may always say no, but it’s better to ask than never know!
3. Ask your Host what the best way to get airport is
This is a big one and can save you a lot of money and time. There have been some Airbnb’s that include transportation from the airport to the Airbnb location which is amazing. This is typically only possible if the property is close to the airport.
If it is not included, most Airbnb hosts will be able to offer the next best solution. They will know how much a taxi should cost and be able to tell you if there is a local app that you could use instead. We love this tip because the hosts are so familiar with the city you are visiting and will have the best first-hand knowledge.
>> Related Post: 5 Best Options for the Easiest Transportation from Airport
4. Figure out how often the unit will be cleaned
This seems like an odd one, but do you really want to spend time on your trip cleaning up? The trash will still need to be taken out if it’s full. We have learned to value our time much more than we used to.
Some Airbnb hosts don’t advertise any cleaning at all until checkout and some will only offer it if you ask, as an incentive to stay. Just be sure to clarify the cleaning is included in the cost of the stay. Some places will try to charge anywhere from $5 – $50 per cleaning!
5. Is there clean drinking water available?
We have yet to visit a country where we can drink water straight from the tap so this is an important question for us. It makes life much more convenient and saves us from having to buy (and carry) large jugs of water at the grocery store.
In our best Airbnb to date, the host provided massive 4-gallon canisters of drinking water whenever we needed it.
Of course, you could just buy drinking water. But with the amount we drink, it’s nice to have it provided.
This is our all-time favorite Airbnb because the host is amazing and took care of us during the pandemic!
