Man I'm so sick of trying to find something on Airbnb only to discover by the time I order that the price has doubled.
Airbnb these last years went from feeling fresh and adventurous to scammy and dubious
Airbnb these last years went from feeling fresh and adventurous to scammy and dubious
I'm Australian and moved to New York recently-ish. It was one of those classic anti-consumer disappointments one experiences moving to the states. Glad they fixed it.
What I'm talking about is Dynamic Pricing. Had to look up what really happens: The host sets a rate-range, and Airbnb first gives the low price and then as you click around in the area they notice you're more interested so they increase it towards the high end of the price range (possibly also time of day and such signals?). Then I guess there's a slow cooldown.
Like how a good haggle is made to give you a friendly relationship with the seller, this seems specifically designed to make people hate Airbnb and swear to never use it again.
Booking, as far as I know, straight up doesn't allow hosts to cancel. Recently, a host sent me a message begging me to cancel my booking because they really couldn't be there to receive me.
I will never use AirBnB again
Maybe don't book places with fewer than 5 reviews? Same goes to airbnb or any platform that allows for anyone to publish a listing.
On the other hand had one severe issue with a booking on airbnb and they essentially told me to go fuck myself.
I've used booking.com around the world and I can't recall any serious problem. When dealing with an issue, AirBnB error flow often sucks and booking is mostly fine.
When AirBnB works out great, you can find some real magic, but when it fails it really sucks.
I've found booking.com is usually more hotel-like and professional (e.g. contactable and reliable).
I still use both but I'm careful to choose depending on perceived risks.
Disclosure: long booking.com
Last I heard they're also a company that actually hires juniors there.