We do #2 - #5 but could get a lot better on #3.
606 karma · joined May 14, 2009
Non-transaction based review sites like Yelp, VRBO, etc., are plagued with fake reviews by owners, guests, and competitors. On sites like that, how do you know that those glowing reviews you just read weren't written by the owners, their staff, or their friends? You don't.
By tying our double-sided review system to actual transactions you can have almost complete confidence that the reviews you are reading are the result of someone staying with, or hosting, another member of our community.
We have reached out to the author of the article to articulate this, but rest assured, had he booked through Airbnb he would have been able to write the review he wanted.
In addition to that, he wouldn't have sent money blindly to someone. We would be holding it until after he checks in and reminding the owner via email of the booking to prevent exactly this kind of situation from happening. And in the rare occasions when it does, our 24/7 customer team would have stepped in and helped to find him a new place or issue a complete and fast refund.
I ended up in the southern tip of the mission where Mission, Noe Valley and Bernal meet and love it. $800 a month in a nice 4 bed 2 bath, w/d in unit, new everything.
I had been watching the rentals/roommates space on Craigslist for 5-6 months while saving up to move. Unfortunately for both of us, we missed the bottom of the rental price market. They have definitely been trending up over the past few months as the tech scene is starting to get frothy again. So watch dates if you are reading articles on people moving here.
I stayed with 3 different hosts off of Airbnb.com for a little over 2 weeks while finding a place. I would book for 4-5 days. I lost two places to live at the last minute, and both hosts had other people booked so I had to find new Airbnb hosts last minute. BUT, it was super easy, Airbnb has a short notice/standby feature where they literally tell all of the hosts who want those alerts that someone needs a place fast. I had 6-7 host offer within an hour both times.
One interesting note on cost of rent that I just noticed...You very rarely have to turn the heat on and most places don't have AC. As opposed to the Midwest (I'm from Nebraska) where either one is cranked year round. This time of year in NE our electric bill would easily be $150+ a month (in a small two bedroom), and I've seen insane bills for heating with gas in the winter. So for me there is really $100-$200 a month that moved from HVAC costs to rent.
I cut my possessions in half before moving back home, and then again before moving out here. I boxed up all my stuff really good and left it at home. Flew out here with suitcases full of clothes, then had my 4-5 boxes shipped UPS once I found a place.
I sold my car. I've been extremely car dependent since I was 16. Adjusting to this change in transportation has been the hardest thing to adapt...but honestly it has been easier than I thought and not having a car is awesome. You said you come from the Midwest too, so I imagine you are car dependent has well so here are my quick tips to ditching it in SF.
- Sign up for the ZipCar program. $50 a year, $8-$12 per hour (gas and insurance included) cars on demand. I have never been more than 4 blocks from a ZipCar when I needed it for getting furniture off craigslist, big store run, etc. Good phone apps
- Get a Clipper Card (previously TransLink) and either load cash or passes. I signed up to Autoload a Fast-Pass every month. $60 for unlimited MUNI and BART every month, a little more than one tank of gas. And they work smooth.
- I use the built in Google maps on my iphone to plot a route and see what line I need. I then pop over to an app called Routesy that is better for getting a complete picture of the stops and ETAs for any MUNI or BART Line.
- Get a bike, I snagged an insanely awesome bike that was barely used and 3 months old with receipts off Craigslist for well under half price. Pro Tip: Google maps for bikes will plot you around the hills as much as possible.
Feel free to drop me a line if you want to chat more or grab a coffee/drink when you get here. schaecher.michael gmail
Could also use it as an upsell product or free value add-on for people/companies using your game platform.
I just moved across country. I stayed at 3 different places of Airbnb over the course of 2 weeks while I looked for a place with roommates off Craigslist. Each host was great and I never felt anything but safe. The only reason I stayed at multiple is because they had other bookings coming in so I couldn't extend.
A high altitude nuclear detonation above the continental US is the first strike protocol for any nation-state that would try to attack us. Even then, a lot of our military's core command and control infrastructure has been hardened to withstand such an EMP for decades--as it was known that a high altitude detonation over US soil was the Soviet's plan for a first strike...That is why Cuba was such a big deal. Still, the EMP would completely decimate every non-hardened electrical system.
Agreed, not to mention that the real bread and butter of our nations military and intelligence networks are completely separate from what we know as the internet. There is a huge difference between taking, say, whitehouse.gov or army.mil down verse our real command and control networks--which are probably next to impossible to take down considering there are layers upon layers of backup communication systems.
The idea of a "cyber-attack" being used as a first salvo in an act of war against the United States by any nation-state is pretty ludicrous, as it would minimally (if at all) affect our ability to destroy whoever was dumb enough to try it.
There is a huge difference between taking, say, whitehouse.gov or army.mil down verse our real command and control networks--which are probably next to impossible to take down considering there are layers upon layers of backup communication systems.
The idea of a "cyber-attack" being used as a first salvo in an act of war against the United States by any nation-state is pretty ludicrous, as it would minimally (if at all) affect our ability to destroy whoever was dumb enough to try it.