Airbnb fees are out of control. Whether or not you’re a fan of Airbnb and use their lodging options when you travel, it’s likely someone you know uses them. So here’s an important Airbnb hack that you can use and pass along to others.
Nobody likes new fees, right? Well, not too long ago Airbnb introduced a new fee that came into effect on April 1, 2024. It’s in their Terms of Service. That fee adds 2% to your next booking.
Listen up because there is an easy way to avoid paying Airbnb fees. And not just avoiding that fee, but actually saving more money as well.
What Are Airbnb Conversion Fees?
The new guest service fee of 2%, before taxes, will be added on the total rate if a booking is made where the local currency differs from the currency set in your Airbnb account.
That means if your Airbnb account has a currency set in US dollars, but say the villa in Portugal you’re booking is listed in Euros, there will be an additional 2% fee added at check-out. Sneaky, right?
Airbnb didn’t make it clear when this fee was added if the fee will be shown separately or just added under the generic “fees” you see at check-out. Doesn’t matter, just know that it will be in there when there’s a currency conversion.
How To Avoid Airbnb Conversion Fees
To get around the new 2% fee, all you have to do is change the default currency your Airbnb account is set to. It needs to match the local currency of your next destination.
Here’s how to do that!
Log into Airbnb, click the globe icon, then currency, and then change the currency. For example, if you’re looking for an Airbnb in Spain, that would be Euros. Airbnb in Canada, that would be Canadian Dollars. Airbnb doesn’t make it clear what currency the host listing is in.
Not familiar with currencies? Just look up the local currency in a given country if you’re not familiar and adjust your settings accordingly.
Why This Airbnb Fees Hack Saves More Than 2%
Since this change and the added fee came about in April 2024, this trick saves you 2% in fees. However, changing the currency to match the local money will save you double or more because of another clause in the Airbnb terms.
This clause has been in the Terms of Service for a long time. When you book an Airbnb in a currency that differs from the currency a host sets, Airbnb converts the listing price from local to your currency.
Guess who determines those rates? Airbnb uses rates they determine.
In many cases this rate is not in your favor and hardly the best conversion. It often adds 3% or more to a booking where the currencies differ.
Pro Tip: Do you Pruvo all your hotels stays? If not, do what I do and let Pruvo monitor your reservations for price drops. It’s free and it’s the easiest way to save money on all your hotel rooms.
Final Thoughts On Airbnb Fees
You should always change your Airbnb account currency to the local one when booking internationally to save the 2% conversion fee. This often saves another 2-4% in conversion rates. While you’re at it, make sure you keep an eye on Airbnb cleaning fees as well. But let’s not get started on those fees!
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10 comments
What happens with Airbnb gift cards. Eg say you have $100 usd in gift card credit but then want to pay for lodging in Mexico. Will you be unable to pay with the gift card if you want to use the method described herein to avoid the extra fee(s)? Or will you be unable to change your currency to that local to the lodging you wish to book?
Great question Tina, and thanks for asking it. I do not know the answer though. I’m hoping someone reading this post will know and offer a reply. I’m sure others have the same question as well. Again, thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.
This didn’t work for my test case. I selected a stay in Mexico and I priced it in dollars and in pesos. When I priced it in pesos the airbnb fee actually went UP?
Thanks for the tip! I travel mostly to Italy and I never realized the sneaky “conversion rate” that AirBnB used! (and needless to say this new 2%). I should have thought of this as I always pay the euro option when using my CC over there. You just saved me a few bucks…Thanks again!
Thanks Elena for taking the time to comment. Glad the tip will be useful going forward!
I had heard about this currency conversion thing that Airbnb does a while back but never really looked into it. I just tried this on a booking in Colombia and if I did the booking in US Dollars it came up to $124.44 and if I changed my currency over to the Colombian peso it ended up being $122.50 using the exchange rate provided by xe dot com. So there is definitely a 2% difference in their favor. So then for every thousand dollars I spend on Airbnb I would save $20 by using the local currency. I don’t know why they think they are entitled to this 2%. Visa International and MasterCard International take care of all of this currency conversion stuff. I guess they have a bunch of MBAs sitting around a table trying to come up with ways that they can extract more money from people.
Thanks for testing and confirming on your own, Arnold. We’ve had many say they either heard about this or never heard about it. Always good to test and confirm your own experience. For sure that 2% is better spent on what we choose rather than giving it to Airbnb 🙂
Paying in the currency of the listing will save the conversion fee, BUT, if you choose to cancel the reservation, the refund will also be made in the foreign currency and that could mean the refund covered to dollars is actually less than you initially paid. It could also be more. But paying in dollars upfront ensures the refund will be the same amount as you initially paid.
Point well taken, ENT. Thanks for adding to the conversation. Folks will have to decide for themselves as to what approach works best for paying Airbnb fees.
I think Airbnb’s implementation might differ from what you suggest. I am an Airbnb host in Chile, and my listing’s default currency is Chilean pesos. In an incognito browser, I first set the currency to Chilean pesos for a specific test stay. Then, I set the default currency to U.S. dollars for that same test stay. For the first Chilean currency stay, I converted the amount to U.S. dollars using the interbank rate that Google shows. When having Airbnb charge in U.S. dollars, the cost was 2.3% more. I’m guessing that the 2% fee you mentioned is baked into the currency conversion, and there’s no additional 2% fee added on. Therefore, you’re only charged once. I’d be interested to know if that’s the case among a larger selection of listings, but my intuition is that it’s the same for all listings on Airbnb.