Airbnb's Off-Platform Policy
Find out how Airbnb's Off-Platform Policy impacts your Autohost integration.
Airbnb has put new rules in place regarding off-platform activity and information collection. While we recognize the importance of following policies and guidelines set out by our booking channel partners, we respect your need to screen and verify guests in compliance with local laws and building security rules/requirements.
We encourage all users to review Airbnb's Off-Platform policy and ensure all business practices adhere to the requirements set forth by the booking channels in order to ensure compliance and avoid unnecessary conflict.
While we ensure that proper usage of Autohost's platform does not violate Airbnb's Off-Platform policy, there are a few guidelines we would like to point out to ensure you act within the policy's requirements:
- Avoid directing guests to communication off-platform or asking for contact information prior to booking – This is currently maintained by your usage of Autohost, as all information is collected for safety/security purposes after the booking is confirmed.
- Asking guests for contact information after booking or misusing contact information provided by Airbnb – As the policy indicates, this should be avoided unless needed for legal or compliance reasons, which should be covered in your internal business practices and/or contracts. It is important to note that you are responsible for any/all information you collect. To ensure you don't violate the policy, use it only for guest screening and identity verification.
- Collecting a security deposit (or other fees) outside of Airbnb - As the policy states, hotels and software-connected Hosts can charge and collect certain fees using a separate payment method, in this case Autohost, as long as they're detailed in the listing and included in the price breakdown before booking. For more info on Collecting fees outside Airbnb, click here.
That being said, hosts still need to be transparent with their guests. In all of the above cases, hosts must state in their listing description that an additional step is a requirement prior to confirming the booking, i.e. guests might be required to provide additional information for safety/verification purposes.
For sample ToS for your listings, check out this article.
For more information about the Autohost and Airbnb integration, visit this article.
