flymexico2010

Hi,

I just thought to try to use airbnb.com for the first time as I am looking for some accomodation in GIG before NYE this year.

I had the unpleasant surprise to find out that the showed pricing is not updated. After emails to various properties the prices that I received was sometimes 3 or 4x higher. What a disappointment.

Any suggestions on where to book a hotel other then cheaptickets, orbitz, expedia, booking.com? This all have only very expensive hotels at this time for late December...

Thanks

Spiff

Definitely not bait-and-switch booking.com. They are the worst of the worst.

Big_Dutch

oh yeah? how come?

Guy Betsy

Because AirBnB are not hotels - they are people's homes and they can adjust their prices as they see fit. If a lot of people want to be in Rio for NYE's , and like Mardi Gras time, they see a demand there and can adjust their prices.

Hey, if I have a home right on Copacabana beach, I'd charge top dollar too.

Romelle

I've probably stayed in a dozen AirBnb places, and have never run into the price change you mention. I've always been charged what was initially on the listings (and been happy with the places). You might contact AirBnb management with your situation. The people doing the rate changing likely aren't following the rules.

For other booking sites - Hostelbookers often has things other places don't. Kayak always worth a look. You might consider bidding via Priceline, or looking at their Express deals. Hotwire sometimes will come through. Youth hostels. If you are staying during non-school dates, you sometimes can rent university rooms. Try surfing for B&Bs at your destination. Trivago. Agoda.

Romelle

Spiff

Booking.com stinks because they do not stand behind their advertised rates. A good deal suddenly gets "cancelled" with an offer of a small discount off rack rates. Bait-and-switch masters.

Big_Dutch

Do you have an example? From what I understand the hotels load their own rates in Booking.com.

Spiff

Booking.com should still honor any rate advertised on their website. See Hotel Deals forum for copious examples of booking.com canceling reservations.

Booking.com is very dishonest.

sbrower

Just had my 3rd stay in Japan with Booking.com. And had 2 a few months ago in Europe. Got great places with odd requirements. Every one of them has worked perfectly. (I believe Spiff when he says he had a bad experience with their customer service. I have been fortunate not to require their customer service (or anyone else's, for a while) because I am OFTEN frustrated by customer service policies (with a few wonderful exceptions)).

flymexico2010

I may contact airbnb administrators, but in the meantime I decided to better stay in hotel.
Out of 5 requests 4 told me a price 3x higher as published. No way I will loose time with them...

Mrtrash757

thats a shame. contact AirBNB... i def didn't have this issue when i got a 250 dollar a night apartment in Boston for 57 overnight...

To be fair it was the dead of winter

jarpkor

I'm experienced with Airbnb.

Sadly OP, it's obvious to me what the problem is. You're one of those guests who doesn't take the time to read through the listing and doesn't note the extra charges on the listing such as Cleaning Fee, Weekend Fees, and Fee for Additional Guests. You click through, see the increase in price, then cry foul.

Also to note is that when you make your inquiry, Airbnb doesn't show you all of these charges - it simply adds them up, then divides the total by the length of your stay and spits back an average nightly price that is obviously much higher than what you originally saw.

WillTravel

I saw the same effect as the original poster when looking for places in New Orleans for Jazz Fest. Some hosts simply do not update their calendar with seasonal pricing, until someone sends them a query. Then sometimes they say that it's too early for them to update the prices yet (three or four months out).

Who knows why, but it definitely happens a lot. The only solution would be for AirBnB to tell hosts they are obligated to take the original price on the screen, but that would not really work out well in a situation where you are staying in someone's home and want a good relationship with him or her. The whole point of AirBnB is to prevent the hosts being put in a situation they don't want.

Need

I don't think that was the case with OP. I believe he tried to make a booking and since most airbnb hosts did not sign up for instant confirmation, you have to wait for the owner to confirm. And sometime they will tell you..

1) The room/apt is not available on those dates
2) The rate was incorrect, I need more money
3) It is holiday weekend, I need you to extend your stay from 2 to 3 days

heraclitus

Yes. Another one I've encountered is where when you make a booking, the owner will try to get you off the airbnb channel (or VRBO, or flipkey, or whatever) by getting you to sign a rental agreement which then turns it into a transaction between you and the owner or some property management company, and almost always on terms less favourable to the renter than what you get on one of the big mainstream websites like airbnb.

One that I dealt with recently wanted cash payment for a $2500 rental despite the fact that their flipkey ad said credit cards were OK. Not bloody likely.

My spidey senses are getting better at detecting the gamers. Not outright scammers, because you ultimately get a product in exchange for your money, just that they game the system so that it might a little more expensive, it might be a cash deal, it might be a different suite, etc.