Airbnb fee structure ⚠️
Connecting your Airbnb account to a property management platform like Hostfully may automatically switch you to Airbnb's simplified pricing and change your Hosting Service Fee structure from split (host pays 3% and guest pays 12%) to host-only (host pays 15%).
For properties in the US, Canada, Mexico, Uruguay, The Bahamas, and Argentina
Please be sure to double-check your Airbnb account listing settings after importing properties and revert it back to the split structure or keep the new Host Service Fee as 15%. If you keep the new Host Service Fee, we suggest using the channel rate multiplier to increase the price. This can help offset some of your commission fees.
Although your properties are in the countries mentioned, you are still required to use the "Host-only Fee" if any of your listings on your account are under these property types: Hotel and Serviced Apartments. In that case, you might not find the option to switch back to the split structure.
If your properties are not in the countries mentioned, it is obligatory to switch to the new Host Service Fee when connecting to any property management software and you'll want to use the channel rate multiplier to adjust your rate for this channel. Again, this doesn't mean you are losing money, it just changes who is paying the fee to Airbnb and you'll need to increase your rates to offset that. You'll still stack up the same as your competition.
Understand the rules of engagement
Please note that all listings you push to Airbnb via Hostfully will be automatically set to ‘Instant Book’ enabled. This means a guest reservation will be automatically confirmed by Airbnb if the calendar availability on your listing matches the inquired dates. If you want to change your listings into Booking Request mode, please refer to this help article on Booking Settings for more details.
If you are to sync to existing Airbnb listings, the sync needs access to the listing owner - the Airbnb account that created the listing on Airbnb.
Important related articles. Do check them out to have the correct property Main Settings before going live on Airbnb: Booking Settings and Booking Lead Time.
Airbnb only supports these Booking Window options: 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, and unlimited months. If you select the Booking Window as 18 months or 24 months in Hostfully, Airbnb’s calendar will still be available 12 months in advance, and guests will only be able to book up to 12 months ahead of time.
Auto approval
In order for listings to be published on Airbnb, they must meet our minimum quality standards. Listings that don’t meet the following criteria will be auto-rejected:
7+ photos (JPEG preferred) at minimum resolution of 1024px x 683px.
5+ amenities
50+ characters in the description field
30+ days of availability over a 12 month period
8+ characters in the title field
Internal property name field under Properties > Main Settings tab does not use all-caps (following Airbnb's policy)
Steps for connection
1. Navigate to the Hostfully channel manager
Navigate to your Channels page, which can be found through the drop-down menu under your agency profile tab
2. Turn on Airbnb channel connection
If you would like to adjust the rate for your listings on Airbnb, you may do so with the rate multiplier.
3. Turn ON the button to connect with Airbnb
Click the link Manage this channel (see below)
On the Airbnb channel page, if you haven't connected Hostfully to any Airbnb account, a prompt will appear for you to connect it. Click on "Connect with Airbnb" button.
If you have already connected Hostfully to an Airbnb account, when you head to Channels > Airbnb > click on Manage this channel, the prompt above will not appear anymore. You will be taken to step 8. Check out this article if you want to connect Hostfully to multiple Airbnb accounts.
4. Log into the Airbnb account
If you have an existing Airbnb account, click on Log in
If you are new to Airbnb, click on the Sign up link instead
In case you don't have access to the Airbnb listing owner account (aka the account that created and made the listing go live on Airbnb) because the listing belongs to an owner, you can first create a Hostfully owner account, invite them to claim the account and import their properties from the Hostfully Owner's Portal under "Airbnb Connect". More instructions can be found here.
5. Allow the connection
In this step, you are giving Hostfully permission to manage your Airbnb account:
You will then be redirected to the Airbnb Management page on Hostfully.
6. Set your cancellation policy
Select your Airbnb cancelation policy and click Apply.
Here are the available cancellation policies that you can select for Airbnb channel (Airbnb article):
Flexible
Flexible
Guests can cancel until 24 hours before check-in for a full refund, and you won’t be paid
If they cancel after that, you’ll be paid for each night they stay, plus 1 additional night
Moderate
Moderate
Guests can cancel until 5 days before check-in for a full refund, and you won’t be paid
If they cancel after that, you’ll be paid for each night they stay, plus 1 additional night, plus 50% for all unspent nights
Firm
Firm
To receive a full refund, guests must cancel at least 30 days before check-in
If they cancel between 7 and 30 days before check-in, you’ll be paid 50% for all nights
If they cancel less than 7 days before check-in, you’ll be paid 100% for all nights
Guests can also receive a full refund if they cancel within 48 hours of booking, if the cancellation occurs at least 14 days before check-in
Strict
Strict
NOTE: According to Airbnb's latest update, by 20th Jan 2025, Strict Cancellation Policy is not available for properties in Canada, Argentina, Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Turkey, Philippines, Morocco, South Africa, Chile, Colombia. If you're trying to update a property in these countries with Airbnb Strict policy, the error "This cancellation policy is not available in your country" will show up.
To receive a full refund, guests must cancel within 48 hours of booking, and the cancellation must occur at least 14 days before check-in
If they cancel 14 or more days before check-in but not within 48 hours of booking, you’ll be paid 50% for all nights
If they cancel between 7 and 14 days before check-in, you’ll be paid 50% for all nights
If they cancel after that, you’ll be paid 100% for all nights
Super Strict 30
Super Strict 30
Guests must cancel at least 30 days before check-in to receive a 50% refund for all nights
If they cancel after that, you’ll be paid 100% for all nights
Super Strict 60
Super Strict 60
Guests must cancel at least 60 days before check-in to receive a 50% refund for all nights
If they cancel after that, you’ll be paid 100% for all nights
The selected cancellation policy on this Channel page will apply to all listings on Airbnb. If you have a listing that has a different cancelation policy than others, you can set this for a particular listing under property's Main Settings tab (screenshot below) for that listing:
7. Activate non-refundable rate
Activate and edit non-refundable rate under agency level
You can activate non-refundable discount rate for your Airbnb listings and set the non-refundable rate discount at agency level for all Airbnb-connected properties. The default rate is 10% and can be adjusted.
If you select Airbnb cancellation policy Super Strict 30 or Super Strict 60, it's not possible to enable the "non refundable rate" option. This a requirement from Airbnb.
How non-refundable rate works
Check out this article from Airbnb for more information.
Edit non-refundable rate under property level
Alternatively, if you don't want the Non-Refundable discount rate to apply to all properties, you can go to Properties' Main Settings, and apply the non-refundable discount rate property by property.
If the non-refundable discount rate is set on the Airbnb Channel Management page (Agency level), discount percentage is reflected for all Airbnb-connected properties.
If the non-refundable discount rate is set on the Airbnb Channel Management page (Agency level), but it's manually deactivated on the property level (screenshot right above), then no non-refundable discount rate is applied on Airbnb for the property,
8. Choose the properties you want to publish or synchronize with Airbnb
IMPORTANT - Make sure you are aware before toggling properties ON with Airbnb: If you are creating new Airbnb listings (not connecting to existing listings) please be sure the address is accurate before you toggle the property ON for Airbnb. Once a property is live on Airbnb, the only way to change the address is to contact Airbnb support directly. Any changes to the property address or location in Hostfully will not be sent to Airbnb after the property is live.
Select which properties you would like to publish or synchronize with Airbnb
Toggle on the channel connection for those specific properties.
After that, if you have connected with multiple Airbnb accounts, select the account you would like to connect.
You can either create a brand new listing on Airbnb from Hostfully, or connect it with an existing Airbnb listing:
If your listing has not existed on Airbnb, select Create a new property > Create a new listing
If you want to connect it with an existing Airbnb listing, select the Airbnb listing from the drop-down, select the option to exclude blocks or not, select the sync option and click on Map the listing.
Exclude blocks
When toggling on the Airbnb channel connection, you'll need to decide if you want to exclude blocks from Airbnb or not by ticking "exclude blocks" option.
Should I exclude blocks from Airbnb?
Most likely, you'll want to exclude blocks from Airbnb. If the majority of the blocks you want to import from Airbnb are for actual reservations (ex: a manually added block for a direct booking or Vrbo reservation), please be aware that you may already have those blocks in the system. Importing blocks over actual reservations may create hidden blocks that can cause conflicts and affect your availability. We do not recommend importing blocks if the majority of the blocks are for actual reservations.
Sync options
When toggling on Airbnb channel connection, you can select between full sync or partial sync by unticking or ticking the option Use partial sync only (Airbnb Plus listings)
If your listing is Airbnb Plus, be sure to check the Limited / Partial Sync box. Please refer to this article for more details on Airbnb Luxe Listings.
Besides Airbnb Plus listings, you can also select partial sync for normal Airbnb listings if you want to.
Full sync
For new listings
The property data from Hostfully will create the Airbnb listings
Any changes to listing data from Hostfully will be reflected on Airbnb
For existing listings:
The property data from Hostfully will erase and replace any content on the Airbnb listing
Everything will be managed from Hostfully, including rates, availability, descriptions, amenities, photos, content, booking setting, etc.
Your reviews and ratings will remain intact.
Partial sync (limited sync)
Unlike full sync, partial sync only sync rates and availability from Hostfully to Airbnb. Other property settings need to be managed directly from Airbnb.
For new listings
The first limited sync will sync all data (to create the listing).
Subsequent syncs will sync only rates and availability.
For existing listings:
Partial sync only syncs rates and availability from Hostfully.
Everything else except rates and availability will be managed from Airbnb, including descriptions, amenities, photos, content, booking setting, etc.
Your reviews and ratings will remain intact
Switch between partial sync and full sync
If you want to switch from partial sync to full sync or vice versa, you can toggle off Airbnb channel connection for that specific property and toggle it back on again. Then you will have the option to tick or untick Use partial sync only (Airbnb Plus listings).
9. View your imported listing data in Airbnb
Once a property has been synchronized, the toggle button will show as "ON" and you will be able to click on the link "See Listing" to view the listing on Airbnb.
You can click on the manual sync button (circular arrow) to check the sync.
If it shows "success", the sync is working properly.
If there's any error message, you can follow this article to resolve it.
You will also receive an email from Airbnb telling you your new listings have been published. This can be confusing when you're not creating new listings but it's part of the Airbnb process to send the email. Don't worry! As long as you mapped the listings, you're all set.
The “Sync” page in your Airbnb account is where you will confirm your listings are synced with Airbnb:
Login to Airbnb > Host > Listings.
You do not need to do anything else as long as you see Everything (or Partial) under Sync Status and the Hostfully sync button.
Preserve updates on Airbnb
Once a property is connected with Airbnb, most property information in Airbnb is overridden by Hostfully through API so changes should be managed and updated from Hostfully to ensure consistency across platforms.However, Airbnb has a feature to preserve some specific updates you make directly on Airbnb, which means Hostfully won't override them once you edit them from Airbnb. If needed, you can unlock API updates for these fields to allow updates from Hostfully to sync to Airbnb again.
Lockable fields
On Airbnb, edit any of the following listing fields. After saving the change, that field will be locked and can only be modified on Airbnb. Hostfully data will not override the field.
Main Settings tab
Property type
Property internal name (which is synced to internal listing name on Airbnb))
Check-in option
Wi-Fi information
Description tab
Property public name
Long description
Interaction
Access
Space
Transit (directions)
House manual
Amenities: You can manage available amenities through Hostfully. For any amenities not listed in Hostfully, you can update them directly on Airbnb, and these changes won't be overridden by Hostfully.
Property address
Hostfully will only push the address to Airbnb when you create a new Airbnb listing from Hostfully. Once a property is live on Airbnb, the only way to change the address is to contact Airbnb support directly.
You can edit listing view, show listing's specific/ general location and add check-out instructions from Airbnb.
Unlock API updates
You can unlock API updates to allow updates from Hostfully to sync to Airbnb again.
Log in to your Airbnb account
Click on Listings at the top
Select the listing
Click on the symbol next to Arrival guide to navigate to Edit preferences
Click on Property management software on the left. You will see the fields that are currently locked from API updates under Not currently managed by Hostfully
Click on Manage from Hostfully instead. A pop-up will appear "Allow listing details to be updated from Hostfully?"
Select Yes, allow
FAQs
1. What should I expect after syncing?
1. What should I expect after syncing?
Reservation data
Once the sync is completed, you will see all Airbnb reservations in Hostfully 1 year prior and 2 years into the future.
Airbnb does not provide us with guest data for prior reservations and they will come in as "unknown, unknown". Ongoing Future reservations will have all guest details.
Length of Stay Discounts
You still have access to the "Promotions" tab in Airbnb, which includes the length of stay discounts, even when connected to a PMP. This means you are not bound by the pricing rules we have in Hostfully for the length of stay discounts and can also use the functionality on Airbnb as well.
However, note that there's this button "Override Airbnb Rule-sets with these Hostfully Pricing Rules". If you toggle it ON, the 4 rules below (with Airbnb icon) will be pushed to Airbnb and override your Airbnb Rule-sets.
Triggers for imported reservations
There are 2 types of triggers:
Instant triggers: NEW_BOOKING, NEW_INQUIRY, NEW_BLOCKED_DATES, ...
Time-based triggers: BEFORE / AFTER STAY STARTS / ENDS
and only time-based triggers work for imported Airbnb reservations. No matter if such time-based triggers are created before or after the import, as upon the import, or when a trigger is created, all leads will be scanned and applicable ones will be scheduled with correct triggers.
Icals
When syncing the listing, we delete all the Airbnb ical entries for that property from Hostfully. Please go to the calendar tools and ensure you do not have any Airbnb icals syncing for your listing still, or they will come back. This can lead to duplicate leads which you don't want.
Upon integrating, Airbnb will remove all the iCal connected to the listing. If before Hostfully you had iCal from other channels (for example, VRBO) being input in Airbnb, it will no longer be there in Airbnb. You'll need to put the iCal in Hostfully instead in order to block the calendar in Hostfully. The integration will then sync these blocks over to Airbnb.
2. I turned on Airbnb Smart Pricing before connecting Hostfully. How do I turn it off now?
2. I turned on Airbnb Smart Pricing before connecting Hostfully. How do I turn it off now?
To turn off Airbnb Smart Pricing, you should first disconnect Hostfully from Airbnb. After that, go to your Airbnb account and turn off Airbnb Smart Pricing. Once done, you can connect Hostfully to Airbnb again.
3. What if I toggle OFF the Sync?
3. What if I toggle OFF the Sync?
All your Airbnb reservations will be removed from Hostfully. Your listing will still be live on Airbnb and the data within the listing will be what Hostfully sent upon connection.
4. The option "delete this property" under Properties > Main Settings tab is greyed out. How can I delete the property?
4. The option "delete this property" under Properties > Main Settings tab is greyed out. How can I delete the property?
Please toggle off the Airbnb channel connection for that listing first, then you will be able to delete it from Hostfully.
5. The changes I made in Hostfully are not reflected on Airbnb.
5. The changes I made in Hostfully are not reflected on Airbnb.
Pricing and availability are frequently synced between Hostfully and Airbnb. This means that any changes made to pricing or availability should be reflected instantly or within a few minutes.Other details (descriptions, amenities, etc.) are also synced automatically, but not as frequently as pricing and availability. In some cases, it may take a few hours for these updates to be reflected. To ensure immediate updates on Airbnb, we recommend using the manual sync button. You can head to Channels > scroll to Airbnb > click on Manage this channel > click on the manual sync button (circular arrow icon). This will force the system to update instantly, without any waiting time. If there's any error message, you can follow this article to resolve it.Also, if you edit some specific fields directly on Airbnb, API updates from Hostfully will be locked for these fields so changes made in Hostfully will not sync to Airbnb.
Need more help?
We hope you got the Hostfully help you needed! If not, reach out to a human via that little chat box on the bottom right corner of your screen. We’re always here for you and your Hostfully needs.