The Ultimate Guide to Saving Money on Airbnb (+ Airbnb Discount Code for your 1st Booking!)

Want to save $41 on your first booking? Click here for an AirBNB discount code!

I’m an Airbnb addict – I love how it’s revolutionized the way we travel and saved us big bucks on our trips.

Whereas before we had to opt for expensive hotels or low-quality motels, today, we can book an Airbnb and stay in comfort in a nice, clean room, apartment or home, depending on our needs.

Over the years, we have saved thousands of dollars by using Airbnb instead of booking hotels, which means we could spend the money on our highest priority – food.

If you haven’t tried Airbnb, it’s time you do.

This isn’t a first-time user’s guide, but you can pick up some of the most important aspects on how to use Airbnb.

Plus, if you are a first-time user, you can already save your first $41 using the code featured below.

1) Save $41 on your first booking with this discount code

If you haven’t signed up to Airbnb and you’ve never booked a room with them, then you’re in luck, because you just saved $41.

All you need to do is sign-up through this banner:

If your first booking is $78 and over, Airbnb will immediately apply the $41 discount on checkout.

Because of this coupon, we managed to book a private apartment in Vegas for 4 nights for only $100. 😀 (The joy of saving!)

Want additional discounts? Be smart about how you make your first bookings… if you and your partner are travelling together, create two new accounts using the link above and then you both have $41 discounts.

Not bad for a first treat experience into Airbnb…

2) Look at all the costs and details

Hosts can be sneaky… you think you have a great deal only to notice that extra people are an additional $10 a night, the cleaning fee is $50 and all of a sudden your two-day stay has doubled in cost.

Take into account that Airbnb adds an additional service fee to any prices you initially see, so costs already go up by default.

Take a look at this example: the initial price said $100 – sounds like a great deal! But once you click through and take a look at the small details, there’s an additional $20 to cover for cleaning and a $16 service fee to Airbnb. Now our total is $136!

Checking the ‘fine print’ in Airbnb sites is easy:

Click on a listing that interests you and scroll through the Overview section which has a description about the listing.

Reach the part under the header “Prices” and you’ll see any extra costs associated with the listing.

This example requests an additional $10/night after the first guest. This extra cost is not shown clearly in the total:

While here, the Airbnb host wants $20 for cleaning, increases his prices for the weekend and requests a security deposit upon booking:

Now that you’re aware of the fine print costs, you can make better decisions on which Airbnb listings truly fall under budget.

3) Have flexible date trips

I’m embarrassed to say but this one took me a while to figure out; I thought all prices were equal for all days on Airbnb.

Airbnb actually allows hosts to set prices for different days, and hosts often use this option to increase prices for weekends and holidays.

To see different prices, hover over dates on the calendar. A pop-up will show you the booking price for each day.

Check out the difference in pricing in the example below: we were looking to book a room on Friday October 6. The pricing was $65, but as I hovered over other dates, the price was $10 less!!

By simply changing our booking by one day, we saved $10.

4) Counter-offer

Prices on Airbnb are not set in stone – you can send the host a counter-offer and try to negotiate the price down.

The longer you intend to stay, the higher your chances of getting a discount.

Step 1:

Check if they already offer a discount for longer stays. If they do, you already know that there’s an initial willingness to lower prices.

Here’s an interesting example of an RV for rent in California. The price is $90 a night (exclusive of Airbnb and cleaning fees), but I can see that they’re open to lowering the price to begin with.

Based on your dates, the total will reflect the discount mentioned in “Prices”.

Before you contact them, make sure you know what the total really is so you can counter-offer a lower price.

Step 2:

Scroll to the bottom of the listing and click on “Contact host”:

Send a quick message about your interest in rentals, the length of your stay, how great a guest you are (reference positive reviews you have on the site), and your request regarding the rate.

Here’s a template to help get you inspired – edit it with relevant information.

Hi ____,

We’re Guy and Ronnie and we’re visiting your beautiful city this upcoming October for 2 weeks.

We’re so excited about the trip and would love to stay in your apartment since it seems like a perfect fit for us.

I’m reaching out to you about a discount since we’re looking to book the apartment for 14 days. We would like to pay a total of $$$ [Fill your number].

We’re hoping you will be interested in a deal because of the length of the stay and our many positive reviews on Airbnb. (Take a look at what hosts have said about us – we’re quiet, considerate and keep everything clean!)

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Ronnie & Guy

At that point, the host can counter-offer. Perhaps the number won’t be exactly what you wanted, but it could still be lower than the original price.

If you’re interested in their counter-offer, book it through the red ‘Book it!’ button in the message.

Bonus tips:

• For shorter stays, the best time to try this strategy is close to the dates of your stay. If the room is still available, the host may prefer to book it for lower cost than have an empty, unoccupied room earning them $0.
• Target hosts with no reviews – those hosts will be itching for their first booking and review, so they may be open to lowering the price as part of a mutual understanding. In return, make sure to offer a detailed review of the property after the stay.
• For shorter stays, look for hosts with gaps in their calendar. They may be open to filling in those empty days for lower pay.

5) Share the love – share your own link

After you sign up to Airbnb, head to the “Travel Credit” section and find your own sharing link.

For every person who joins Airbnb and makes their first booking, you get $21 of credit for future buys.

Even better – if someone you refers signs up as a host and welcomes their first guest, you get $81 in travel credit.

To find your own personal link, head to your profile picture on the top right-hand corner and click on: “Travel Credit”.

Look for the “Share Your Link” section and copy the link. Share it on Facebook, with your friends and family and get your credit. 😀

Take into account that you will only receive the credit once they completed their first Airbnb stay (must be over $78 value). It also expires after a year, so use it before it’s gone!

Don’t forget to sign up to Airbnb using this link to get $41 toward your first booking. Enjoy!

Thanks to Freepik for graphics used in the featured image.