Airbnb's 'Display Total Price' Tool Lets Guests See Listing's Actual Price, Including Those Dreaded Cleaning Fees

There will be a better sense of what they are signing up for when they book weekend getaways on the platform.

A number of new transparency features were announced by CEO Brian Chesky on Monday. Users who click the new "Display total price" feature will see the true total price of their trip, before taxes, in search results as well as on the app's map and on listings pages. Some users complained that the app's nightly rates, which don't clearly include additional fees, made certain listings appear more affordable than they actually were.

Chesky said that Airbnb will provide a full price breakdown of the app's service fees, and discounts, and will begin prioritization of total listing prices over nightly prices in its search algorithm, regardless of whether a user chooses to use the filter on their end. Higher quality listings with lower total prices should show up in results. Variable pricing and seasonal discounts will be provided by the app so hosts can set more competitive rates.

Chesky said that they started as an affordable option to hotels. We need to help our hosts during this difficult economic time.

In some cases, less than clear cleaning fees can cost hundreds of dollars, and that's what people have been complaining about for years. The median cleaning fee was around $75 according to Nerdwallet. More than a third of the listings analyzed included a cleaning fee worth between 20% and 29% of the listing's base price, while 8% included a cleaning fee that was more than 40% of the original listing's price. Fees and taxes can turn a good weekend trip into a bad one.

Chesky and Airbnb promised to conduct a comprehensive review of its fees by the end of the year after acknowledging some of the criticisms in a May 2021. Chesky blamed continued feedback and testing of features with hosts and guests for the delay in the changes.

Most users won't be able to see the new total pricing display. Chesky told the Journal that users were confused when they saw more expensive listings in their search results and that they had tried to make the feature opt in.

Chesky said the prices looked more expensive. They don't know why they're more expensive.

Gizmodo asked for comment fromAirbnb, but they didn't reply immediately.