Airbnb rentals all over. Airbnb – reviews about using the service, personal experience, useful recommendations for finding accommodation in airbnb and a $20 discount coupon

I remember my first independent travels - just the Stone Age. It was necessary to check with the hotel or with partner companies, at the airport counter, or look for accommodation on the spot, because there was no convenient payment online. However, in those days everyone used paper air tickets, and electronic ones aroused mistrust. It’s good that everything has changed, although some Southeast Asian countries, for example Myanmar, are still at this level.

What is Airbnb?

Features of AirBnB

6. Help from the owner. In my rental cases, all the apartment owners were very helpful. For example, in Turkey they described the sights and walking routes to see everything, recommended inexpensive restaurants with vegetarian food, and helped book transfers. And all this without imposing services like “buy an excursion from me.” The owner of my apartment in Phuket meets guests at the airport and helps as much as possible. Check with the owners, clarify all the details: is it nearby, what infrastructure surrounds the house, how fast the Internet works. Live communication always helps. There are owners who mark recommended restaurants, attractions and entertainment on the map under the description of the accommodation. I would say that Airbnb hosts can, in a sense, replace your guide, help you navigate an unfamiliar city and tell you how to best spend your time. Hotel reception desks are mostly staffed by visiting people who have little interest in the tourist component and sometimes don’t even know the city’s transport system. So on Airbnb, a good host is a traveler's friend.

7. Long stay. Depending on the apartment, there are long-term stay options available on Airbnb. For example, renting a villa for two to three weeks will cost the same as for a month. Check with the hosts for details and ask for a discount for long-term stays.

8. Airbnb is ideal in big cities. A striking example of this is the sky-high prices for small hotel rooms. For the same price, I found apartments in the center with a completely different level of comfort. You can also rent an apartment in Phuket near the beach for the price of a hotel room.

9. Reminders and notifications. When registering on the Airbnb website, provide your primary email and phone number. This way you won't miss notifications from support or the owner. And an excellent SMS sending service will help you if you don’t have the Internet at hand.

10. First booking bonus. Follow my link, register and get a $38 discount on your first booking.

Disadvantages of renting a home through Airbnb

1. This is not a hotel. Living conditions in a private apartment compared to a hotel room have their disadvantages. For some apartments and villas, cleaning is charged separately and is included in the final bill. In apartments, sometimes maid service is not included at all or is provided only once a week. You won't always be served breakfast. When moving into an apartment, check the serviceability of the air conditioner, TV, plumbing and integrity of the furniture. It happens that the previous tenant broke something, but the owner did not notice. In such cases, when leaving, it will be impossible to prove that it was not you who did this. In some cases, the owner takes a deposit for the safety of the property, which is blocked on your card and returned 48 hours after check-out. I would say that such a deposit is not a minus, since all the details are spelled out in the description of the property. Compare that some hotels also take a deposit, but do not write about it on booking sites. It’s better to know about the deposit in advance than to be notified about it upon arrival.

2. Speed of responses. Another difference from booking sites is the speed of confirmation. The owners usually respond within a couple of hours, but sometimes I wait a day for messages from them. For urgent reservations, if you have already decided on accommodation, select the "Instant Confirmation" option. In other cases, you need to search and find out the details in advance. I once spent a whole week discussing the details of renting an apartment in Bali.

3. Internet users are uneducated. Sometimes the owner does not fully understand the functional part of the Airbnb system, and there will be serious errors on the apartment page. For example, the lack of written information about additional bills for electricity and water can become an unpleasant surprise upon arrival. Or the owner incorrectly filled out information about the cost of living for the second and subsequent guests. Check these details if you are going to rent an apartment in Thailand. Some hosts fill out information about housing in their native language, of course, the built-in translator will help translate, but in situations with Korean, Chinese and other Asian languages, it seems that something is missing.

4. Airbnb commission. Like many, Airbnb charges a commission of 6-12% of the booking amount. Moreover, the more expensive the accommodation, the lower the service fee. The cost of the apartment or villa you choose will end up being slightly more expensive. Take this fact into account.

5. Minimum rental period. Unlike most hotels on Airbnb, the host himself sets the minimum booking period. For some it is 1 night, for others it is 7 nights. Pay attention to this fact.

6. A specific user registration system. The Airbnb system takes user security seriously, requiring identity verification. In general, there is no big minus in this. When reserving a room on hotel booking sites, you also need to provide your passport details. With Airbnb, you just need to confirm that you are a real person and not a bot. Although in controversial situations, technical support gives preference to those users whose profile is fully verified. Not everyone wants to fill out the form completely and upload a scan of their passport, although this information is hidden from other users. For a guest profile, confirming your email address is sufficient. Some hosts may refuse bookings to users who do not have enough confirmed information in their profile. It would be a good idea to add a photo, phone number and one of the social networks, as well as fill in the field about yourself. Write your first name, last name and personal information in English.

7. Cancellation of reservation. In rare cases, the owner may cancel your reservation, although there is a penalty for doing so. You can see all the owner's cancellations in his profile. Please read the cancellation conditions on your part carefully. There are several of them, it all depends on the conditions and time of cancellation.

As you can see, the pros of renting a home through Airbnb outweigh the cons. It is worth noting that the system presents more than a million unique options - there is always a choice. In my opinion, the options for renting an apartment in Phuket are superior to hotel rooms in cost and comfort. Tell us about your experience of renting a home through Airbnb in the comments.

How to rent a house

A little secret for those looking for accommodation for two. Find an apartment/room for one person through the search, and then add a second guest in the selected option. Please note that rooms for two or three guests may be more profitable even than those offered in the category for singles.

Search filters make choosing housing much easier: Internet, parking, the possibility of holding events, smoking - this is not a complete list of criteria by which you can select suitable options. In addition, the ability to search by keywords has been implemented, which allows you to find apartments with an office/workplace/near key locations. Convenient when you need housing solely for work or business negotiations; Choosing accommodation based on a map of the area will allow you to stay exactly next to the office of the desired company.

The issuance of housing in the search depends on many factors, including profile data and the specifics of the trip.

Verified photos

The photo in the ad can tell a lot about the rental location. The Airbnb sign in the top right corner of the photo means that the photos were uploaded to the site by the host. And the Verified Photo sign indicates that an Airbnb photographer was in this place and did a photo shoot. That is, the photo exactly corresponds to reality.

Don't be afraid to share a room

If you're not socially anxious, try renting a room rather than an apartment. Firstly, the room will cost you less. Secondly, communication with the owners of the apartment will solve many everyday issues: you will have someone to ask about the nearest pharmacy/ATM, and maybe you can have a drink together in a nearby bar. Carefully read apartment descriptions and user profiles - it usually indicates whether the owner wants to spend time with guests or not. To maintain your privacy, check whether the room is locked.

Response rate

Do you want the hosts to quickly answer any of your questions? Pay attention to the number that appears under the owner's photo in the ad. “Response rate” is an indicator that indicates how often the apartment owner responds to requests. Hosts with this indicator above 90% respond as quickly as possible.

If you need an apartment right away, look for options with an “Instant Booking” button, which allows you to make a reservation without waiting for confirmation from the owner.

Reviews

Read the reviews! Travelers who have lived in this place write honestly about their time there. However, the absence of any reviews is not a cause for concern. Just ask all the questions that matter most to you on the site so that you understand exactly where you will live. In addition, an apartment that currently has few reviews may cost less. Travelers also publish reviews about their hosts - you can find out in advance their character and manner of communicating with guests.

We monitor user behavior on the site and do not allow positive reviews to be cheated. For example, when a tenant and a landlord repeatedly book a room with each other, the system may interpret this as an attempt to create a positive rating on the site.

Safety

Booking, payment, communication between the tenant and the landlord, reviews - this is the information that we carefully monitor. Airbnb's intelligence system takes into account many factors, based on patterns of potentially dangerous actions (much like what eBay has successfully implemented). Each property listed on the Airbnb platform is assigned “trust points.” Properties with a low score are automatically flagged for closer inspection, helping to track money laundering and other forms of fraud. The system works perfectly - for 6 million residents in 2013, conflict situations requiring payment of compensation from the company were reported only 700 times. And don’t forget that we always have a customer service hotline, so don’t hesitate to complain.

Don’t forget to study your profile, this will allow you to avoid communicating with “random” people.

Communication with the owner

It is customary for us to communicate with the owners kindly. Discuss in advance the standard set of questions: how the keys will be handed over, whether there is Wi-Fi in the apartment, adapters for sockets, a hair dryer, pets, is it possible to use the kitchen, where is the nearest store/pharmacy, how quickly and what transport can you use to get there? to the city center and so on.

You can and should bargain with the owners for housing. You can convince the owner to change the rental price. When booking at the last minute, it may be more profitable for the host to accept you than to leave the apartment empty. Is it possible to significantly reduce the cost of an air mattress, folding bed or sofa? No. But if you move in with a family, you can rent really nice apartments for normal money.

Some owners are worried about their property and usually ask for a small security deposit. After you leave your place of residence, the deposit is returned to the card (provided that you left the apartment intact). The return period for the card is determined by your bank. To avoid controversial issues (if the owner tries to accuse you of damaging property), when moving out of the apartment, it would not hurt to invite the owner to make a walk-through or photograph the premises himself.

Of course, you can do just fine without all of the above. But you can get much more good impressions (or even get them at all), and in some cases save money, with the help of our advice. If you have any observations or questions that are not mentioned here, leave them in the comments.

26.03.2017 Maria Glazunova

How do you feel about this difference? And I haven’t yet started to traumatize your psyche and give an example of a hostel with 2 beds in a 6-bed room for the same price =)

By the way, you can also find simpler options, for example a room in an apartment for 230 euros per week.

But through Airbnb you can search for accommodation not only in Europe, but also in Asia. So, one day, we found a very good option with a gorgeous view on the island of Lembongan

And another time we rented an apartment for a month in Phuket, in a complex with a swimming pool and gym

Cons of Airbnb

Of course, we can’t say that everything is perfect in Airbnb; there are also disadvantages that appear due to the human factor. Since most owners are not involved in the apartment business, their approach in some matters may not be professional.

Conditions. The concept of comfort and cleanliness is different for everyone, and your requirements may not always coincide with the capabilities of the apartment owners - some little things that are invisible to the owner can become an annoying misunderstanding for you.
Speed. Unlike hotel booking sites, where you can select the desired room and immediately go to check-in, you should prepare for a trip using Airbnb in advance - online information about housing availability for the desired dates is not always 100% up-to-date. In any case, you will need to wait for confirmation from the owner.
Less privacy. Firstly, in order to book accommodation, you need to fill out your profile, provide your contact details and, preferably, write a little about yourself (or record a video introduction). You also need to provide your documents for identification (they will only be available to the Airbnb system, the host will not see them). Secondly, if you plan to rent not an entire apartment, but a separate room, then perhaps other guests or the owners will live in the apartment with you.
You may be denied a reservation if the owner doesn’t like you or your profile in some way - after all, he rents out his home and has the right to choose who to put in his apartment.

In order to avoid misunderstandings, carefully study the owner’s profile, the description of the accommodation on airbnb, and study the reviews of previous guests especially carefully. In addition, you need to keep in mind that most of these disadvantages are mitigated by Airbnb's Guest Compensation Policy (see below).

What Airbnb is for us

For us, Airbnb is an excellent option for accommodation, which is located between hotels and. It combines freedom and independence on the one hand and the opportunity to get more comfort and homeliness, as well as to join the culture of the country, on the other.

Instructions for use

In order to register, you need to go to the Airbnb website. If you register using this link, you will receive a bonus as a bonus that you can use when booking accommodation

After a simple registration on airbnb, you will be taken to the main page of the site. Enter the name of the city where you plan to travel, as well as the dates of your stay

As a result of the search, you will see the found options, as well as a city map with marked points

The system has quite a few filters by which you can select suitable options

Having selected suitable housing, you can study the details, look at photographs, and read reviews of previous guests about a specific apartment on airbnb. On the right side of the page the cost of accommodation is indicated for one day and for the selected number of days, as well as the cost of Airbnb services

After this, you can send a booking request

Once the host confirms the specified dates, you can pay for your reservation using a credit card or PayPal.

What you should pay attention to when choosing housing

Verified profile– in order to confirm his identity, the host can provide the Airbnb system with his documents, after which an icon will appear in his profile indicating that he has completed online and/or offline confirmation.

Verified photos– if in the upper right corner of the photo, in addition to the usual logo, there is an inscription verified photo, which means they were taken by a professional Airbnb photographer and are accurate.

Response rate– if the profile indicates a frequency of 10%, then you don’t have to waste time on such housing, most likely no one will answer you, but a frequency of 90-100%, on the contrary, indicates that you will definitely receive an answer.

Response time– this is an important indicator if there is not much time left before the expected booking date. In this case, choose those who respond as quickly as possible.

Calendar update– if the calendar is updated regularly, it will be easier to find accommodation for the required dates, otherwise you will have to correspond with the owner every time.

Cancellation conditions– if you have a chance that the trip may not take place, choose more flexible conditions (see below).

One of the most important parameters in airbnb is reviews of the accommodation and the owner.

airbnb reviews– this is probably one of the most important criteria. The description of an apartment in airbnb can say anything, but if the vast majority of guests praise this place, then most likely it is really good. Read carefully and treat reviews critically - not everyone can directly write about some disadvantages. Sometimes the statement is veiled, for example something like “living in such a small apartment was an interesting experiment.”

Cancel Reservation

Airbnb has a variety of cancellation policies, allowing you to customize your accommodation depending on how confident you are about your upcoming trip. Please note that the Airbnb fee is non-refundable, except in serious circumstances (if the cancellation was initiated by you, of course):

flexible,
moderate,
strict,
super strict
long-term

You can read more about cancellation types and conditions here.

Why Airbnb is safe

Airbnb has " Guest compensation rules”, which allow you to get a refund of the money paid if some misunderstanding has arisen, for example:

the owner canceled the reservation or did not provide access to the accommodation;
in reality, the housing differs significantly from the description on the website;
you find that your home is dirty or unsafe

And although this does not happen often, if suddenly something in the booked accommodation does not suit you, contact Airbnb within 24 hours of your arrival. You can read more here.

Booking confirmation for visa

We ourselves have never provided a service receipt to the consulate, but according to the support service, as well as judging by numerous reports from airbnb users, the feedback on this topic is quite positive - such reservations are accepted without problems at consulates and visa centers.

Rent out your apartment via airbnb

As you might guess, in addition to renting housing while traveling, using the Airbnb service you can also rent out your apartment/room/house /double mattress. If you have a spare room or are going to the country for a few months, or just want to earn a little extra money during the summer by living in the office, this is a great opportunity, simple and convenient.

For hosts, Airbnb provides no less guarantees than for guests, so it is also quite safe. Moreover, it is free, since the Airbnb service adds its own additional fee (about 10%) to the cost, i.e. you will receive exactly as much as you indicate in the ad. By the way, a professional photographer will also take photos of your apartment for Airbnb for free.

In order to rent out an apartment in airbnb, you need to go to the “Your listings” section in the “Control Panel”.

Conclusion

As with everything new, at first glance, Airbnb may seem something unusual and complicated. But in reality, Sevris is very convenient, thoughtful and safe, so I recommend at least trying to use it in order to have another tool in stock for traveling. I hope that Airbnb can be a good alternative for you to hotels, hostels and guesthouses :)

To make using this service even more enjoyable, I remind you that you can receive a bonus for your first booking in the Airbnb system. To do this, simply register using this link. I wish you great travels and a pleasant holiday!

You can read about our experience of renting an apartment through Airbnb in Phuket.

Still have questions about using the service? Ask them in the comments.

If you liked the idea of finding housing through the airbnb service, share this article with your friends (repost on social networks).

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Pitalenko Alexey

AirBnB Host

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Oksana

Maria Glazunova

Oksana

Julia

Svetlana

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Maria Glazunova

Svetlana Heiro

Maria Glazunova

Svetlana Heiro

Maria Glazunova

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Maria Glazunova

Galina

Maria Glazunova

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Olga

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Marianne

I have been regularly using the Airbnb.ru website (aka Airbnb.com) to book accommodation around the world since January 2012. I got all my friends hooked on him. During this time, the project has grown and continues to actively develop. airbnb has changed its interface several times, but the essence remains the same.

You will learn how to register on Airbnb and receive an Airbnb coupon for a $20 discount, how to search and book accommodation, what to look for, why renting an apartment is better than renting hotels through the popular Booking.com

The article turned out to be voluminous, because I described all the possible nuances, but don’t be alarmed. Booking apartments on Airbnb is very easy. My process has now been perfected to the point of automation and takes a maximum of 10 minutes to find the right housing and correspond with the owner.

House for rent in Tuscany, Italy

Apartment in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
I first heard about AirBandby when I was getting ready for a six-month trip to Latin America.

Hotels in the capitals of Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama turned out to be expensive, and this is where this project came to the rescue. For half the price of the simplest hotel room, we rented rooms, and sometimes entire floors, in the private homes of local residents.

On the one hand, this gives you complete freedom of action and a feeling of being at home on the other side of the world, and on the other hand, you can always chat with the owners, drink a cup of coffee, ask about the country, and get valuable recommendations.

When we once rented a huge room with a dressing room in a private house with a garden, a swimming pool, a kitchen and a private gazebo over the lagoon, located in the heart of the Hotelera Zone in Cancun, the most expensive resort city in Mexico, a 5-minute walk from the Caribbean Sea, paying 49 $ per night for two (deluxe breakfast included), my interest in AirBnb grew into a strong love affair and an absolute unwillingness to cheat.

Apartments in Mexico

Since then, Airbnb is the first site I go to when I want to travel somewhere. It’s gotten to the point where I first look to see if there are cool apartments in the country, and only then look at air tickets.

This is especially true for Europe, the USA, Australia, Mexico, Russia, Belarus, large cities in Asia, where the price tag for hotels and even hostels is hellish, and the level of service does not always correspond.

On AirBandby you can rent housing for a day, a week, or a month. Some apartments have a minimum booking period. For example, 2 or 3 nights, others are rented daily.

Today I will write for you, dear readers, how Airbnb works. Maybe it will be useful to someone, because for the usual 20-50 euros that are paid for a hotel room, you get an entire apartment at your disposal, and sometimes a house with a swimming pool, a garden, a kitchen, a set of games and books, and even breakfast .

The essence of the AirBnb project the fact that the most ordinary people post on the site descriptions and photographs of their apartments, rooms, houses, apartments, yachts, boats, castles, even entire islands! Many people rent out their homes during vacations, some make money by renting out spare rooms, for others it’s a full-time business.

Loft in Riga

Apartment in Rome via Airbnb

And such apartments can be rented in Moscow for only $9 per day :)

How to rent an apartment on airbnb, video:

How to register on Airbnb? airbnb coupon for $17

When you register using it, you will receive from me gift 17$ for the first reservation, if its cost exceeds $100. So, if you find an apartment for $60 per day and want to rent it for 2 days, then instead of $120 you will pay only $103! A small thing, but nice.

Until October 2015, a discount on bookings was given in the amount of $25, then the discount decreased to $20, and now to even 17$ .

The popularity of Airbnb is increasing every day and discounts for new clients may decrease again at any time, so I recommend registering now before they stop giving out bonuses for your first booking.

If your first booking amount is less than $100, you can still register using my link. The coupon will be valid for a whole year, during which time you will probably want to rent an apartment on airbnb again.

Get $17 discount → → →

Click “Get Discount”
2. Click on the “Get Discount” button

The registration window appears

3. You can choose to register via facebook, google+ or email

If you already have facebook or google+ accounts, the easiest way is to log in through them. Enter your social login and password. networks, and you are automatically registered in the airbnb system. If such a window suddenly pops up, you will need to check the box and accept the terms of service:

4. After registration, you need to confirm your account.

✓ Since airbnb is not just a booking system, but also a community of travelers, account verification is provided in order to protect residents and hosts.

✓ The confirmation process is very simple and will take you no more than a couple of minutes

✓ You only need to confirm your account once, but you can use it for many years. Over the past 4 years, I myself have rented housing on airbnb in 27 countries, the experience is positive, that’s why I recommend it

5. If you logged in using your Google+ account or email, you will receive an email. Open it to begin account verification

6. Account verification methods

Excerpt from airbnb confirmation rules

7. To verify your airbnb profile, you need to:

✓ Add your phone number

✓ Fill out your profile, indicating your last name, first name, date of birth, address

✓ Upload a photo if it has not been downloaded from social media. networks

✓ Link your profile to social media profiles. networks

✓ If you don’t have a social profile. networks, the site may request to add a short video

✓ You can also upload a scan of your passport

8. You can register for one person only 1 profile if you don’t want to get banned from the system

Why verify your airbnb profile?

✓ You book apartments and houses through the airbnb service from real people and pay real money. Confirmation of the host and guest account is a guarantee that there is a real person behind the monitor screen

✓ Housing rental services are carried out via the Internet without signing a rental agreement, so Airbnb acts as a guarantee that the money will not go to waste, and that at the right time you will arrive at the specified address to the apartment for which you paid and receive the keys to it, because the owner is a living person who has rights to the apartment being rented

✓ It is necessary to confirm the guest’s profile in order to protect the owner of the property if the guest suddenly turns out to be unscrupulous, causes damage to the apartment, etc.

✓ By the way, it is for this reason that all communication and especially the transfer of money should be carried out only through the Airbnb website

How to book accommodation on AirBnb?

After registration is completed, we begin to book accommodation.

On the airbnb website, we select the language we need and the currency in which prices will be displayed. Either in the lower right corner or at the very bottom of the site

Installing language and currency

Next, in the search bar, enter the city and country where you would like to go, arrival and departure dates, number of guests, click “Start Search”

A list of available housing for your date appears. You can zoom in, out and move the map in all directions to find housing in a specific area of the city

Next, you can apply filters. Select the type of accommodation: “Entire housing”, “Single room”, “Shared room”. You can change the price range by moving the circles closer to the center and choosing prices that are comfortable for you

If you have special requirements, click “More filters” and select amenities, areas, type of housing, etc. To choose housing with free parking, you need to click on the arrow in the “Amenities” line

A selection of apartments around the world on Airbnb

When all the requirements are taken into account, we choose the accommodation we like, look at pictures, read reviews. I usually open several apartments I like and compare them. I try to choose accommodation that has at least one or two positive reviews

Be sure to read the apartment description. There prices are often indicated per week, per month, availability of amenities, and conditions for canceling a reservation. If you are not sure that the trip will take place, choose apartments on airbnb with flexible booking conditions

Cleaning fee. Some hosts, especially in Europe, like to charge cleaning fees. Sometimes it's $10, and sometimes it's 30 euros. Please carefully look at the final bill amount and the mention of the cleaning fee in the description of the apartment price

airbnb discount. If you registered >>, and the amount of the first booking is above $100, then after proceeding to payment (after clicking on the “Request Reservation” or “Instant Booking” button), a separate line in the “Coupon” column will reflect the $17 discount given by me

In this example, I had a coupon for a large amount, so I didn’t need to pay anything for the apartment

Booking and paying on Airbnb

1. Some apartments can be booked instantly, so the booking process on Airbnb is no different from Booking.com. To see only those apartments that can be booked instantly, you need to select the “Instant booking” option in the filter in advance.

2. If the instant booking option is not available, then you need to write a request to the owner

Click “Request booking”

3. In your message, you can briefly describe who you are, when you arrive, and who you are traveling with. You can also ask clarifying questions. For example, does Wifi work, is there a balcony, how far is parking, etc.

4. It is best to write a request to only one owner at a time, because if the reservation is confirmed, the money will be debited from the card automatically. The host has 24 hours to confirm or not confirm your reservation

If you don’t know English, write a message in Russian, put the text into Google Translator, copy and paste. I did this when I rented houses in Italy and Germany from people who did not speak English.

I usually write something like this:

Ciao, Romana!
Is your wonderful apartment available from 17 till 22 of June? Does it have wifi, free parking and a balcony?
My boyfriend and I are traveling Italy by car and would like to stay at your nice place if it’s possible
Have a good day
Mila

Hello Eric
Next week i’m planning to visit St. Petersburg and looking for a centrally located place to stay. Is your room available from 2 to 4th of October?
Thanks in advance
Mila from Minsk

Tina, hello!
Is it possible to rent your apartment for a week from February 17? There are two of us: a girl and a guy from Belarus.
Do you have Wifi, does it work well, does it turn off?
Thank you in advance
Best regards, Mila

Fill in the specified fields. Choose a convenient payment method: PayPal or card. Where the billing address is, enter your address. No one will send you letters to him.

5. If you plan to travel with someone, be sure to include the names of all travel companions when booking. This is necessary if you plan to apply for a visa.

6. Airbnb mobile app
Be sure to install the Airbnb mobile app on your phone. It’s convenient to correspond with the owner through it

7. If the owner has confirmed the reservation, an SMS will be sent to your phone, and a receipt confirming the reservation will be sent to your email, indicating the exact address of the property and the owner’s phone number.

Receipt confirming your reservation. If you scroll down, the address and directions will be indicated there

8. After the reservation is confirmed, I usually write a message to the owner about what time I plan to be and ask where to pick up the keys. Usually the owner is waiting at home

Example message:

Ciao, Romana!
Thanks for accepting my request.
We'll come to Tropea in the evening. Should we go directly to the apartment or write you a msg first?
Mila

9. In your personal account in the “Trips” section you can view upcoming and past trips, write to the owner and print a receipt

Airbnb reservation for visa

The Airbnb receipt you receive in your email is your official confirmation of your reservation and is currently accepted by all visa application centers. So, if you plan to independently obtain a Schengen visa from any country, simply print out the airbnb receipt and present it to the embassy.

If you are not traveling alone, be sure to enter the names of all guests (as in international passports) when booking, then they will appear on the receipt that is sent by email or printed from the website. The airbnb receipt contains all the information required for a visa: names of guests, address and telephone number of the place of residence, date of arrival and departure, information about 100% prepayment

Information about other guests can be added in your personal account at any time before departure date. Need to:

1. Go to “Trips”

2. Click “View receipt for upcoming trip”

3. Click Company Address or Add Guests at the top of the page

4. Only the first and last names of other guests can be entered on the receipt. Passport number, address, date of birth, TIN cannot be entered

How to Cancel an Airbnb Reservation

When booking an apartment, be sure to check the cancellation conditions, especially if you are not sure that the trip will take place. There are Flexible, Moderate and Strict cancellation conditions.

To find out the cancellation policy for a specific reservation, go to the Trips section, find the reservation you want to cancel, and click Trip Plans. You can read detailed conditions for canceling a booking on airbnb on the official website

Pros of booking apartments on AirBnB:

1. You choose housing based on photographs, of which there are usually many, and they are completely true.

2. You know that the money paid for housing will not be lost or disappear anywhere. Also, when canceling a booking, funds are returned in full if the conditions for canceling the booking were flexible

4. The “Amenities” section lists all the devices and gadgets available, including whether there is WiFi, washing machine, air conditioning, heating, parking, etc. As a rule, all apartments and houses were equipped with the necessary things, down to the little things that I would never have thought of

5. If you are traveling on a budget, you can rent an apartment with a kitchen and cook at home, which significantly saves money

6. Convenient site functionality, accessibility and ease of use

7. The site menu has been translated into Russian, but reviews can be translated in Google in a couple of seconds

8. 100% guarantee that on the specified date and time the accommodation will be completely at your disposal

9. Tech. support in Russian

AirBnb Cons:

1. Project commission. On the other hand, you pay this money for your peace of mind and confidence that the booked accommodation will be exactly what you expect it to be. All services charge a commission, only Airbnb talks about it openly, while Booking.com and other sites hide it in the price

2. 100% prepayment. This measure was introduced to protect the owner of the apartment. It’s one thing to book a room in a chain hotel without prepayment, which, if you refuse, will quickly find another client; another thing is to rent an apartment from the owner, who, if you change your mind about going to him, may not find another tenant due to the fact that he kept the reservation is yours

Answers to FAQ about renting a home on Airbnb

— The owner asks to transfer the prepayment to his personal account, bypassing the Airbnb service. What to do?

In such cases, I either tell the owner that I will pay through the site, or look for another apartment. If you agree to direct payments, you do so at your own responsibility. If you transfer the prepayment for the apartment, arrive, and no one is there, airbnb technical support will not help you

Be sure to read my article about how to avoid being scammed on Airbnb

— Why doesn’t the owner want to work through airbnb and asks for money directly?

Airbnb has a commission of 11-12% of the amount of each booking, which is charged to the guest. The owner of the property pays the same commission in order to be able to place an ad on the site. It is clear that it is more profitable for the owner to work directly, so some owners may offer such an alternative. You can only agree if you trust this person 100%

— What is the airbnb commission for?

In order to maintain such a service, you need a staff of technical staff. support, moderators, developers, programmers, marketers. Any home rental services charge a commission, but on Booking.com the amount is included in the price of the accommodation, while on Airbnb it is shown as a separate line in the invoice

— The apartment does not correspond to the photo and description. What to do?

If you arrive at the apartment and it does not match the photo and description on the website, or you have any questions with the owner, immediately write to technical support. Airbnb support (possible in Russian). The owner receives money for your reservation the next day after your arrival, so if you write a claim, then on the very first day!

All airbnb support service contacts (official groups on social networks in Russian, telephone numbers in different countries, email, emergency numbers) are described in the article: all methods of contacting airbnb

— Should I write a review about an apartment on Airbnb?

After you have lived in the apartment, you are given 14 days to write a review about the apartment. A reminder letter is periodically sent to the post office.

It’s better to write a review, because, firstly, you will help other travelers, and secondly, those who actively travel and write reviews are sometimes given discount coupons. We lived in Mexico for 4 days for free using such coupons

— What is the billing address on Airbnb?
When filling out payment details, if you selected the “Payment by card” option, you need to fill in the fields with the invoice address.

This refers to the address that you indicated at the bank when you opened the card there. Please indicate the address in Latin letters. Only 5 digits can be entered in the index column, so indicate the first 5 digits of the index.

You can pay either from your own card or from someone else’s (even if that card has a different last name and gender of the owner). The box with the billing address does not affect anything; Airbnb will not send you emails.

P.S. Since you have read this long article to the end, we cannot leave you without a gift, so I remind you once again about the link to the gift certificate. Here it is: AirBnb discount coupon.

By registering for airbnb using this link, you will receive $17 discount for your first trip if the cost of your rental accommodation exceeds $100. For example, you want to stay 2 nights in Barcelona and find a cool apartment for $60 per night, including commission. Accordingly, the cost of housing for two nights will be $120. BUT! After all, now you have a coupon! Therefore, the apartment will cost only $103 for two nights!

In addition to the aforementioned coupon that is given upon registration, Airbnb sometimes issues promotional codes that can be used for old accounts. More details at the link: airbnb coupons for $11, $17, $100

If you have any questions about booking apartments on the Airbnb website, write in the comments

How to rent apartments on AirBnb? Coupon, registration, reviews, FAQ

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The more we travel around the world, the more questions we receive about how to book cheap flights, how to find cheap accommodation and how, in principle, to travel cheaply. Now, apparently, the moment has come when it’s time to stop answering every questioner in a personal manner and highlight all these pressing issues publicly, point by point and with feeling. Let's start, perhaps, with the most vital thing - finding a roof over your head. How can you quickly and easily, and without spending your entire family travel budget, find cheap housing in almost any corner of our planet?

1. Couchsurfing

An option for the most sociable and economical! Couchsurfing allows you to stay in apartments, houses, apartments, villas, hostels (the list is endless) of local residents, as well as host travelers from all over the world at home. At the same time, accommodation for guests is absolutely free - the only payment is communication and exchange of experiences and impressions.

The main sites developing the idea of couchsurfing:

This option is suitable only for sociable people who, after a day full of fermentation and impressions, are ready to sit half the night in the kitchen, discussing with a new acquaintance their ascent to a volcano in Nicaragua or communication with local tribes in the Amazon jungle. Beeches and introverts may feel slightly uncomfortable;
Couchsurfing assumes that, in addition to your native Russian, you speak at least English, fluent enough to talk about at least a tenth of your adventures around the world. The number of couchsurfers with knowledge of Russian in most countries of the world is confidently approaching zero;
the listing of houses, apartments, and dorms at the very beginning was not accidental. The living conditions of different coaches can be completely different - from an empty apartment with all the amenities to a mattress on the floor side by side with four more similar adventurers;
and finally, living in another person’s house, you will often have to adapt to his rules and routine - such as getting up early, staying late, ten cats and five hamsters, and so on and so forth.

If all of the above does not scare you at all and you are quite tolerant, flexible and extroverted, then most likely, couchsurfing will help you save a lot on your trip, and will also bring you many new friends around the world and a lot of positive emotions!

2. Renting an apartment

This option is in many ways similar to the previous one - with one small but quite significant difference. Namely, in this case you will still have to pay for accommodation. But this minus of payment more than covers almost all the minuses of couchsurfing - you are not obliged to communicate with the owner more than you yourself want, you do not have to adapt to his rules and whims, and you have the right to choose the conditions and amenities of accommodation, on which the price of the one you choose will depend housing option. It can also be a separate house or apartment, or just a room in the owner’s house or even a bed in a common room. Still, the advantage is that you are not living in a faceless hotel with a reception and maids, but in a real home of a local resident with all its features and flavor.

Popular apartment rental sites around the world:

To be honest, for most Russian cities these sites work with difficulty. For our native spaces, sites like www.sutochno.ru and the like are much more meaningful.

3. Camping

This option is most likely suitable for people traveling on their own wheels - no matter four or two. And in general, it’s ideal if you have your own house - a tent, marquee or camper (mobile home). The main disadvantages of campsites are, of course, the lack of hotel comfort and amenities and, as a rule, the location on the outskirts, quite far from the city of interest to you. However, most often in campsites there are toilets, showers and even kitchens (and if we are talking about Europe, then all these amenities are provided at the European level), and the presence of your own wheels seems to hint that you don’t care about distances. But the undoubted advantages in this case are the price and location away from the bustle of the city among beautiful forests, fields, and rivers.

For some reason, sites for booking campsites as a selection do not look particularly attractive or readable, but if you look into it, there are a great many options.

Main sites for booking campsites:

On the last site, just click on the image of the European country you are interested in - and you will be immediately redirected to a separate site with campsites in this country.

4. Hostels

If, alas, you don’t have that much money, but you really want to travel, there is a great way to save on housing, which is often the main expense item for a traveler. To do this, it is enough to get acquainted with such a phenomenon as hostels. These are something like hostels with different levels of price, comfort and quality. Often, someone’s old large apartment with many rooms is turned into a hostel - hence the kitchen that is almost always present in this type of housing, as well as the need to share a shower and toilet with the residents of another couple of three or four rooms. But there is a pleasant opportunity to prepare your own breakfasts, lunches and dinners, as well as a lot of communication with like-minded travelers in the same kitchen or in the public areas of the hostel, which are most often arranged in such a way as to facilitate this communication in every possible way (hammocks, sofas, board games And so on).

The type of accommodation in hostels can also be very different - from a single or double personal room, sometimes even with its own shower-toilet (which is sometimes in no way inferior to a hotel room) to a bed in a multi-bed room (dormitory), the number of places in which can vary from four to infinity. The choice again depends on the price you are willing to pay and the level of sociability you are willing to push yourself to.

Main sites for booking hostels:

5. Hotel booking systems

I repeat - there are a lot of booking systems at the moment. But at the same time, unfortunately, the option of finding your favorite and only one and using only her does not work. The fact is that the price of the same hotels in different systems can sometimes differ radically - moreover, some hotels may cost less on one site, while others on another. So until you go through the main booking systems, you will never guess where exactly the ideal offer will be found!

The largest hotel booking systems:

6. Hotel meta search engines

This method is perhaps the most comprehensive, economical in terms of effort and time, and often the most effective. As I said above, prices for the same hotel in different booking systems can often differ significantly. An option to solve the problem is to either go through different systems one by one, or use the help of meta-search engines. These sites are special search engines that do not have their own hotel database, and you cannot book anything directly from them - but they search through many available booking systems and provide a list of hotels with prices from different systems, which you can compare yourself and choose. It turns out to be a sort of Google-Yandex, tailored solely to finding the ideal home for you.

It is impossible to book a hotel directly from the meta-search engine website, but this is also not a problem. After you make your choice, you will be asked to go directly to the website of the reservation system offering the price you like, and there you can book your room at the same price. There are a lot of intermediaries, but they allow you to significantly save time and effort, as well as minimize the number of sites that you need to view and study.

It might be useful to read: