Most of my travel journeys, I all try to look for travel accommodation on Airbnb. Not only I can find better deals with a homestay on Airbnb, but there is a lot of interesting experience that I may have with local hosts. Furthermore, I found a way to hack Airbnb credit that every traveler can even have a cheaper price while booking on the platform. In this way, every travel lover could benefit your budget on every trip.
But First, What is Airbnb?
Airbnb (Airbed & Breakfast) is a P2P (peer to peer) platform that connects the people who have rental properties (room, house, apartment, etc.) to the people who are looking for accommodations, including short and long term.
Initially, Airbnb was started by Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia in San Francisco in 2018. The idea was simple when the 2 guys cannot pay their rent. They then had to make a blog to rent out their room for another income source. Now, at 10 years old, Airbnb becomes the largest accommodation booking platform, without owning any real estate, for any travel purposes.
Why I Choose Airbnb for Travel Accommodation?
After many time using Airbnb in my trips, I found out a lot of advantages using Airbnb for booking accommodation:
- Homestay on Airbnb usually offers a cheaper price compared to the hotel. To elaborate, I compare the average nightly price on Airbnb and Booking.com at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. And the score is 1-0 going to Airbnb.
- By booking on Airbnb, users can have a special experience from the long list of varied accommodation. There are apartments which fully equipped with cooking tools, dishwasher, washing machine. A villa with infinity pools. Or even a whole private island. All you can easily find on Airbnb.
- Some hosts even offer additional free services for guests’ experiences. For example, many local hosts will lead users around to discover the city they located, or take guests to really good restaurants in the area. Additionally, they have free pocket wifi for guests. Even some are quite easy in check-in and check-out time. They can be flexible with guests’ schedules.
- Airbnb is now offering local experiences and restaurants, all operated by the truly locals-in-heart. With the reviews from other users, it’s not hard to enjoy the best experience in town.
I could say Airbnb is the top travel utility in terms of experiences.
The Best Part! How to Get Airbnb Credit for Cheaper Deals?
Airbnb is running a referral program to support users in their first time booking on the platform. Every time you create an account via The Broad Life’s Airbnb link, you can earn up to $47 travel credit. That credit can be used with $34 off on homestay booking and $13 off on local experiences. In other words, you could get even a night of travel accommodation for free with any bookings that cost less than $34.
To illustrate, what travel accommodation that $34 can pay for? A whole Villa in Hoi An, Vietnam. A resort & spa in Siem Reap, Cambodia. A cozy, traditional house in Japan. A warm getaway with an outdoor jacuzzi, hot-tub in Canada. Or even a treehouse with an indoor fireplace in New Zealand. Now you can see what $34 Airbnb credit can bring to you. In addition, with the rest $13 in credit, you can easily find so many experiences in the area around your homestay.
Then How to Book on Airbnb?
If you already used Booking.com or Agoda, booking on Airbnb is similar, except it doesn’t have a cash payment option.
Step 1 – Create an account via The Broad Life link, you will have $47 in travel credit.
Step 2 – After login with your account, type the destination that you are looking for a place into the search box, and choose ‘Homes’. On the other hand, choose ‘Experiences’ if you are figuring out an activity to do in the area.
Step 3 – A list of different hosts will show on the screen for your choice. However, in order to find the most suitable place for your preferences, you should use the filter on the left side, including:
- Check-in and check-out date
- The number of guests. In other words, how many people in your group will stay
- Price range, the price that you are willing to pay for a night
- Home type, what kind of travel accommodation that you want to stay
- Instant booking if you don’t want to wait for the host’s approval
- Superhost, who is qualified for Airbnb requirements such as good reviews from guests, a very small number of cancellations received, etc.
- And more options in the filter to very match your preferences
- You can also use the map on the right side to see the location or the area that you want to stay in.
Moreover, you should notice the stars and the ‘Plus’ listings. It’s the places that are verified by Airbnb’s comfort and quality standard to make sure guests can have the best experiences.
When you click on the ‘Terms, Privacy, Currency & More’ box on the bottom right side, you will be able to see Airbnb’s info and choose your preferred language and currency used in the platform.
Step 4 – After picked a place, you should carefully read all the information provided. Otherwise, you can contact the host directly if you need any specific info.
Of course, with the filter, Airbnb has already suggested the most suitable listing. Nevertheless, there are some details that you need to check thoroughly such as the description, the neighborhood, house rules, cancellation policy, and especially the final prices after you filled your info, and deducted by the travel credit when you registered account via The Broad Life link. Sometimes, you will see the ‘rare find’ with a gem, it’s the listings with good price, nice reviews, and good locations that are usually fully booked.
Plus, you should skim the reviews to know more about the listing and to further see if other guests enjoyed the experiences that you are looking for.
Finally, you should check the host profile to see how guests reviewed he/her. It’s good to know how the hosts interact and treat their guests. Also to avoid being a scam or receive a bad experience.
Payment on Airbnb
Airbnb accepts payment via credit and debit card from Mastercard, Visa, American Express, JCB, Discover. It can also be paid with Paypal, e-wallet such as Apple Pay, Google Wallet, or Alipay within China territory.
When you process the payment on Airbnb, the credit on your card or account will be directly deducted.
In case you want to cancel a booking, Airbnb will base on hosts’ cancellation policy to make decision on refund after a while.
A Note to Use Airbnb
- Airbnb has insurance for its users. Therefore, if you are looking for travel accommodation, you should book through Airbnb to avoid being a scam.
- If you have any questions or confusing, you can check the answers in Help Center, or directly contact Airbnb supporters.
- You can also directly message Airbnb on Twitter or Facebook.
I hope this Airbnb hack and instruction benefit your budget. Enjoy traveling!
IF YOU LOVE THIS TRAVEL ACCOMMODATION HACK ON AIRBNB, ‘PIN IT’ NOW!
