AirBnB per person pricing

Mr Mustard didn't know this despite using AirBnB 30+ times.

He took a month off and went abroad over Xmas and New Year. At different times there were 1,3,4 or 5 people in the 3 bedroomed flat. The price was the same regardless of the number who were staying.

One thing he had learnt due to a suggestion made by his partner, was that if you book a month instead of a shorter period you sometimes get a discount and it might be as high as 50%. Therefore if you only want 3 weeks somewhere, check the price for a month and if less, book it and simply leave earlier and you have made a saving.

When he then looked to have another long trip away he knew he would be alone some of the time, with his partner some of the time and possibly another friend would come out for a few days to do some cycling or her son would also arrive for a few days. To start with he looked at there being 2 people in a two double bedded flat and was quoted £2,503. Sometimes there would be 3 people and then having seen a varying price Mr Mustard set the enquiry to 4 people even though there would never be more than 3 in the flat. At this location there is a per person per diem tourist tax so he would also be overpaying for that.

Mr Mustard then had a look around the AirBnB website and found that this was a pricing model which AirBnB offered whereby a host could charge an extra £10 per night per person above a base number.

As Mr Mustard didn't know his final arrangements he wanted to be upfront with the host and so he messaged them.

Hi Florence. I was thinking of booking this apartment for a month. I noticed that the price varied according to how many people are staying despite the advert being for 4 people. This surprised me as I would have the same space all the time. For the first week my partner will be with me and then she will go back to the uk to work. For 5 days she will come back with her son and then again go back to work. Therefore for half of the time there will be one person, for a week 2 people and for a few days 3 people. I proposed therefore to pay the rate for 2 people. Is that ok? Thank you

He received a response quite quickly.

Thank you for your message and clarification. Yes no problem if you are only 3 people for 3 or 4 days we leave it like that but If there is a change I will have to make you pay the difference, i.e. €10 per day per person beyond two people.
We look forward to entrusting you with the keys to my apartment. Kind regards,

No reduction is offered for the days when only one person is in residence. Mr Mustard doesn't think the costs of the flat will be much different between there being one person or 4 people in residence. What he didn't like was that the pricing structure is not explicitly mentioned in the description of the place and that he blundered over it by chance. The host can have whatever pricing policy they like but it should be open and transparent.

You have probably already guessed that Mr Mustard hasn't booked the particular flat and he looked around in the same town and found a one bed flat with a sofa bed (as well as the double bed) which would meet his needs. There are no extra charges if you use the sofa bed and the 1 bed flat is 52 sq m whereas the 2 bed was about 50 sq m so he is getting the same amount of space and is paying half of the 2 bed flat rate for 2 people. Result.

Mr Mustard hopes this blog may help you one day not be over-charged when you are under-occupying.

The end.