Three new features make finding properties, extended stays, and protecting bookings better.
You probably already know that there are thousands and thousands of incredible homes to rent on Airbnb, including out-of-this-world properties like castles, igloos, and treehouses. The tricky part is finding them (and dates they are actually available).
With Airbnb’s recent updates—“the biggest change to Airbnb in decades,” according to Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky—finding a special place to stay is easier than ever. The new features not only group specific properties into category types (like castles, for example), but also allow users to find and book multiple places to stay over the course of a single trip, plus provide new protections to ensure a positive experience.
1. Categories
The first major change to Airbnb is the introduction of Airbnb Categories: “A new way to search that makes it easy to discover millions of homes you never knew existed.”
With this feature, Airbnb moves away from the idea you need to know exactly where you want to go on what specific dates. Instead, it lets the vast number of rentals on the platform guide you. Now when you visit Airbnb on the app or on the website, homes are organized into 56 different categories across a spectrum of types, locations, and activities.
Categories include home types like castles, A-frame homes, barns, windmills, and even farms or shipping containers. Want to book a house with a grand piano? That’s a category. Looking for a culinary getaway with a chef’s kitchen? That’s a category, too. With the design category, you can search through homes featured in glossy magazines or designed by celebrated architects like Frank Lloyd Wright.
If you’re wanting a specific location type but aren’t sure where to go, select a general category like “beachfront” to see what’s available near and far. Other location categories include: “Arctic,” for accommodations in Norway, Finland, and Iceland; “riads” for Morocco; “ryokans” for Japan, along with more broad terms like “vineyards,” “countryside,” “national parks,” and “lakes.”
If you don’t know where to go but are looking for a certain activity—say golfing, skiing, surfing, or camping–you can now search by that criteria as well, either via a broad search across all available properties or limited to a specific destination. For example, you can search “castles” across all of Europe or zoom in and find ones specifically in France.
2. Split Stays
Booking a trip that is a week or longer? With Split Stay, Airbnb now automatically shows you booking options that split trips into two different homes. This feature gives travelers the opportunity to experience two different destinations or homes without piecing it together themselves. For example, if you’re looking through options for a weeklong trip to France, you may see two similar homes in different destinations paired together as a booking option along with single destinations.
Split Stay is also available across fourteen different categories, including camping, national parks, skiing, and surfing. So if you’re looking to book a weeklong surf trip in California, you may be suggested two different coastal areas to split your vacation between.
When looking at Split Stays on the map, an animated line appears to show you the distance between the two. If you decide on the Split Stay option, a quick-and-easy interface helps you book both in a seamless process, one home at a time.
3. AirCover
The last major change is the introduction of AirCover for Guests, a comprehensive travel protection program included free with every booking. “It represents the biggest upgrade to Airbnb customer service in a decade,” the company says.
With AirCover, guests are protected in four different ways:
– Booking Protection Guarantee: Airbnb will find a similar or better home if a Host cancels a booking within 30 days of check-in, or offer a refund.
– Check-in Guarantee: Airbnb will find a similar or better home, or offer a refund, if you can’t check in to your home and the Host cannot resolve the issue.
– Get-What-You-Booked Guarantee: Guests now have 72 hours to report if something in the home isn’t as advertised and Airbnb will find a similar or better home, or offer a refund. Examples listed include if a refrigerator stops working or there are fewer bedrooms in the home than listed. (Previously, Airbnb only offered guests 24 hours to report an issue.)
– 24-Hour Safety Line: Guests who feel unsafe in an Airbnb now have access to “specially-trained safety agents” all day and all night via the app and website.
Twist’s Take: Airbnb’s three new features make finding properties, extended stays, and protecting bookings better.
