In 2016 Airbnb initiated its Superhost program in an attempt to create a more even experience across its millions of listings. Only 1 in 5 hosts consistently qualify as Superhosts and the truth is, there is no downside to this special ranking. Let’s talk about all the perks.
What You Get for Being a Superhost
There are seven key advantages of being a Superhost:
- You are going to get a badge for your profile. A casually browsing potential guest will see that badge and know that you offer great hospitality. Even if they have no idea what a Superhost is, the knowledge is just one “learn more” tap away.
- You are going to rank higher in search results. While they aren’t specific about how Superhosts perform in the algorithm, it is acknowledged that listings of Superhosts rank higher overall than standard listings.
- You are going to earn more. Estimates vary between 20-60% but it is clear that in general, Superhosts not only usually earn more per night, but have higher occupancy rates, leading to more overall income.
- You will have a filter for guests to select for Superhosts only. Among filters like “wifi” or “kitchen” or “washer” you can also find “Superhost.” It’s one more way for you to nudge out your non-Superhost competition.
- You get a priority customer support number. Superhosts don’t have to wait in a long line to get connected with customer service. They have their own dedicated team of customer support specialists to assist.
- You will get a travel coupon after four consecutive qualifying quarters, usually for $100 to use on the platform.
- You will get an additional 20% bonus on top of the normal referral rate for new hosts.
Those are some pretty great benefits, and the fact that only 20% of Airbnb hosts achieve this status tells you it’s not easily won.
How to Qualify as a Superhost
There are only four main points of qualification for Superhost, but none of them are easy.
- You must maintain a 4.8 overall rating for your listing, and 80% of your ratings must be 5 stars.
- You must have hosted at least ten times in the last 12 months or have hosted three stays over 100 nights (in case you take on longer-term listings more regularly)
- You must have a cancellation rate of less than 1% (not including extenuating circumstances, which are not included in those statistics)
- You must respond to at least 90% of new, booking-related inquiries within 24 hours.
Needless to say one of the key ways to make sure you’re always getting a high rating for cleanliness is to make sure you’re leaving the cleaning to professionals, and we happen to know someone who can help!
As challenging as the qualifying for Superhost may be, you can see that the benefits are very much worth it.
This content originally appeared in our twice-monthly Guest Book Newsletter
