How to earn Delta, Qantas and ANA airline miles from your Airbnb stays

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• Anna says:

  5 Nov5 November 11:35

  I’m a bit wary of Airbnb. It looks great in principle but if you scratch the surface the property owner can cancel your rental up to a week in advance and suffer very little in the way of penalty. So if they got a better offer from a friend or relative they could seriously scupper your holiday!

  • LewisB says:

    5 Nov5 November 11:41

    I had an airbnb booking cancelled a week or so before arriving in Japan two years ago. I was given substantial credit for by airbnb but obviously the best places are gone by then. It depends what you want… In the end we managed to get a pretty good place in Shibuya.

    • AndyGWP says:

      5 Nov5 November 13:12

      Likewise, I’ve kicked up a stink with AirBNB before and they’ve more than compensated me for the increase in prices / lack of availability… I could see it being risky if it was a booking close to the venue of a big event though (ie. Superbowl, FA Cup final etc)

      • Simon says:

        5 Nov5 November 13:37

        I am about to pull the trigger on 8 nights in Miami for a family holiday next year. The landlord being able to cancel so easily is a major concern for me. Will AirBnB (or Amex travel insurance?) help out if i am left without a place to stay ?!? The huge savings on booking a flat within well known hotels in Miami seems too good to be true…..

      • Anna says:

        5 Nov5 November 13:43

        I don’t know how you would stand with the insurance – you would get back what you paid for the accommodation so technically you wouldn’t have suffered any loss.

      • Simon says:

        5 Nov5 November 13:59

        Agreed. But in this case, it is a flat that is in a hotel, that you can book direct with hotel…. So if the identical “room” is bookable for 5 grand more, can I claim the difference?

      • the_real_a says:

        5 Nov5 November 14:02

        Quite interesting, i have never heard of anyone claiming on insurance for AirBnb… i wonder if there are any datapoints?

      • Anna says:

        5 Nov5 November 16:17

        Simon, I doubt they would cover the difference for the same accommodation. If you were left high and dry with nowhere to stay I think they would expect you to get a hotel room within a specific budget. But let me know if they say different!

        Incidentally, why is the unit being rented out at such a low price? I would be a bit suspicious!

      • Simon says:

        5 Nov5 November 16:39

        Anna, there are loads of 1 and 2 bed flats on the top floors of the hotel. Many are lived in, some are rentals on AirBnB etc, and some are owned by the hotel. Its still about $4000 for a week. Which im guessing is still a great return for the owner. But the hotel price is closer to $10k. I guess that gives you more peace of mind and maybe more cleaning/room service etc. etc

    • ankomonkey says:

      5 Nov5 November 17:46

      In my younger days, Shibuya was the best part of Tokyo (read nightlife rather than temples and zen gardens). Things might have worked out for the best!!!

  • Nigel says:

    5 Nov5 November 12:10

    It’s worth filtering by ‘Superhost’ because one of the criteria for that is a history of not cancelling.

  • JPa says:

    5 Nov5 November 12:37

    Done quite a few around nights Japan and Italy, no issues at all. Saved me a lot on hotels that were in similar locations and on food as you get a full flat.

  • Max says:

    5 Nov5 November 16:26

    I always book a hotel as a backup.

    • Alex Sm says:

      5 Nov5 November 18:37

      Have you ever had to ACTUALLY stay at the back-up hotel and if so, what exactly happened to force you to do so?

• Thomas O'Brien says:

  5 Nov5 November 12:41

  If I use the Delta Airbnb link can I transfer the miles to Virgin? Is there a minimum transfer?

  • Thomas O'Brien says:

    5 Nov5 November 16:30

    Or to Marriott?

  • Alan says:

    6 Nov6 November 03:12

    No, it’s very rare to be able to move points between airline schemes – Virgin Australia and Singapore Krisflyer is the only one I can immediately think of, their rates are poor though.

• AndyGWP says:

  5 Nov5 November 13:13

  Did I imagine that Virgin or perhaps AA had a similar tie in with Airbnb somehow?

  • Nigel says:

    5 Nov5 November 17:18

    Virgin America did… until they were taken over by Alaskan.

• Benylin says:

  5 Nov5 November 14:45

  OT: Is it ever good value to use Avios to book hotels direct with BA?

• Mikeact says:

  5 Nov5 November 16:23

  We’ve always been lucky I guess…always booked using ‘SuperHost ‘….and had some fabulous stays, Aus / NZ / N America as well as closer to home around Europe. My son and family struck lucky with a half term rental right near the beach in Dorset. Its a question of homework and reading between the lines, like anything.

• david says:

  7 Nov7 November 08:49

  Surprised at some of the comments. I have very average low annual income/no company expenditure so I have never accrued Avios via hotel booking etc but have travelled the world extensively and have used Airbnb in 95% of my stays. From Japan for a tiny place (as is standard in JP), South Africa, Vietnam, Thailand, Florida, California, Poland, Italy, Barbados, St Lucia, and have paid no more than £30pn for me, wife and son with Airbnb. We have a florida Xmas this year and again no more than £30pn for own place with our own cooking area that saves us money to eating out. These are modest places not luxury. Have never had a cancellation.

  We always make sure place has lots of reviews and you can see the number of times they have cancelled in prior stays. I love Airbnb its a shame, apart from the above, you cannot accrue Avios/Virgin.

• Jase says:

  7 Nov7 November 22:35

  I host on Airbnb and also use it when travelling if staying for four nights or more. Have had a few tales hosting but the “worst” was an Airbnb in Japan that wasn’t that clean. As has been stated, take the time to read the reviews and make sure the listing has been online for a while. I’m a Superhost and would not consider cancelling on a whim – it would only because it would be to the guests detriment that I would cancel. There are some excellent properties available if you look, often cheaper than a hotel with simple things like being able to do all your washing before heading home.

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