Airbnb fee compliance — disclose the right way

If a fee is mandatory for every stay, it belongs in Airbnb’s pricing structure, not just in your house rules. Examples:

• Cleaning fee — Airbnb has a dedicated cleaning-fee field.
• Pet fee — when pets are allowed for every guest, use the pet-fee field.
• Linen / per-night supply fees — bake into the nightly rate.

A signed PreArrive acknowledgment is not a workaround for putting a mandatory fee in the listing’s pricing field. Airbnb’s Resolution Center weighs whether the fee was disclosed in the place the platform expects to see it.

Fees that only apply when a rule is broken belong in the Additional Rules field of the listing, with a specific amount tied to a specific condition. Examples:

• Extra-guest fee — “$75 per person per night over the listed occupancy of 4.”
• Smoking remediation fee — “$500 one-time if smoking is detected anywhere on the property.”
• Unauthorised-party fee — “$1500 one-time if more than 12 people are present without prior approval.”

PreArrive generates a paste-ready Additional Rules block from your itemized fee schedule — the disclosure half — and the guest signs the acknowledgment half before check-in. Both halves live in the file Airbnb’s Resolution Center reviews.

If something materially changes after a guest books — they confirm an extra adult, they decide to bring a pet — Airbnb expects you to use its Change Reservation flow, not a side channel. The Change Reservation flow updates the booking’s recorded terms and adjusts pricing on the platform.

A signed PreArrive acknowledgment does not change a booking’s terms on Airbnb’s side. It documents the original rules. If terms genuinely change, use Change Reservation; PreArrive is not a substitute.

Airbnb’s host terms restrict off-platform collection of mandatory or rule-based fees. “Just Venmo me” is not a workaround — it is a separate problem class, and one of the more reliable ways to lose a Resolution Center case (and your Superhost status).

The Resolution Center is the on-platform collection mechanism. PreArrive produces the evidence file you submit; the actual collection happens on Airbnb’s side, at Airbnb’s discretion, against the payment authorization the guest gave at booking.

• Is: a dated, tamper-evident record that the guest read each rule and each fee and agreed to them, with timestamps and IPs.
• Is: a paste-ready Additional Rules block that mirrors your itemized fee schedule.
• Is not: an automatic-billing system. We don’t charge the guest; we don’t process refunds; we don’t talk to Airbnb’s billing.
• Is not: a guarantee. Whether the Resolution Center, AirCover, or your insurer pays is at their discretion, on the file you submit.
• Is not: a substitute for putting mandatory fees in Airbnb’s pricing fields or using Change Reservation when terms actually change.