Becoming a Superhost on Airbnb can open up a wide range of benefits to you. Gaining this status allows you to put your property listings in front of more potential guests, along with providing you with the opportunity to stand out among your competitors. Being a Superhost can help you earn more trust from your guests and increase your potential for making short-term revenue. If you are interested in setting up an Airbnb and want to succeed with it, then it’s worth considering having a plan in place to become an Airbnb Superhost, improving your overall business and getting more hits from the app. This guide from UpperKey explains.
What is an Airbnb Superhost?
An Airbnb Superhost refers to a property manager or owner who lists on Airbnb, or an Airbnb host, who has been proven to provide an outstanding guest experience. If you meet a set of specific requirements after you have become an Airbnb host, you will be granted Superhost status. Guests can keep their Superhost badge on the site for as long as these requirements continue to be met and a track record of providing outstanding service to guests is maintained. However, guests with Superhost status that are found to no longer be meeting the necessary requirements at quarterly assessments conducted by Airbnb will have the badge removed.
What are the Benefits of Being a Superhost?
Getting Airbnb Superhost status for your Airbnb listing isn’t just a way to get a distinctive badge on your profile and listings that will help you stand out on the app. As a Superhost, there are also other advantages to having this status that can’t be denied.
When you are an Airbnb Superhost, this can help to improve the visibility of your listings. Putting your listings in front of more potential guests means that there is a higher potential for bookings and making more money from the app. Guests can filter listings to only search for Superhosts if needed, ensuring that they are only getting the best experience from Airbnb and booking with the best. When you have this badge, it’s more likely that your listings and profile are going to be put in front of more guests who are filtering out other options to only get the best.
Along with this, being an Airbnb Superhost can also mean that you build more trust with your potential customers. Airbnb guests mostly know that they can trust a Superhost to be experienced enough to give them a great experience during their stay and provide them with an outstanding level of service throughout. If potential guests are in the process of choosing where to stay and their main options are between somebody who is a Superhost and somebody who is not, then they are more likely to go with the Superhost option for this reason.
You can also earn more money with this badge as being a Superhost allows you to charge higher rates for a premium service. Many guests are willing to pay more for staying somewhere that they know is going to be a good experience for them and where they will be looked after well, rather than taking a chance on a host that might not be all that.
Finally, as a Superhost, you will get more perks and priority support from Airbnb, allowing you to get better results when it comes to running your business. Superhosts get a twenty percent higher bonus when referring other hosts to the platform, a yearly travel voucher, and invites to local Airbnb events.
How to Become a Superhost on Airbnb
How to get Airbnb Superhost status? UpperKey say that with all the advantages of being a Superhost to consider, it’s no surprise that lots of Airbnb property owners are considering aiming for this badge. If you have a short-term rental property that you have listed on Airbnb and want it to stand out from the crowd, then earning Superhost status can be an ideal way to do this. The steps you will need to follow to become a Superhost on Airbnb are:
Host at Least Ten Guests
Once you’ve figured out how to become an Airbnb host and set up on the platform, it’s time to become a Superhost. The first requirement you will need to meet to be on your way to becoming a Superhost on Airbnb is to host at least ten guests. For most short-term rental hosts, this is one of the easiest requirements to meet. However, if your property is hosted on a mid-term or long-term basis and gets fewer bookings despite the occupancy rate being high, it can be harder to achieve Superhost. An alternative to hosting ten guests, Airbnb will allow you to complete at least three reservations for one hundred nights to meet the Superhost requirements.
1% Maximum Cancellation Rate
Cancellations will have an impact on your ability to get and maintain Superhost status. If you want to become a Superhost, then only one in one hundred bookings at your property can be cancelled. This is because Airbnb is doing everything that they can to prevent disappointment for guests and finding out that your stay has been cancelled is one of the most disappointing experiences. This will only affect your Superhost status if you as the host have cancelled, rather than the guest. The best way to reduce this is to ensure that you are using synced calendars to prevent double bookings if your property is listed as available elsewhere.
Maintain a High Response Rate
To achieve and maintain Superhost status, you will need to have a 90% or higher response rate. Airbnb is all about improving the guest experience, and Superhosts have been proven to provide the best on the site. You will need to reply quickly to guest questions and messages if you want to be a Superhost and put the effort in to keep your response rate above 90% as if it drops beneath this, you will lose the badge.
Maintain a High Rating
Along with your response and cancellation rates, your Airbnb rating will also impact your Superhost status. And being a Superhost means that you need to have one of the best ratings on the site; any lower than 4.8 and you are at risk of losing your badge. There are several things that you can do to make sure that you are maintaining a high Airbnb rating including focusing on providing an amazing experience. Guests that don’t have a great experience are more likely to leave reviews and will likely leave a low review compared to guests that had a good experience leaving a good one. Ultimately, guests leaving poor reviews can bring your entire rating down, and lead to the loss of the Superhost badge in some cases. Not only is focusing on getting good reviews important for your Superhost status, but also for your general success as reviews are likely to be one of the first things that potential guests look at when considering your property.
Ways to Maintain Superhost Status
Once you have managed to achieve Superhost status by taking on the required number of guests, meeting the response rate and cancellation requirements, and keeping your reviews at a high rating, the work doesn’t stop there. Bear in mind that Airbnb will review your performance each quarter to determine whether or not you are still meeting all the requirements for Superhost status. If you are found not to be, then you might lose the badge. Thankfully, there are some things that you can do to improve the guest experience and be in with a better chance of hanging onto your Superhost badge for longer. These are:
Offer Self-Check In
Guests will often find self-check in to be a more convenient option. By offering this, guests don’t have to rush around as much as will be able to check in at any time. It’s also more convenient for you when guest can check themselves in as you don’t have to meet them at all hours of the day or night.
Understand Expectations
UpperKey say that as an Airbnb host, one of the best things that you can do to keep hold of your Superhost status is to get to know your guests and what they are looking for. Knowing what your guests want from you and their experience at your Airbnb allows you to provide more that meets expectations and get better reviews thanks to a guest experience that was just as hoped for.
Focus on the Minor Details
It’s often the little things that matter the most to Airbnb guests and focusing on making those small details worth their while is one way to get noticed, get good reviews, and maintain your status as a Superhost. This could be anything from providing welcome baskets for guests when they first arrive at your property to making sure that they have ample extra blankets and pillows to choose from to ensure that they are as comfortable as possible. The smaller details really often are what is going to set you apart from the crowd and can make all the difference to your reputation on the platform.
Being an Airbnb Superhost demonstrates to your potential guests that they are going to have a great experience with you. If you want to be more successful on this platform, achieving and maintaining Superhost status is a great aim.