Updated: November 12, 2024
Are you ready to elevate your Airbnb hosting game? Becoming an Airbnb Superhost is a fantastic way to increase your bookings, boost your earnings, and provide an unforgettable experience for your guests. In this comprehensive guide, I’ll walk you through what it means to be a Superhost, how to achieve this coveted status, and the financial benefits that come with it. Let’s dive in!
What does Superhost mean on airbnb?
First things first, what exactly is an Airbnb Superhost? An Airbnb Superhost is a distinguished host recognized by Airbnb for delivering exceptional hospitality. Superhosts are experienced, reliable, and consistently receive high ratings and positive reviews from their guests. Think of it as a badge of honor that signals to potential guests that they can expect a top-notch experience.
Airbnb Superhost and a regular both cater to the same audience. However, there are significant benefits to being a superhost. As a superhost, there’s a higher chance that people will choose you over regular hosts. In 2023, the average US Airbnb host earned $44,235. Imagine making 64% more than the average!
How do you become a Superhost on Airbnb?
To achieve Superhost status on Airbnb, consider these tips: You’ll have to be a primary host for 12 months of hosting.
- Host a minimum of 10 stays or 3 reservations totaling 100+ nights annually.
- Maintain a response rate of 90% or above. (within 24hrs)
- Keep cancellations at 1% or lower, except in special situations.
- Achieve a guest review score of at least 4.8.
- Reviewed by at least 50% of guests
Airbnb Superhost step 1: Host a minimum of 10 guests
This is one of the easiest criteria to meet for short-term rentals. If you’re a mid-term rental host, you must complete three reservations with occupancy of at least 100 nights.
Airbnb Superhost step 2: Maintain a 90% or higher response rate
This might be a little harder than others. Spending all your time replying to messages, you might not be able to be the host. You can sign up for property management tools to automate your processes. For example, Lauren Sanders from Luxury Coastal Vacations manages 350+ properties with Track and PriceLabs. This will ensure that your guests hear from you on time and you are also able to deliver exceptional guest experience.
Airbnb Superhost step 3: Maintain a 1% or lower cancellation rate
You can only cancel 1 in 100 bookings if you want to become a superhost. Let’s face it it means you can’t have any cancellations! In the off chance that you are double booked, you might have to cancel a booking. It is best to avoid such situations! If you are on multiple platforms, you should sync the calendars either using property management systems or PriceLabs! We don’t just help with your dynamic pricing solutions but also instantly sync your calendars whenever a new booking is made on any of the booking platforms you are using. It is integrated with several PMSes that you can find on PriceLabs’ integrations page. This ensures that your real-time availability is visible to guests and you don’t get booked twice.
Airbnb Superhost step 4: Maintain a 4.8 overall rating
You must maintain an overall rating of 4.8. You should provide a great guest experience to Airbnb users to get this rating. Sometimes you may have to go one step further to achieve this goal, which will reflect in the ratings your guests leave for you on Airbnb.
Airbnb Superhost step 5: Get Reviewed by at least 50% of guests
At least 50% of your guests should leave a rating on Airbnb. Again, this is a time-consuming process since not every guest will leave a rating on check-out. You will be required to send a follow-up text to get those reviews. You can either ask them personally to rate their experience or automate this task with good property management tool. Make sure to leave a review for your guests as well.
How much do Airbnb Superhosts make?
According to Airbnb, an average Superhost made 64% more revenue than a regular host. There are over 1 million Airbnb Superhost collectively earned $23+ billion which averages $23,000+ per Superhost. These can be even higher this year and in the future as guests are bound to choose Superhost hosted properties than those that do not have that label.
Benefits of being an Airbnb Superhost
- Increases Visibility of your Listing: Airbnb has a special ‘Superhost only’ filter. Switching this on means you will get priority. Airbnb also sends out curated lists of Superhosts’ managed properties.
- Priority Support: You will get priority support whenever you get in touch with Airbnb for assistance. This means easier remediation for your queries.
- Extra referral bonus: You are eligible to get an additional 20% bonus on top of the standard host referral bonus.
- Airbnb coupon: For every year that you maintain your superhost status, you will get a $100 Airbnb coupon. You can redeem this during your next vacation.
- Early access to new features: You will have access to Airbnb’s elite club, get early access to test out features and get an invite to local events conducted by Airbnb.
What is the difference between Airbnb Hosts and Airbnb Superhosts?
An Airbnb Superhost is also an Airbnb Host but an Airbnb Host can not be an Airbnb Superhost. These are the major differences between Airbnb hosts and Airbnb Superhosts.
In essence, while all Airbnb hosts offer accommodation, Superhosts stand out for their exceptional service and commitment to providing memorable experiences for guests.
How to Maintain Your Airbnb Superhost Status
If you meet the above-mentioned goals, you are on a fast track to becoming an Airbnb Superhost. However, maintaining this status is another ball game.
Airbnb reevaluates this status four times a year, which means it is not enough to know how to become a superhost on Airbnb. You have to keep up the effort to maintain the status. If you fail to provide great service after getting this recognition, you won’t have the title anymore.
So, how do you maintain this status?
Stating the obvious here, keep following the criteria mentioned above. Ensure you are paying attention to maintaining a 90% response rate, avoiding double bookings and cancellations, and maintaining an average rating of 4.8 stars.
After the basics are done, go one step beyond. Keep yourself updated with the changing trends and provide your guests exactly what they expect. What resulted in a 5-star rating earlier might not give you the same results today.
For instance, since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the globe, guests have become increasingly conscious of the hygiene and cleanliness of vacation rentals. For this reason, Airbnb has also introduced new cleaning standards and Enhanced cleaning labels to show the guests that you are doing the needful. In addition, the
Airbnb cleaning checklist is also more extensive now than it used to be earlier.
Hosts are expected to adhere to stricter cleaning and disinfecting protocols to ensure the safety and well-being of their guests and prioritize their health.
Additionally, to accommodate the remote working guests renting out Airbnbs for their workstations, you can add a special work-from-home setup. This includes a study table, study chair, and wifi.
You must always go above and beyond to show your guests that their stay experience matters to you. Adding a few nice touches will definitely get you those 5-star reviews and preserve your Superhost status.
