Airbnb is rolling out a new payment option allowing users to spread the cost of paying for rentals.
Instead of the current 100% cost payable upfront, customers in most cases can pay 50% and then pay the 50% balance before arrival.
Airbnb hopes the ‘Pay Less Up Front’ option will encourage customers to splash a little more cash on more expensive rentals.
The option is eligible for bookings made at least 14 days before check-in and which have a value of $250 or more.
During a test phase Airbnb said 40% of users chose to take advantage of ‘Pay Less Up Front’ and many opted for more expensive rentals.
There were also more bookings with longer lead times.
Airbnb recently made another significant change to the way customers can pay for bookings by allowing groups to split costs between up to 16 people.
