How to become a SuperHost on AirBnB

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What is a SuperHost?

In 2016, in an effort to promote outstanding hospitality, AirBnB developped the Superhost Status Badgesuperhost-badge. This badge is awarded to hosts who meet 4 criteria:

  1. Number of stays - At least 10 trips a year (or 100 nights over 3+ reservations)
  2. Response rate - 90% response rate or higher
  3. Cancellation rate - 1% cancellation rate or lower
  4. Overall guest rating - 4.8 overall rating or higher

The aim of the badge is to highlight those hosts who meet the above criteria, signaling to guests that they can expect a quality stay with superior hospitality by booking spaces with Superhosts.

How do I apply to be a SuperHost?

There is no need to apply for the Superhost Badge. Instead, AirBnB automatically checks if hosts meet this criteria 4 times a year, during their “quarterly assessments”. These take place on:

  • January 1st
  • April 1st
  • July 1st
  • October 1st

For example, if you launch in February and meet the criteria by April 1st, you will receive your Superhost Badge automatically, usually within a week or two. However, if from April to July you receive some negative reviews or fail to promptly respond to a number of guests, you may lose that Superhost Badge by the time AirBnB completes its next assessment on July 1st. “Superhost” is a status you must work to continually maintain in order to keep your badge.

Host Happy has always maintained its Superhost status, so your listing with us will automatically receive the Superhost Badge.

What is the advantage of being a SuperHost?

According to AirBnB, the Superhost Badge is beneficial for three main reasons:

  • More visibility

    – 5% improvement in listing traffic

    Guests are allowed to filter spaces by Superhost status, meaning if you aren’t a Superhost, your listing may not appear in some search results. Accordingly, by becoming a Superhost you ensure you appear in as many searches as possible.

    As a Superhost you also receive the Superhost badge on your profile, and a “Superhost” flag appears over your listing image, which helps attract attention to your listing.

  • More earning potential

    – 81% higher occupancy rate

    – 60% more revenue per available day

    As a result of increased visibility, Superhosts often benefit from a corresponding increase in earnings. This makes intuitive sense: the more people who see your listing, the more bookings you are likely to receive, which ultimately means more revenue.

    In addition, the title of “Superhost” instills your guests with a certain amount of trust in you, which may also lead to more bookings.

  • Access exclusive rewards

    – $100 USD travel voucher

    Every year AirBnB gives each of its Superhosts a $100 USD travel coupon. They also offer Sueprhosts an extra 20% on top of the usual bonus hosts receive for referring new hosts to AirBnB.

So how do I attain Superhost status?

Simply meet the 4 criteria noted above!

Sounds easy, but it’s important to learn from others who have failed to ensure you meet the requirements by the time an assessment rolls around. According to AirBnB data, there are two main reasons hosts fail to attain Superhost status:

  1. They fail to receive enough reservations
  2. They fail to achieve a 4.8 overall rating

The solution to the 1st hurdle is easy: make your space available more often.

The solution to the second hurdle requires understanding what factors drive down reviews of hosts who failed to attain a 4.8 rating.

When guests review a space, they rank it from 1-5 stars in six different categories:

  • Check-In
  • Communicatin
  • Location
  • Accuracy
  • Cleanliness
  • Value

Care to take a guess which categories non-Superhosts ranked the lowest in? If you guessed cleanliness and value, give yourself a pat on the back.

This means *cleanliness* and value are the biggest differentiators between hosts and Superhosts. Thankfully, they’re entirely in your control.

Cleanliness

If you are struggling to achieve a 5 star cleaning rating - give us a call! Or reach out to guests who have given you low ratings and ask for some feedback. Then pass on this feedback to your cleaners, or use it yourself to improve your cleanliness scores.

Also, when guests provide their cleanliness rating, AirBnB prompts them to identify issues, such as “bathroom”, “bugs”, “kitchen”, “odors”, etc. So have a look through that feedback (under the performance tab of your listing) and strive to fix the issues identified by past guests.

At Host Happy, we hire professional cleaners to sanitize and clean your space, so cleanliness is never an issue - we consistently receive 5 star ratings, and our combined average cleanliness rating for all of our properties is 4.95.

Value

While you may not feel you have control over your guest’s subjective value assessment of your space (which is of course partly true), research has shown that perceived value can be greatly affected not only by price, but by the little things in the space.

For example, all of our spaces have meticulous attention to detail, and include amenities that do not cost much individually, but collectively result in the guest feeling like the space gave them a lot for what they paid for. These little things include shampoo, conditioner, olive oil, spices, popcorn, tea, coffee and so on, as well as plush throw pillows or a large TV.

Otherwise, if a space is bare or poorly stocked - such that the guest has to go buy an entire jar of olive oil just to cook one meal - they often feel they did not receive as much as they expected for the price they paid, resulting in a lower ‘value’ rating. Ultimately, we find that if guests feel love in a space, they give love back to the space in the form of a flattering review.

The other factor that greatly affects ‘value’ ratings is of course the price paid. While hosts often believe a lower price will result in a higher ‘value’ score, our experience has shown this is not always the case. We find there is a price-point sweet spot that results in higher value scores. If your price is too low, you may attract guests with lower budgets, who may expect more for what they paid. However, if your price is too high, guests with higher budgets may nevertheless feel they overpaid given what they are used to receiving for that price.

If you find you are not receiving 5-stars for value, try raising your price for certain days and lowering it for others to determine where your sweet spot is. And don’t be afraid to reach out (politely) to previous guests who rated you less than 5 stars, for some feedback on what made them feel they weren’t receiving good value.

At Host Happy we use dynamic and individualized price monitoring, as well as our years of experience in the Victoria market, to find your listing’s price-point sweet spot to ensure it maintains 5-star value ratings.

SUMMARY

To summarize, in our experience the key to attaining Superhost status is to: 1. Ensure your space is available for at least 10 stays a year 2. Ensure every corner of your space receives the love it deserves 3. Include small amenities like spices, shampoo, conditioner and olive oil 4. Play around with your pricing to find your price-point sweet spot, where you receive 5 star ‘value’ ratings 5. Pay attention to the cleanliness of your space - make sure it smells good and is well dusted and vaccummed 6. Don’t be afraid to politely ask past guests for feedback

Happy Hosting!