In addition to vacation rentals, Airbnb offers the opportunity to book select hotels, which can show up directly in the search results within the Airbnb app. A reader in our Frequent Miler Insiders Facebook group points out the fact that Airbnb is now offering Airbnb credit when booking select hotels, which could make for a great deal in the right scenario.
You can book hotels through Airbnb (and sometimes earn Airbnb credit for doing so)
I had missed the old news that Airbnb now offers booking for some hotels within their app, and it’s not just independent hotels. You can specifically filter search results to hotels.
A reader in our Frequent Miler Insiders Facebook group reported an opportunity to book the Sonesta Denver downtown for two nights for $388, and Airbnb was offering $58 in Airbnb credit for that booking. On a different date, I found the same Sonesta property for a single night for $159 with $23 in Airbnb credit (as shown in the screenshot at the top).
That Sonesta wasn’t the only hotel available with Airbnb credit. I also found that the Rally Hotel at McGregor Square is offering $32 in Airbnb credit on a one-night booking for $248.
Some hotels that can be booked in the Airbnb app are semi-opaque. For instance, one result shows a bold headline of “Hotel in Denver”, with the hotel name unbolded below that.
In other cases, I don’t see a hotel name at all, like the description here of a luxury hotel without a name (though I’d bet you could run a Google reverse image search to find the exact property).
I wouldn’t have thought to go to the Airbnb app to book a hotel room. In the right situation, this could obviously make a lot of sense if you value Airbnb credit, but you plan to book a hotel.
It appears that only hotels marked as featured hotels have the offer to earn Airbnb credit. I did not see a filter or a way to filter to only featured hotels. Still, I’m glad to know that this opportunity exists.
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Owners have doing this for years. They pull room — often suites — out of network-available inventory.
How long do we have to use the credit?