Whether it’s a multigenerational family vacation or a long-planned friends getaway, there’s an inherent coziness about sharing an accommodation with loved ones—versus being scattered between individual hotel rooms—that often makes short-term rental homes the go-to for group travel.
But actually booking a group vacation rental on Airbnb can come with some logistical headaches. From too many listings being thrown around in group chats to all the work falling on one person to communicate with the host, planning a multi-person trip can quickly become stressful.
“When we started Airbnb, it was a way for one person to book a home—you message the host and you book,” Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky said Wednesday at the company’s Summer Release event in Los Angeles. “But it turns out today 81% of trips on Airbnb are group trips… the problem is that our app was not designed for groups.”
To help change this, Airbnb rolled out three new features this week specifically to simplify group bookings. Here’s how you can use them to ensure your next trip finally makes it out of the group chat.
Wishlists can now be shared
With 7 million global listings to weed through to find a dream stay, Chesky said that most people don’t immediately book a home, and instead save listings using the wishlist function.
“But the problem is that wishlists are really hard to share, so you had to find a work around, like spreadsheets,” Chesky said, calling it “a real problem.”
Now, wishlists are easily shareable by simply tapping the three dots in the top right corner and sending the link to others any way you choose, whether by text, email, or WhatsApp. Those invited will not just be able to add their own homes, but also comment on each listing. Instead of battling it out in the group chat, everyone can vote for their favorite home within the Airbnb wishlist.
On top of that, the app can automatically recognize when you’re sharing listings with the same group of friends and will give you the option to create a shared wishlist with those Airbnbs.
Everyone can now chat with the host
Previously, a de facto leader had to emerge to be in charge of booking the home and communicating details with the Airbnb host, often leading to a game of telephone and placing all the responsibility on one person’s shoulders.
With the update, a Messages tab now lets everyone in your group communicate with the host in a group chat, as well as contact customer support. This way, all travelers can ask questions and get quick, direct answers in response. Like in other group messaging interfaces, there are also quick-response emojis to consolidate communication.
Details can be shared through trip invitations
Another burden that often fell on the person booking was that only they could actually see the full details, dates, and location of the Airbnb.
Airbnb now allows all the essential information to be shared right away through a trip invitation. The single link includes everything down to the check-in directions and Wi-Fi password. In a fun twist, they’ve tapped artists around the world to create custom art for popular destinations, so the digital invite comes features postcard art capturing the local essence.
Together, Airbnb hopes the trio of new features will alleviate previous pain points and help streamline group travel. “They really make traveling so much more delightful,” Chesky said. “We just think traveling with other people should be fun.”
