TravelSkills

News and Tips For Your Trips

Airbnb business travel ready rooms now easier to find

Airbnb searches offer a new filter for business travelers. (Image: Airbnb)

First Airbnb teamed up with Delta, Virgin America and Qantas to help its renters earn airline miles or points for their stays. It has also been increasing the number of “business travel ready” rental accommodations in its database. An now the room-sharing giant is making it easier for road warriors to find them.

The company said it has developed a new filter for property searches so that only the business-travel-ready listings appear in the results. Those are accommodations that feature Wi-Fi, self-check-in, and “laptop friendly workspaces,” for instance. The new feature also permits instant bookings for listed properties – i.e., the user doesn’t have to wait for the host to get back to them.

The new search capability is available for both desktop and mobile searches. To access it, users must link their work email address to their account. Users can register as business travelers and find out more the company’s business-ready properties at www.airbnb.com/business-travel.

Airbnb said that although it started out as a service for leisure travelers, it has been making significant inroads into the business travel market, which now accounts for almost 10 percent of its bookings. The number of “business travel ready” accommodations in its database is now more than 150,000 worldwide.

An Airbnb “business travel ready” rental in San Francisco (Image: Airbnb)

Last year, the company came out with a third-party booking tool so that company travel departments can book and change reservations for employees and contact the property host for details. It also took steps to integrate its systems with travel management companies, and introduced “business friendly receipts” to streamline expensing of trips.

Delta SkyMiles members earn one mile per dollar spent on qualifying stays (not counting taxes and fees) when they book Airbnb accommodations through a link on the Delta website. The new Delta connection came just a few weeks after Airbnb forged a similar link with Qantas’ loyalty program. That one also earns one point per dollar spent, and also requires booking through the Qantas website. Virgin America has had a similar loyalty program link with Airbnb (but the fine print says that it’s only good through June 30 of this year. United added it to its MileagePlus X smartphone app last year, but regrettably disabled it in November.

American Express Membership Rewards members can also redeem points for Airbnb stays. 

“Stay on the lookout for more from us in 2017 – from integrating with corporate travel booking tools, making it easier to rebook the business travel ready listing you absolutely loved, to offering easier access to amenities like gyms and co-working spaces,” the company said.

Does this new search feature make it more likely that you’ll try Airbnb for business travel… or if you are already a regular user, will you use it more? What’s your overall experience or impression of it? 

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A new way to monetize your flexibility

Upside offers gift cards to business travelers who can be flexible in their trip arrangements. (Image: jim Glab)

Upside offers gift cards to business travelers who can be flexible in their trip arrangements. (Image: jim Glab)

Do you have the freedom to select your own travel suppliers on business trips – and are you flexible when it comes to your airline and hotel arrangements? Would like like an Amazon or Best Buy gift card with your next travel booking? If so, you’re the target for a new travel booking and rewards company.

It’s called Upside , and it was put together by a small group of former Priceline executives, including Priceline founder Jay Walker. It is planning to launch a Beta version sometime in September. Walker told TravelSkills: “Most business travelers have a valuable, hidden asset that’s worth a small fortune on every trip they take. The asset? Flexibility. Specifically, small amounts of flexibility on the flights and hotels that a business traveler is willing to use on any given trip.”

Sign up for Upside here

Here’s how it works: Instead of booking your usual first-choice airline, flight time and hotel, you let the Upside app or website put together an air-hotel package using suppliers that you have pre-approved. If the alternatives it shows are suitable to your schedule and if the discounts and gift cards offers are enticing enough, you’ll then pay a $35 fee to book the trip. (Upside says that users will typically see gift card amounts of $100 to $200, and savings of 5 to 15 percent in travel costs, and enough to make the $35 fee a wash.)

A early look at the Upside app

A early look at the Upside app

The electronic gift cards are good at major stores or online retailers (such as Best Buy or Amazon), and they will be delivered to your mobile phone shortly after you buy the trip arrangements. Upside says that those who take just five or six trips a year through Upside can rack up easily $1,000 in gift cards – or more, if they travel internationally in business class.

Users will be able to book their arrangements through the Upside app or its website; round-the-clock phone support is also available. There’s no requirement to buy the package Upside suggests, and once you do, it can be cancelled or changed quickly if circumstances warrant. Also, Upside says that users will still earn airline frequent flyer points or miles for the flights it selects (but not hotel program points).

Sign up for Upside here

Travelers simply specify the time windows for their flights, and pre-approve the airlines and hotel companies they prefer. “Upside supports all of the leading brands,” the company said. Then Upside’s “Flexibility Engine” software builds the package.

So how will Upside  make money? “We buy travel from suppliers at very advantageous rates– rates so low that we can pass along a substantial discount, take our cut and provide gift cards to travelers,” said a company spokesperson. In addition, Upside makes money on the $35 fee it charges per booking.

Would you pay a $35 fee for a chance to earn potentially hundreds in gift cards and score travel discounts not found elsewhere?  

That’s the question Upside is waiting for you to answer.

Earn $150: Upside has partnered TravelSkills to help it find business travelers who want to sign up early and are willing to test pre-release versions of the service. All you have to do is supply your email address, phone and answer a few general questions about your travel habits. Upside guarantees that these VIPs will will get $150 minimum in free gift cards for every package they purchase this year. Want to give it a try? Then request a VIP invitation via our referral link by July 30.

Sign up for Upside here

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: How to get the BEST summer fare deals | One airline fee fading fast | Trip Report: Aer Lingus Economy Class | 5 top jobs for frequent travelers  | First class phase out coming soon

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Do you trust hotel review sites? [Infographic]

Copenhagen's elegant Hotel D'Angleterre re-opens May 1 after a 2-year re-do (Chris McGinnis)

Copenhagen’s elegant Hotel D’Angleterre re-opens May 1 after a 2-year re-do (Chris McGinnis)

Nearly every traveler I know (including me) checks out hotels on TripAdvisor before making a booking. I’m sure you do, too. Right? The infographic below provides an interesting look at how travelers use the review sites and what makes them trustworthy. It also provides some tips on spotting “fake” reviews. (The infographic was prepared by Olery, an online reputation management company for hotels.)

How do YOU feel about hotel review sites? Do you use them? Trust them? Other than TripAdvisor, which sites do you find most helpful?

Please leave your comments below!

HotelReviews-olery-infograph-FULL

–Chris McGinnis

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