You Can Now Earn Avios Through Airbnb

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Airbnb bookings don’t generally trigger any of the travel bonus categories that many of the major credit cards now offer, so earning more than a single point/dollar on Airbnb bookings can be challenging.

Delta has been offering its Sky Miles members the chance to earn extra miles through Airbnb bookings/listings since 2016 and Qantas partnered up with Airbnb in 2017 but we haven’t really had any other major miles & points earning partnership open up with Airbnb for a while. Yesterday, that changed.

British Airways Partners With Airbnb

As of yesterday, British Airways is an Airbnb partner and Executive Club members can now earn Avios when they make bookings or list their property on Airbnb through the dedicated BA Airbnb page. [HT: Head For Points]

The partnership isn’t exactly complicated:

• Use the dedicated BA Airbnb page to make a booking and earn 3 Avios per £1/€1/$1 spent (at current exchange rates it will be US Dollar bookings which are the most lucrative).
• Use the dedicated BA Airbnb page to list your property for rent and earn 8,000 Avios when you “successfully listing [your] property and receiving [your] first booking”.

I value Avios at around 1 cent each (although it’s sometimes possible to get a lot more value out of the currency) so Airbnb bookings made through the BA Airbnb page essentially offer a 3% rebate – that’s better than nothing but not exactly spectacular.

Using the same valuation, the 8,000 Avios you can earn for your first successful listing works out be an effective rebate of $80.

That’s not very good at all….and this is why:

The British Airways Shopping Portal (USA) is currently offering an impressive 30,000 Avios for first time Airbnb listings…

…so you’re much better off going through the portal than using the BA Airbnb link.

If that promo has run out by the time you’re reading this is worth checking out TopCashBack USA (which is currently offering $200 cash back for Airbnb listings) or, if you’re based in the UK, try TopCashBack UK (which is currently offering £230 cash back for Airbnb listings).

Note: I’ve reproduced the full terms and conditions of the BA/Airbnb partnership at the very end of this post but it’s worth pointing out there’s no mention anywhere (that I can see) that this relationship is only open to UK BAEC members….which makes it strange that the US shopping portal is offering a considerably better listing bonus than the BA Airbnb page.

Be Careful!

Make sure you read the full terms and conditions (below and on the BA Airbnb page) before you make any bookings as there’s one line that caught my eye:

The rates for bookings via Airbnb [the British Airways Airbnb page] may differ from regular bookings with the same conditions on airbnb.com [the regular Airbnb page]

Based on that disclosure its possible that some prices offered thought the BA link may be more expensive (I doubt they’d be cheaper!) than the prices offered for the same property for the same dates by the regular Airbnb site.

make sure you compare the prices both sites are offering to see if you’re actually being charged more just to earn some Avios.

Bottom Line

I use Airbnb a few times every year so this could be a very nice way to earn a few extra Avios on bookings that would otherwise have just earned whatever points my credit card offers.

3 Avios per £1/€1/$1 isn’t going to make a huge difference to most people but as it’s more Avios than was on offer a few days ago I see this as good news.

BA/Airbnb Terms & Conditions (from the BA Airbnb page)

1. Eligible Participants must be a Member of the British Airways Executive Club (BAEC), which is free to join. To join, visit Executive Club Page.
2. Only Avios can be collected, not tier points.
3. Avios will be credited to the intended beneficiary account within 60 days of booking date. Any bonus Avios will be awarded in a separate transaction within the same time period.
4. If customers have any queries regarding missing Avios, please contact missingavios@airbnb.com.
5. All bookings are subject to the Airbnb Terms of Service. Cancelled reservations will not be eligible to earn Avios and amended bookings may result in a change in the Avios collected.
6. Avios are issued and redeemed in accordance with the Avios Terms and Conditions. For more information, please visit the British Airways Executive Club Terms and Conditions.
7. British Airways reserves the right to remove any Avios points and close any account that we believe has dishonestly obtained or redeemed Avios.

Guest Avios Award  

1. In order to collect Avios via Airbnb, BAEC customers must book their stay through Airbnb  
2. Customers must have cookies enabled in the browser and complete the booking in the same session for Airbnb to track the booking.
3. The rates for bookings via Airbnb may differ from regular bookings with the same conditions on airbnb.com.
4. During the booking process, the customer must provide their British Airways Executive Club Membership Number. If an incorrect membership number is entered, the Avios may not be awarded.
5. The membership number of the intended beneficiary of the Avios must belong to the individual making the booking.
6. The collection rate of Avios for Airbnb bookings is 3 Avios per £1 / $1 / €1 spend. The Avios award will be based on USD value.
7. New Airbnb customers making their first booking will be entitled to a bonus of 500 Avios.

Host Avios Award  

1. In order to collect Avios via Airbnb, BAEC customers must list their property through Airbnb
2. Customers must have cookies enabled in the browser and complete the listing in the same session for Airbnb to track the booking.
3. During the listing process, the customer must provide their British Airways Executive Club Membership Number. If an incorrect membership number is entered, the Avios may not be awarded.
4. The membership number of the intended beneficiary of the Avios must belong to the individual making the listing.
5. The customer will be awarded 8000 Avios on successfully listing their property and receiving their first booking.