hosted/trips and Airbnb Experiences
Facts checked 4 Oct 2026 · wording is a draft for the copy team.
Airbnb Experiences is a place to book activities led by local hosts, mostly single sessions of a few hours, plus some multi-day adventures, all booked and paid for on Airbnb. hosted/trips is a listing site for hosted trips (retreats · workshops · group trips · cruises · event trips · camps and gatherings · road trips) where travellers book directly with the host. hosted/trips is launching soon, no date set.
At a glance
| hosted/trips | Airbnb Experiences | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it's for | Travellers looking for a trip run by a named host · hosts who want travellers sent to their own booking page. | Guests looking for activities led by local hosts and experts · hosts who want to sell an activity through Airbnb. [1] [2] |
| Kinds of trip | Retreats · workshops · group trips · cruises · event trips · camps and gatherings · road trips. Every trip has a named host. | Mostly activities with a set start time, such as tours · food and cooking · creative workshops · wellness · outdoor and water activities. Airbnb also lists multi-day adventures, which "include lodging, meals, and activities." [1] [5] |
| How travellers book | On the host's own site. hosted/trips takes no bookings or payments from travellers. | On Airbnb, with payment through Airbnb. Airbnb's policy says payments outside Airbnb are not allowed and "all guest communications prior to booking must be on Airbnb." [1] [8] |
| How hosts pay | Free while we launch. Afterwards, a flat monthly fee paid up front (price not set). No commission. Founding members of The Hosting Guild list free (conditions apply). | Free to create and submit a listing. A service fee on each booking, worked out from the price the host sets and taken from the host's payout. [2] [3] |
| Paid placement | Sponsored spots, when offered, are always labeled. The regular list is never for sale. It is ordered by soonest booking-closing date; travellers can re-sort by earliest, latest, price. Clicks never change the order. | Paid placement is not mentioned on Airbnb's ranking page. Ranking uses factors such as reviews, popularity, price compared with similar listings, availability, and a guest's own past bookings. [4] |
| Price rules for hosts | "We never make you charge more on your own site." | Not stated on the pages we checked. Airbnb's ranking page says listings priced below comparable ones tend to rank higher. [4] [8] |
| Reviews | No reviews yet. Every listing is reviewed by us before it goes live. | Guest ratings and reviews shown on listings. A real person reviews each new experience before it is published, and Airbnb keeps reviewing guest feedback after launch. [1] [2] [6] |
| What the host gets | Monthly page views and clicks for each listing. | Reservations · calendar · guest messages · payments, managed in the Airbnb app. Payouts typically the day after the experience. [2] |
| Status and size | Not live yet. Launching soon, no date set. A small number of listings at launch. | Live, as part of Airbnb, alongside its stays. [1] [4] |
What Airbnb Experiences does well
- Booking and payment in one place, with protection. Guests pay on Airbnb, and Airbnb's refund policy covers things like a host cancelling or an experience that differs substantially from what was advertised. [7]
- Reviews and vetting. Listings show guest ratings, and a person reviews every new experience against written standards before it goes live. [2] [6]
- Reaches people already travelling. Airbnb says it may rank experiences higher for guests who have a home reservation nearby on those dates. [4]
- Host tools and cover. Calendar, group messaging and payouts in one app, plus liability coverage that Airbnb describes on its host page. [2]
- Range. Short activities in many cities, from walking tours to classes, plus multi-day adventures. [1] [5]
Where hosted/trips is different
- Travellers book with the host, on the host's site. hosted/trips takes no bookings or payments, and the host keeps the guest relationship from the first message.
- A flat fee, not a per-booking fee. "We take no cut of your bookings, or of anything you sell your guests afterwards." Hosts list free while we launch.
- Your prices are your own. "We never make you charge more on your own site."
- An order anyone can understand. "Sponsored spots are always labeled. The regular list is never for sale." The list runs by soonest booking-closing date, and clicks never change it.
- Built for trips that take planning. Hosts can test an idea for 90 days with "gauging interest" (interested travellers' names reach the host only if the trip goes ahead), and travellers can get an email when a new trip of a kind, theme or place is listed.
What hosted/trips does not have: no reviews yet · no on-site booking or payment protection · a small number of listings at launch · no mobile booking app.
Which might suit you
Travellers. If you want a few hours of something good while you're away (a food tour, a class, a morning on the water) and you'd like to book, pay and read reviews in one app, Airbnb Experiences is the better fit. If you're looking for a whole trip built around a person you want to travel with, such as a retreat, a group trip or a cruise, and you're happy to book on that host's own site, hosted/trips is made for that.
Hosts. If you run short, repeatable activities and want Airbnb to handle payments, guest messages and refunds, and to put you in front of guests already staying nearby, Airbnb Experiences is the better fit, and its per-booking fee covers that work. If you run trips with your own booking page and want to keep your guest list, your prices and your full booking value, hosted/trips sends travellers to you for a flat fee.
Sources
All Airbnb facts above come from Airbnb's own pages, each checked 4 Oct 2026. hosted/trips facts come from our own plan.
- Airbnb Experiences home page · airbnb.com/experiences · checked 4 Oct 2026
- Host an experience on Airbnb · airbnb.com/host/experiences · checked 4 Oct 2026
- Airbnb service fees for services and experiences · airbnb.com/help/article/3164 · checked 4 Oct 2026
- What factors determine how my listing appears in search results · airbnb.com/help/article/39 · checked 4 Oct 2026
- Find out what's included in an Airbnb Experience · airbnb.com/help/article/1585 · checked 4 Oct 2026 (see also Travel laws for multi-day experiences · airbnb.com/help/article/2586)
- Airbnb Services and Experiences standards and requirements · airbnb.com/help/article/1451 · checked 4 Oct 2026
- Refund Policy for Services and Experiences · airbnb.com/help/article/2278 · checked 4 Oct 2026
- Off-Platform and Fee Transparency Policy · airbnb.com/help/article/2799 · checked 4 Oct 2026