Owner tests · 3 min read
Is Airbnb's 15% top-rated guest discount worth it?
Airbnb's 15% top-rated guest discount is worth it only when the extra money it brings in is more than it costs. Airbnb says hosts with similar discounts earned 19% more, but that's Airbnb's own estimate. Our small test on 3 homes couldn't show whether it paid for itself.
In short
- When discounts stack, switching 1 off can win back less than your booking report lists.
- More Airbnb nights doesn't mean more business. Count every booking site.
- In a small test, 1 long booking or normal ups and downs can hide what a discount does.
- Decide how and when you'll check a discount before you switch it on.
In this article
Here's how to check any discount. Work out what it really costs, count nights on every booking site, and decide how you'll judge it before you switch it on.
What is Airbnb's top-rated guest discount?
It's 15% off the nightly price for guests with great reviews from hosts. You, the host, pay for it.
At a glance
The discount on 1 card
- Who gets it4.8★ guestsWith at least 3 reviews from hosts
- How much15% offAirbnb sets it. You can't pick 10%
- Who paysThe hostIt comes off the nightly price, not the cleaning fee
- Adds toOther discounts1 standard one (new listing, custom, weekly or monthly, early bird, last minute), plus mobile-only or non-refundable if on
Airbnb says hosts who used similar discounts "earned 19% more and had 24% more nights booked on average". That's Airbnb's own estimate from a trial between 31 July and 30 August 2026, and Airbnb says results vary. (Airbnb)
What does the discount really cost?
Often less than your booking report shows, when it adds to another discount. But it still needs extra money coming in to pay for itself.
2 discounts don't add up. They multiply. Pick a second discount and see:
Try it
Stack 2 discounts on a RM100 night
The 15% top-rated discount comes off first. Then the second discount comes off what's left.
32%off in total, not 35%
Made-up RM100 price. Weekly and monthly discounts are set by each host. A mobile-only or non-refundable discount can add on top too.
So to find the real cost, compare the same booking with this discount on and off, and keep everything else the same.
Next: how much extra business does it need? Here's the sum:
Extra needed equals what the discount takes divided by what's left
The answer depends on how much of your room money gets the discount. Slide and see:
Slide it
How much extra does it need?
Each coin is RM1 of every RM100 you'd earn without the discount.
12 ÷ 88 = about 14%. You need about 14% more money just to stand still.
Simple example: same prices, same mix of bookings, no other discount. Room money only, so cleaning and other costs are left out.
How we tested it on our homes
- We switched it on for 3 of our homes in mid-July 2026.
- 2 of them had enough booking history to compare before and after.
- We compared them with 11 of our other homes that never had it.
- We looked at 11 weeks before and 11 weeks during.
- We counted nights booked on every booking site, not just Airbnb.
- Our other homes weren't picked to match by building or size. Keep that in mind. It matters later.
What happened to our nights booked?
Airbnb went up. Booking.com went down. The total stayed about the same.
What happened
Our 2 test homes: nights booked
11 weeks before the discount, and 11 weeks with it. Full bar = 100 nights.
Airbnb nights went from 50 to 83. Booking.com went from 38 to 1. The total stayed almost the same: 89 to 88.
Our other 11 homes, same weeks: 603 → 525 nights −13%
Bookings made up to 30 days before check-in, on every booking site. Cancelled bookings and owner stays left out.
Our reading: some guests may have moved from Booking.com to Airbnb to get the deal. We can't prove it. We also can't tell how much of the change came from the discount, from that 1 long booking, or from normal ups and downs.
Why couldn't our test tell?
Because our numbers jumped around a lot before the discount, too.
Why we can't tell
Like weighing rice on a jumpy scale
Put a 1 kg bag of rice on a scale that jumps by 4 or 5 kg on its own. You can't see the rice. Our test had the same problem.
Gaps between our 2 test homes and our other homes, as a share of the test homes' nights, in 3 earlier 11-week periods. A rough comparison, not a formal test. Bar scale: 0 to 70%.
On our 2 test homes, the discount needed about 13% more room money to pay for itself. That's a simple sum: same prices, same mix of bookings, room money only.
But we ran the same check on 3 past blocks of 11 weeks with no discount. The gap still jumped by 48 to 60 nights. That's more than half the nights these 2 homes book in a block.
So 2 homes over 11 weeks can't split the discount from normal ups and downs, or from how the homes differ.
What we decided
- We stopped the discount on those homes.
- This is our judgment, not proof that it lost money. With other discounts added, the total went past 30% on some long stays. A cut that big should prove it pays.
- We'd only try it again with a test planned first. That means chosen homes, a fair comparison, the same open dates, and a check date set before we start.
3 questions to ask before you switch on any discount
Checklist
Tick them off
0 of 3
All 3 ready. Now you know what you're testing.
How we measured
For anyone who wants to check
| Item | How |
|---|---|
| Test homes | 2 homes with the discount and earlier history. A 3rd opened in July, so it's left out. |
| Other homes | 11 homes open the whole time, without the discount. Not matched by building or size. |
| Dates | Bookings made 26 Apr to 11 Jul 2026 (before) and 19 Jul to 3 Oct 2026 (during). |
| What counts | Bookings made up to 30 days before check-in, on every booking site. Every night of each booking. |
| Real cost | What we'd win back by switching off only this discount, other discounts kept. |
| Left out | Cancelled bookings and owner stays. |
| Not checked | Whether blocked dates changed how many nights could be booked. |
| Check | Test homes | Other homes |
|---|---|---|
| With the discount | 89 → 88 | 603 → 525 |
| Same, without the 1 long booking | 89 → 50 | 603 → 525 |
| Earlier period 1, no discount | 102 → 89 | 417 → 603 |
| Earlier period 2, no discount | 72 → 102 | 551 → 417 |
| Earlier period 3, no discount | 111 → 72 | 464 → 551 |
Airbnb didn't pay for or check this article. Like many hosts, we sometimes join Airbnb host programmes. We checked Airbnb's pages on 17 October 2026, and things may change.
Questions owners ask
What is Airbnb's top-rated guest discount?
It's 15% off the nightly price for guests rated 4.8 stars or more, with at least 3 reviews from hosts. The host pays for it, and Airbnb sets the 15%.
Does the top-rated guest discount stack with other discounts?
Yes, it can add to 1 of Airbnb's standard discounts: new listing, custom, length of stay, early bird or last minute. A mobile-only or non-refundable discount may also apply on top. Discounts multiply: 15% and then 10% is 23.5% off, not 25%.
Should I switch on the top-rated guest discount?
It depends on the home. Our reading: a quiet home with empty nights has more to gain than a busy one. Whatever you choose, decide first how and when you'll check if it pays.
Can I raise my price first to cover the 15%?
Airbnb's Host Discount Policy says the price before a discount must be a real selling price. It must not be "created or adjusted to present the appearance of a discount". Setting prices by demand is normal, but a price rise whose only job is to make the 15% look like a saving is risky.
Do top-rated guests behave better?
Maybe, but we couldn't tell. In our test, guests who left reviews gave 5 stars in both groups, and there were too few reviews to judge. Damage, complaints and extra cleaning would be better measures.
Does Airbnb pay hosts to keep it on?
Some selected hosts were offered a cash reward for keeping it on from 22 September to 17 November 2026. It is invite-only.
Sources: Who gets the discount, the 15% and how it combines with other discounts: Airbnb Help Centre, how discounts are applied. "Earned 19% more and had 24% more nights booked on average", modelled from a pilot observed 31 July to 30 August 2026: Airbnb Resource Center. Reference prices must not be "created or adjusted to present the appearance of a discount": Airbnb Host Discount Policy. Reward for selected hosts who keep it on from 22 September to 17 November 2026: Airbnb Help Centre. Our test: RoomGuru bookings from Hospitable, made 26 April to 11 July and 19 July to 3 October 2026, up to 30 days before check-in, all platforms, cancelled bookings and owner stays left out. The RM100 prices are made-up examples. Simon runs RoomGuru, which has managed homes in Johor Bahru on Airbnb since 2023. Airbnb didn't pay for or check this article. Like many hosts, we sometimes join Airbnb host programmes. This is general information, not financial advice.