Airbnb Host Says 90-Day Booking Came With a Huge Surprise Fee: ‘That’s an insane markup’

A post shared to r/AirBnBHosts on Sept. 30, 2026, describes a 50 percent surcharge on a 90-day stay booked through Airbnb. The post drew 34 upvotes and 94 comments at the time of publication.

The poster said they host five guests who originally rented for one week. The guests are working on a long-term contract in the city. "They wanted to extend for 90 days and i [sic] was happy!" the poster wrote.

They told the guests to wait a few days to book, as they planned to lower the price to a winter rate and offer a 20 percent discount for monthly stays. According to the poster, the cost came "down to $3100/month."

"They are great guests and I thought I could save them some money," the host wrote. They claimed Airbnb and Evolve were charging "a 50% surcharge on the monthly rate." The poster described Evolve as "my property management contract."

"Who can possibly afford to pay near 5K a month?" they asked. The poster said that pricing could hurt business for both companies, so the host changed the arrangement. "I put my guests on a short term lease for just my rate and cut them both out."

The poster said the guests would have likely moved otherwise. "If I hadn't, my guests would have had to move and likely left me a horrible review," they wrote.

A commenter addressed how hosts might use Airbnb to find guests without relying on it for every booking.

"This is exactly where I think STR operators need to separate the acquisition channel from the actual business," they wrote.

The commenter said the economics can change once a host has longer stays, repeat guests, or corporate clients. "Airbnb can be great at finding the guest, but once you're dealing with longer stays, repeat guests or corporate clients, the economics can change completely," the commenter added.

One commenter weighed the full platform cost of a 90-day stay against a direct lease.

"That's a good example of why owners should look at the guest's total price, not just the payout," a commenter wrote.

The commenter then discussed the 90-day stay itself. "[...] comparing the full platform cost against a properly structured direct lease can make a huge difference for both sides," the commenter added.

One reply described what larger property managers do with rates and cleaning fees.

"I've seen larger PMs do some really shady stuff," a commenter wrote. "Mark up the rates, mark up the cleaning fee, everything you can think of to make more money."

One commenter reacted to the markup and endorsed the poster's lease decision. "[...] that's an insane markup, basically doubling their cut for no extra work on a long stay," they wrote.

The commenter said the lease kept the guests. "Smart move just doing the short term lease though, you kept good guests and they probably appreciate not getting gouged," the commenter added.

The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the events described in this thread. The details above reflect the original poster's account as shared on r/AirBnBHosts. The identities of the poster and guests, the property management company's fees, and the commenters' identities have not been confirmed.