Airbnb’s Pay-to-Play Visibility: The Start of a Loyalty Program?

Vacation Rental Scale-Up · Feb 20, 2026 · 6m

Is Airbnb quietly testing its own loyalty program?

Some hosts are now seeing an offer:

Provide a 20% discount, and Airbnb will boost your visibility and promote your listing to “top rated guests.”

But here’s what makes this different.

“Top rated guests” aren’t defined by how much they spend — they’re defined by behavior. Guests with 4.8+ ratings and multiple completed stays.

In this episode, we unpack:

• Why this looks like pay-to-play ranking

• How it differs from Booking.com’s Genius or Expedia’s OneKey

• Why Airbnb’s two-way review system gives it unique behavioral data

• Whether this is a…