Airbnb Just Introduced Cost Splitting For Groups So You No Longer Have To Be An Ah Long

You will likely be the one forking out the cash to book on behalf of the group and pray to the heavens that your friends, family members or colleagues will have the courtesy to pay you back their share of the holiday on time.

As much as you need the money (because that could be your entire travel budget), Asians being Asians, sometimes we’re just too embarrassed to chase after our friends like some Ah Long.

To be fair, flights can be individually booked on separate days. Some may be waiting for the right promotions to happen before buying their tickets, while others may need a little more time to save up. As long as everyone gets to the same destination at the same time, this is not a big deal, right?

But accommodation is a completely different case.

So at the end of last year, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky asked on Twitter what new features people wanted to see most on the popular accommodation booking platform and many who felt short-changed from group travels suggested splitting payments.

And that’s exactly what Airbnb just introduced.

How Airbnb’s cost splitting feature works

This feature applies to groups travelling with two to 16 people.

Firstly, you should select the payment splitting feature when booking a listing and your share of the bill will be charged on your credit card.

Then, invite your fellow travel buddies to pay their portion by sending them a link or adding their email addresses directly to the booking. Make sure everyone has an Airbnb account to execute this option.

The reservation will then be put on hold for a maximum of 72 hours until it is paid in full. If the full amount is not paid by the deadline, Airbnb will cancel the booking and refund those who have already paid.

While waiting, you can check who has paid, pay for someone else’s share or pay the remaining balance, because you don’t want to jeopardise your place to stay just because of one person.

But you don’t have to do the chasing this time because Airbnb will send a reminder 24 hours before the payment deadline to you and anyone who hasn’t paid up.