Lol good luck with Latin America. It’s pretty split between China and the US Empire/“the west”.
With the recent small wave of “left leaning” politicians winning in many places, many started to turn to China again.
And all in all China is a more attractive partner, because they usually pursue more equal deals compared to the IMF/“west”. Also they don’t call the global south a “jungle” while saying Europe is a garden lmao
But it doesn’t matter. In some years the US backed political parties will win again (after magically arresting another opponent, or killing them, couping them etc.) and turn to the EU and US again.
Been using airbnb for years- never ran into what you guys are complaining about. Nobody required any extra steps/chores… I do agree that the prices can be wonky- but you see it before you pay…
I'm not sure the prices even are that wonky. The cost to have someone drive to a property, clean it, and wash/dry all the bedding is by far the highest cost of anything related to running a property rental (at least in the US). That's naturally going to make it abnormally expensive for short stays (compared to a hotel) and much cheaper for longer ones.
The problem really is that AirBnB is trying to position itself as an expedia competitor and not a vrbo competitor, and changing that will change how they are valued.
Edit: I think tiering pricing makes more sense here too. A host could easily say that the first night is $350 and subsequent nights are $150 (or something like that) and then it'd represent their cost structure better without explicitly calling out a high cleaning fee.
I think AirBnb screwed up in the same way that eBay did, where they let the price not be the price. In my opinion eBay should have made sellers enter their location and the weight/dims of the item and it'd work out a fair shipping price and not let that be changed.
"values its free time set the stage for economic stagnation", those damned People wishing to not be slaves for the ultra wealthy are to blame, not the wealthy's looting and corruption! /s
A union of guys who are paid to break up protests and strikes doesn't really count as a union, especially when they have guns but most of the elected officials don't.
It’s a union - and an extremely powerful one at that. You can wish and hope all you want that it isn’t, but it is and shows just the kind of corruption and bullshit unions can be.
A union of seamstresses is not going to be able to hold the city hostage. Hell, even when Hoffa was running the teamsters--The most infamous example of union corruption in history--he couldn't get a clause in the contract where a guy who killed a guy on the job got to keep his job.
Unions have long outlived their usefulness in the US. In other parts of the world, unions are still very important and seem to be able to operate without turning into pure corrupt bullshit. In the US? Not so much. With money comes corruption and we can’t seem to get things right here. Either we have corporate bullshit or union bullshit and neither of them are good for workers or the country as a whole.
I travel a lot and used airbnb for a year or so during their heyday, I greatly preferred them to hotels. I would never go back to them now though. Ever since they started going crazy with the fees and chores, I prefer hotels where you know what you’re getting.
A while ago I got an email about my “planned trip” where I was added as a guest by someone I don’t know to a house on another continent… Because they speak another language there, everything in my email was also in that language I don’t understand as a bonus
It’s been years since I used Airbnb, just never deleted my account.
Apparently anyone can add anyone as a guest to their booking. There’s no way to decline being a guest, it just automatically accepts. There’s no way to cancel on the app yourself. And customer support kept alternating between “there’s no way this could have happened” and “anyone can do it, just block all emails from Airbnb if you don’t want to see it”.
Like, I still can’t get over how they could suggest the fix was just block all emails from their company.
So now my account is fully deleted, and Id advise anyone else with an old account to do the same.
The last thing I need is Airbnb coming after me for damages to a property someone unilaterally decided I was a guest at.
Yeah, like maybe the booker just mistyped someone’s email and somehow got mine? I’d be surprised since my email doesn’t have random numbers or anything that would make it an easy mistake.
But also, if it was a scam to trash the house and have random people on the hook for damages, I have no idea how they got my email.
I have no idea what was going on, just reminded me how bad an idea it is to have an account like that with my personal and financial info just hanging out because “maybe some day Airbnb will stop sucking”.
If that every happens, I can just make a new account. That would be much less of a hassle than fighting a fraudulent charge from another country because Airbnb told me I stayed there.
Indeed. Loved the concept and have had some really great properties. If I can sus out the specific property now, I'll see if they have a direct book and use that instead. I don't mind the simple stuff on exit, that's just polite, nor a small cleaning fee if the nightly cost is low (I think of it as a turning fee), but I hate having to play whack-a-mole on the site to find a property in budget when half of the fees aren't included in the top line.
Except for large parties (me and the parents, or another family joining) in the same location, or the need for a full kitchen, there are few places where ABnB/VRBO has better pricing than major hotels with suites.
Nothing can fix Airbnb. It used to be a cheap alternative to hotels but now they are around the same price range (especially with the cleaning fees). If you are going to stay a couple of days then Airbnb starts to make sense but for short stays it’s just pointless. The biggest difference (and the reason why I stopped using Airbnb altogether) is that if you stay at a hotel or even a motel, you are treated like a guest a customer. But Airbnb hosts treat you like they are doing you a favor by letting you stay there even though you’re paying for the place. They make up 20 chores like you have to put the towels in the washer, you have to put the dishes in the dishwasher. Then what was the whole point of the cleaning fee. Just stay at a hotel.
Airbnb really needs to crack down on chores, and start treating hosts the way ebay treats sellers. If you wanna run an unregulated hotel you’d better fucking act like a hotel manager, not somebody’s mom. They’ve got people climbing over each other to be hosts, so they can afford to give bad ones the shaft.
The researchers studied how drinking affects different people. They looked at three groups: light drinkers, heavy social drinkers, and those with alcohol use disorder (AUD). At first, people with AUD seemed less impaired after drinking a moderate amount, but when they drank a lot like they usually do, they became significantly impaired in their motor and thinking skills. Even worse, their impairment didn’t go away even after three hours. The study shows that experienced drinkers with AUD may feel like they can handle more alcohol, but too much still affects them badly. This research could help people understand the risks of drinking too much and lead to better ways to prevent harm caused by excessive alcohol use.
Was putting 10 hours a day in my work before all that. Still putting the same hours in. Have obviously less purchase power. I don’t see no free time in this… I even had to learn some crafts to survive the inflation so it’s even less “me time” than before…
“Hey, what if we did Uber but for Hotels, except that we make it so its as expensive as a hotel and impose lots of ridiculous rules and expectations of our guests?”
I don’t even look at AB&B anymore when I travel. It used to be a bargain, but between ruining local real estate markets and the general asshattery of most AB&B owners, I’ll just stick with hotels.
One time I shared an Airbnb to try to cut costs on a trip. I got there around 4pm and hated it so much that by noon the next day I had already booked a hotel.
I just do king suites now since they’re about the same price as a double but include free breakfast, a kitchenette, extra pullout couch, etc. Cheaper than an Airbnb with the same (or more) amenities.
Well yeah, what are we waiting to work ourselves to death? Where this stupid idea of having free time came from? What the shareholders gonna think about it??
I suppose this kind of “journalism” has the only scope of making americans feel better.
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