[philfrasty]

„...On the date of the reservation confirmation, we have a guest receivable of $100, and a future host payable of $90...“

The one thing I hate about AirBnB.... Looking to rent a nice place for 10k 9 months in advance? Ok...we'll charge it RIGHT NOW.

Why not do it like Amazon and charge when the package is shipped (trip date has arrived)? I get the cashflow thing but come on... (100 bookings and counting...)

[rtpg]

I bet if they didn't charge now, suddenly they have to deal with "card charge failed the day before the flight and now the reservation isn't paid for and the person is in front of the door"-style issues.

Of course AirBnB could forward the money to the host but doing it they way they do cuts out the problem entirely.

[richdougherty]

It's the same with booking airfares. I guess when you pay in advance for services to be rendered at a future date you're technically buying a financial "future", which does have a present value. However, I wish these futures were tradable!