[zhyder]

You're right. I suppose the 3% is meant to just about cover the credit card fees then.

E.g. http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/73581 . Click the 'more info' link that's just below the 'Book it' button. It says in tiny print "Excludes Airbnb service fee ($9)".

Odd how they're hiding that fee; much worse than the typical hotel website that tries to hide taxes. Airbnb folks, I know you're reading: that instantly changed my impression of you guys from awesome to sleazy. Please make it more visible.

[hammerdr]

Hotels, unlike Airbnb, get to make money off of the actual room charge. They also get to charge high rates for late bookings and general "just because."

Airbnb is a different business model than hotels. The $9 service fee is something that I happily pay for their service.

Edit: it is also right there on the submit reservation page:

http://cl.ly/3r0G0w3p1G0S0c093j3d

[SkyMarshal]

Yes, instead of hiding it under that little 'more info' link they should probably just show it with the room cost, but I wouldn't go so far as to call them sleazy.

I just used them two weeks ago for a trip to SF, and never felt surprised by their service fee during the booking process.