I'll never stay in a hotel again!

How to become a member of Airbnb 

+ $25 travel voucher

Get your $25 / £16 Airbnb travel voucher here.

When I go travel, I'm renting out my flat or spare room on Airbnb, and often I earn more money then I spend on my travels. When I'm away, I'm staying cheap with other Airbnb hosts, often at a much lower price than a hotel or hostel. In addition, it's great to come in contact with a local. 

For a limited time members of Airbnb can handle out travel vouchers to friends, family and personal contacts / blogger audience. This coupon gives you $25 off any vacation rental. Click here to get your Airbnb travel credit or click on the banner left. 

I came across this genius website a while ago. It's called Airbnb and it's marketplace where travelers can meet local hosts. Private property owners like myself can rent out their rooms, flats, houses, boats etc and earn good money. Travelers can find cheap and unique accommodation, often at a much lower price than hotels and motels in the same area. The community has grown quite large, with more than 2 million properties listed on the site.



See also: 10 similar websites to Airbnb

Advantages for Airbnb travelers:

• The price is often lower than a hotel / motel in the same area
• You'll meet a local and see how people live
• You can browse truly unique properties in more than 34 000 cities in 192 countries
• Its safe because payment is taken care of by a third part and customer service can be reached 24/7
• It's fast and easy to create an Airbnb account, you can get one here. 

Advantages for Airbnb hosts:

• You can rent out your spare rooms or extra flats, houses, boats to travelers in your area and earn good money.
• You'll meet a lot of interesting people
• It's safe. In the unlikely event of damage to your property it will be covered by the Airbnb insurance. 
• You can earn considerably more money on renting out short term than long term and you can easily block the dates if you don't want to rent out. There are no obligations.  
• You can rent out your home and earn money while you're on vacation
• It's fast and easy to create an account with Airbnb, you can get one here. By using this invitation link you'll also get a 18 EUR start up bonus ;)

 

My experience with Airbnb: 

As written above, Airbnb was one of the first websites I came across while searching for a place to advertise my spare rooms. I've now used Airbnb since more than 3 years both as a traveler and host and I'm quite happy with their services.

I'm also using several other similar websites:

Flipkey
Roomorama
Wimdu
Rentalo

Travel affiliate programs

In addition to earning money from renting out my flats and rooms, I'm using several travel affiliate programs to generate some extra income. I'll write a little about the different programs I'm using on this blog. 

Airbnb travel affiliate program - get up to $100 per lead.

The Airbnb affiliate program has been replaced by a refer a friend program. Each friend you refer to Airbnb can give you up to $100. You'll get $25 if they travel and $85 if they host. Furthermore, your friend get $25 off their first stay.

Sign up with Airbnb through my personal referral link and get $25 off your first stay here.

Flipkey affiliate program

One of the most lucrative affiliate programs in the industry where you can get up to 4$ per visitor nad up to 75$ per host / hotel who signs up.

Create a free account with Flipkey to take part in their affiliate program

Travel Payouts  affiliate program.

Probably the highest paying travel affiliate program in the industry. Hotels and flights are easy to promote and advertisers earn $20 - $40 per transaction.Sign up here.

Recommended sites to advertise your rental business

Airbnb

Travelers and hosts, get a free account here

I'd like to write a little about the different websites I'm using to promote my apartments and rooms for rent.  I'd like to start with the website I receive the most bookings from, more than 60% of my bookings I receive from Airbnb. Airbnb  was also the first site I started to use when I rented out my first rooms 3 years ago. I've also used Airbnb several times when I travel.

Airbnb Sign up process
The sign up process is fast and easy, all you need to get an account is an email address and you can also use your Facebook account to create an account. Later on you can add more verification such as Linkedin, your Google profile and upload your ID to build more trust in the community.


Here you can create a free account with Airbnb.

By using the invitation link above you'll also get an extra travel credit ;)

Browse properties and create your first listing.
Before you create your first listing, I would recommend  you to browse some of the beautiful listings on Airbnb. You can browse beautiful houses and flats from all over the world for inspiration. You can start to create your listing right away, but I would recommend to take some good photos of your property first. Make sure it's tidy and put some fruit or flowers on the tables.

More tips to come ;)

About me and this blog.

This blog I'm dedicated to my experiences with running my own rental business. I've rented out my private flats and properties since more than 3 years. It's been a lot of work and a lot of fun. It started with one spare room in my private flat, and now I'm renting out 4 nice apartments, 3 in Oslo Norway, and one in Malaga, Spain.

It's been quite a journey and I've learned a lot of things about running my own rental business. On this blog I'd like to share my experiences with others.