Do you even want to become a Superhost in the first place? In short, yes. There are at least two reasons to put in effort to boost your status. First, guests who see the Superhost badge are more likely to book your place because it is more trustworthy. It’s even a filter option for searching through listings. Second, sometimes Airbnb from time to time gives gifts to Superhosts such as guest items to use in your units (games, plants, or coffee mugs), or even Airbnb credit to use for travel. While being a superhost won’t directly affect your search result rankings, many of the factors that make you a Superhost will also place you higher in Airbnb search results!

So, you want to become a Superhost, but you’re not sure how. Unfortunately, there is currently no way to apply to become a Superhost, but you have 4 chances every year to be selected by Airbnb during one of their quarterly reviews (on the first of January, April, July, and October). Here is a list directly from Airbnb suggesting how one could be considered for Superhost status!

• Complete at least 10 trips OR complete 3 reservations that total at least 100 nights
• Maintain a 90% response rate or higher
• Maintain a 1% percent cancellation rate (1 cancellation per 100 reservations) or lower, with exceptions made for those that fall under Airbnb’s Extenuating Circumstances policy
• Maintain a 4.8 overall rating (this rating looks at the past 365 days of reviews, based on the date the guest left a review, not the date the guest checked out)

This is a great starting point, but what if you want to do more? Here are some tips from an Airbnb Superhost expert and HostGPO member on how you can boost your chances of being selected for Superhost status:

• Fight tooth and nail to make sure cancellations are not processed “on your behalf.” Oftentimes Airbnb will erroneously process extenuating circumstance cancellations as host cancellations, but those are actually not supposed to be attributed to you if you show proof of the circumstances.
• If you do offer to refund a guest who no longer wants to stay for whatever reason, make sure that the GUEST processes the cancellation and then you manually issue the refund after so you are not penalized against your superhost status.
• During the week or two before the super host period closes, check your numbers to see where you fall – you may need to follow up with a few guests and ask for reviews one more time so that you get over the ratings or review thresholds.

Hopefully these tips will help boost you to being a Superhost! Although these are great technical tips for becoming a Superhost, there’s nothing like good, old-fashioned excellent hosting. Leaving small gifts for your guests, making sure your unit is stocked and clean, and being courteous and helpful are great ways to ensure you get positive reviews. Happy hosting!