Airbnb is rolling out two new merchandised discount programs built directly into its booking flow: the High-Rated Guest Discount and the Mobile-Only Discount. Both are host-funded, Airbnb-controlled promotions delivered through Promotions API V2, and both are separate from the pricing-rule promotions (Early-bird, Last-minute, Length-of-stay) most hosts already use.
Rentals United is an Airbnb launch partner for both programs. That means Rentals United clients can enroll and manage High-Rated Guest and Mobile-Only discounts the day Airbnb releases them to the public, directly from Property Settings, with no follow-up integration wait.
TL;DR
- Airbnb is launching High-Rated Guest Discount (15% off for guests rated 4.8+) and Mobile-Only Discount (10% off for bookings placed in the Airbnb app), both via Promotions API V2.
- Both are host-funded and fixed-rate — Airbnb sets the discount percentage; it isn’t editable in Rentals United or any connected software.
- Mobile-Only is API-exclusive. Hosts without a connected channel manager or PMS cannot enroll — it doesn’t exist in the Airbnb extranet.
- Rentals United clients can activate both from Property Settings → Airbnb → Promotions on Airbnb’s public release date.
- Airbnb’s own pilot data and market figures (not Rentals United customer results) project meaningful upside: roughly 6% more booked nights and 15% higher booking likelihood from highly-rated guests under the High-Rated Guest program, and a mobile channel that already drives roughly two-thirds of global Airbnb bookings.
- Both stack with existing pricing-rule promotions per Airbnb’s discount-tier rules.
What are Airbnb’s merchandised discount programs?
Airbnb’s merchandised promotions are discounts that Airbnb itself designs, prices, and surfaces to guests at the moment they’re most likely to convert, as opposed to pricing-rule promotions (like Early-bird or Last-minute discounts), which hosts configure and control the terms of.
Merchandised programs are host-funded, meaning the host absorbs the discount, but Airbnb handles targeting and in-app merchandising: strikethrough pricing, checkout messaging, and search placement.
| High-Rated Guest Discount | Mobile-Only Discount | |
|---|---|---|
| API type | HIGH_RATED_GUEST_DISCOUNT | MOBILE_ONLY_DISCOUNT |
| Discount | 15% (fixed by Airbnb) | 10% (fixed by Airbnb) |
| Who sees it | Guests rated 4.8+ | Guests booking on the Airbnb mobile app |
| Enrollment path | Airbnb extranet or Promotions API V2 | API only — requires a connected software provider |
| Editable rate | No | No |
| Available to unconnected hosts | Yes | No |
| Limit | One promotion per account (add/remove listings after) | One promotion per account (add/remove listings after) |
Why this matters right now
For most of Airbnb’s history, discount strategy has meant configuring your own rules — Early-bird, Last-minute, Length-of-stay — and hoping Airbnb’s search algorithm rewards the discipline. These two programs change that. Airbnb is now merchandising discounts on the platform’s own terms, which means visibility and placement benefits that a host-configured rule can’t buy on its own.
It also changes who can participate. Mobile-Only Discount has no extranet toggle. It exists only through the Promotions API, so hosts without a connected channel manager or PMS simply cannot turn it on — full stop. For property management companies already using a channel manager like Rentals United, that’s a program direct, unconnected hosts can’t self-serve.
Program 1: High-Rated Guest Discount
What it is
A 15% discount, funded by the host and fixed by Airbnb, made available to guests with a 4.8+ Airbnb rating. Airbnb’s merchandising surfaces the offer to eligible guests at the point of booking. (Note: “Top-Rated Guest” is an alias Airbnb has also used for the same program.)
The data behind it
The following figures come from Airbnb’s own Q1 2026 pilot and program projections — not Rentals United customer results:
- In Airbnb’s Q1 2026 pilot, a higher percentage of API-connected hosts adopted the High-Rated Guest discount than non-connected hosts.
- Airbnb projects that a 15% discount to this guest segment can drive roughly 6% more booked nights and a roughly 15% higher likelihood of booking from highly-rated guests, versus listings without the discount.
Who should use it
Property managers optimizing for guest quality — fewer house-rule violations, cleaner turnovers, better reviews — are the natural fit. It’s also a low-friction upsell for any portfolio already running Early-bird or Last-minute promotions in Rentals United, since it lives in the same Promotions tab.
How to enable it in Rentals United
- Go to Property Settings → Airbnb → Promotions → Create promotion → High-Rated Guest.
- Name the promotion internally (the 15%-for-4.8+ rate is fixed and shown as read-only).
- Assign the listings you want enrolled.
- Select Save or Save and activate.
- Sync completes in roughly five minutes; check status from the promotions list or refresh with Fetch from Airbnb, which also reconciles any enrollments made directly in the Airbnb extranet.
Note the account constraint: Rentals United supports one High-Rated Guest promotion per account. After it’s created, you can add or remove listings, but you can’t create a second instance of the same program type.
Program 2: Mobile-Only Discount
What it is:
A 10% discount, host-funded and fixed by Airbnb, applied only to bookings made through the Airbnb mobile app. There’s no way to configure it in the Airbnb host extranet — enrollment happens exclusively through a connected software provider’s API, which for Rentals United clients means the same Promotions tab used for every other Airbnb promotion.
Why mobile matters this much:
Airbnb’s guest base has shifted decisively toward the app. Per Airbnb’s own internal data and Q1 2026 financial results (not Rentals United customer data):
- More than 60% of global browsing sessions happen in the Airbnb app.
- 65% of global bookings are completed on the app.
- App nights booked grew 22% year-over-year in Q1 2026, and the app now accounts for 63% of total nights booked globally.
- Mobile guests are roughly 3x more likely than non-mobile guests to book last-minute.
That last stat matters for revenue management specifically: if you’re already running a Last-minute pricing-rule promotion, stacking Mobile-Only on the same listings targets exactly the guest segment most likely to convert on short notice.
What guests actually see
The discount is visible only in the Airbnb mobile app — desktop and mobile web show the standard rate. In-app, eligible listings get strikethrough pricing, an “App discount” line item at checkout, and merchandising copy (Airbnb has used phrasing like “Find a deal by booking on the app”).
How to enable it in Rentals United
- Go to Property Settings → Airbnb → Promotions → Create promotion → Mobile-Only.
- Name the promotion; helper text explains the 10% app-only rate and the API-exclusivity rule.
- Assign listings — individually or in bulk.
- Select Save or Save and activate.
- Sync completes in roughly five minutes; manage active promotions from the promotions list.
Because there’s no extranet path for this program, Fetch from Airbnb will only reflect Mobile-Only promotions created via API — there’s nothing to reconcile from the host UI. As with High-Rated Guest, Rentals United supports one Mobile-Only promotion per account, with listing-level add/remove after creation.
How the two programs stack with existing promotions
Both High-Rated Guest and Mobile-Only can stack with the pricing-rule promotions already available in Rentals United — Early-bird, Last-minute, and Length-of-stay/weekly-monthly discounts — as well as with each other and with Airbnb’s New Listing Promotion, subject to Airbnb’s discount-tier and priority rules.
In practice, that opens a few combinations worth evaluating before launch day:
- High-Rated Guest + Length-of-stay, for portfolios prioritizing longer, lower-turnover bookings from proven guests.
- Mobile-Only + Last-minute, to capture the mobile-first, book-now segment identified in Airbnb’s own data.
- Both programs across a full portfolio, for PMCs who want maximum merchandised visibility across Airbnb’s search and app placement.
Stacking discounts does compound margin impact, so treat this as a strategic opt-in per listing type rather than a blanket setting — evaluate the discount stack against your rate floor before activating broadly.
What Rentals United clients get on day one
- Launch-day availability. No backlog, no waiting on a follow-up integration — both programs are configurable in Rentals United the day Airbnb opens them publicly ([INSERT RELEASE DATE]).
- One promotions hub. Merchandised discounts, pricing-rule Airbnb promotions, and Vrbo promotions are all managed from Property Settings, instead of juggling the Airbnb extranet separately.
- Reconciliation built in. Fetch from Airbnb pulls in extranet-side High-Rated Guest enrollments so nothing falls out of sync.
- White Label parity. White Label partners can offer both programs under their own brand with the same day-one timing.
- API access other hosts don’t have. Mobile-Only can’t be enabled without a connected provider — it’s a program direct, unconnected Airbnb hosts structurally cannot access.
Rentals United is among the first channel managers with Promotions API V2 support. This isn’t an exclusive partnership claim — it’s a launch-day capability advantage for clients who don’t want to wait through the integration lag that typically follows a channel’s feature GA.
FAQ
What is Airbnb’s High-Rated Guest Discount? It’s a host-funded, Airbnb-merchandised discount of 15%, offered automatically to Airbnb guests with a rating of 4.8 or higher. The rate is fixed by Airbnb and isn’t customizable by the host or in Rentals United.
What is Airbnb’s Mobile-Only Discount? It’s a host-funded 10% discount available only to guests who book through the Airbnb mobile app. It can only be enabled through a connected software provider’s API — there’s no option to turn it on in the Airbnb host extranet.
Can I set a custom discount percentage for these programs? No. Both High-Rated Guest (15%) and Mobile-Only (10%) are fixed rates set by Airbnb. Rentals United’s role is enrollment, listing assignment, and sync.
Do I need a channel manager to use Mobile-Only Discount? Yes. Mobile-Only Discount is API-exclusive. Hosts without a connected PMS or channel manager, such as Rentals United, cannot enroll in this program at all.
When can Rentals United clients start using these promotions? On the day Airbnb releases both programs publicly from August 2026. Rentals United is an Airbnb launch partner for Promotions API V2, so clients don’t need to wait for a follow-up integration.
Can these discounts be combined with Early-bird or Last-minute promotions? Yes. Both programs can stack with pricing-rule promotions (Early-bird, Last-minute, Length-of-stay) and with each other, subject to Airbnb’s discount-tier and stacking rules.
How many High-Rated Guest or Mobile-Only promotions can I run per account? One of each type per Rentals United account. After the initial promotion is created, you can add or remove listings, but you can’t create a second promotion of the same type.
Talk to your account manager
Rentals United clients can preview the Promotions tab now and plan which listings to enroll ahead of Airbnb’s public release. For a portfolio-specific rollout plan, reach out to your Rentals United account manager or book a demo.
Airbnb pilot data, market statistics, and projections referenced in this article are provided by Airbnb and describe Airbnb’s own program performance and platform usage — not Rentals United customer results. Individual results will vary by market, listing quality, and portfolio composition.