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Airbnb makes it easier to find a place to stay on business trips
Airbnb wants to make it easier to find work-friendly listings, and its solution is fairly simple. Before, the company would ask if you were traveling for business at checkout. Now, it's offering a work trip toggle that you can select at the beginning of your search. The feature will bring up listings that are more relevant for business trips.
Google shuts down Daydream VR's Play Movies & TV app
Google has pulled Daydream VR's version of the Google Play Movies & TV app. You can still view your rentals or purchases through the YouTube VR app, a Google spokesperson confirmed to Variety, while there aren't any current plans to remove other Google apps from the Daydream platform.
Hertz launches monthly car rental subscription starting at $999
Today, Hertz announced a new vehicle subscription service, Hertz My Car. For a monthly fee, users will have access to select sedans, crossovers, SUVs and trucks. The service follows on the heels of a similar, but more expensive, pilot program that Enterprise launched last month.
Airbnb agrees to share data for over 17,000 NYC listings
Airbnb and New York City are inching closer to making peace over data sharing. To start, the home rental outfit has reached an agreement to hand over semi-anonymized host and reservation data for over 17,000 listings in the city. It's also providing data for every NYC listing rented between January 1st, 2018 and February 18th, 2019 that might have violated the city's short-term rental laws.
Bird's monthly scooter rentals let you ride as much as you like
Bird isn't staying out of San Francisco just because it doesn't have a permit for its usual scooter service. It's launching a personal rental service in both San Francisco and Barcelona that gives you a scooter of your own for $25 per month. Order a scooter through the app and Bird will deliver it (plus a charger and lock) to a location of your choice, after which you can use it as much as you like. Bird will also pick up the two-wheeler when you're done.
Marriott plans to take on Airbnb with its own home-rental service
The line between the traditional hotel industry and the home-rental industry has become increasingly blurred. Last month, Airbnb bought HotelTonight, a last-minute hotel booking company. Now, Marriott is looking to take on Airbnb. According to The Wall Street Journal, Marriott could become the first major hotel company to offer home rentals.
Airbnb may create original shows to spark the travel bug
Airbnb might not be content with hoping that you'll book a stay on your next vacation -- it may want to make that vacation more appealing in the first place. Reuters sources say Airbnb hopes to create original shows that would encourage would-be customers to travel. Although the specific plans aren't mented, CEO Brian Chesky is reportedly a long-time advocate of the project and aims to create a studio so that Airbnb can "be travel-everything." The company has toyed with the idea for a minimum of three years, according to one insider.
Car2go: 'Fraud' caused Chicago shutdown, not hacking
Car2go's rental service just suffered what appears to be a major incident. The company has temporarily suspended operations in Chicago after a "fraud issue" in the city. While Car2go didn't provide details (it told Engadget there was an "ongoing investigation"), sources for CBS' Brad Edwards claimed that up to 100 luxury cars had gone missing or were reported stolen, some of which had been used for crimes. Over 12 people were in police custody, Edwards said.
Paris sues Airbnb over illegal rental ads
France is determined to prevent home sharing services from allowing makeshift hotels, and that now includes court action. The city of Paris is suing Airbnb over 1,000 ads it says violate a law designed to limit homeowners to renting their places for no more than 120 days per year. It's not clear just what terms the ads violated, but French law requires a registration number inside those ads to ensure they aren't venturing past the 120-day mark. The aim is to "send a shot across the bows" and end near-constant rentals that "spoil some Parisian neighborhoods," city mayor Anne Hidalgo told Le Journal du Dimanche in an interview.
Airbnb will remove guest home listings in the West Bank
To date, Airbnb has argued that it would allow home listings in disputed areas in the name of connecting people. Now, it's changing its mind. The company plans to remove roughly 200 listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank after rethinking its policies for contested regions. Airbnb didn't provide a detailed explanation of its rationale in this specific instance, but noted that the listings are "at the core of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians."
Airbnb hopes to give hosts a stake in the company
If Airbnb has its way, hosting travelers won't just get you some spending money -- it'll get you a stake in the company's future. Axios has discovered that Airbnb sent a letter to the SEC asking for the regulator to permit offering equity to hosts. Airbnb primarily supported changes to Securities Act Rule 701 that would allow offering shares to gig economy workers, not just investors and staff. CEO Brian Chesky characterized it as vital to rewarding the company's supporters.
Airbnb helps companies book team building exercises
You're probably not a fan of corporate team building exercises or offsite meetings, but Airbnb might just make them livelier and easier to organize. The service is expanding its Airbnb for Work program to streamline bookings for company events and beyond. You can sign up for group Experiences that offer team building for a minimum of fuss -- if you think your staff will bond quickly in a sailing lesson, you won't have to sweat all the details. Airbnb will also highlight homes that are helpful for offsites, so you'll know if there's a collaboration-friendly workspace on hand without having to hunt around.
Airbnb is suing NYC to keep from sharing host data
In a role-reversal, Airbnb is the one suing a city, and it's doing so to protect its hosts' privacy. In July, the New York City Council passed a regulation forcing short-term rental services to hand over hosts' names and addresses every month to help a civic crackdown on illegal listings. Airbnb's lawsuit against NYC alleges that the new law violates its users' constitutional rights.
Lyft offers Avis rentals to drivers who don't own cars
Lyft drivers now have another major choice if they want to offer rides without buying their own cars. The ridesharing service has struck a deal that will have the Avis Budget Group offer "thousands" of vehicles through Lyft's Express Drive program in North America. There's no mention of the rates or terms of the deal, but the aim remains to make Lyft work feasible without the "cost and burden" of ownership. The cars should become available through the Lyft app in the next few months.
Get Amazon gift cards just for renting a car from Avis
Avis just found a way to sweeten the deal for frequent travelers: give them breaks on their internet shopping. The firm now gives US car renters an Amazon gift card worth 10 percent of their rental price just for being an Amazon customer -- no, you don't even need Prime. The gift card doubles to 20 percent of the rental price if you book your vehicle through Avis' Alexa skill. If you're the jetsetting sort who needs rental cars on a regular basis, this could easily lead to a few Amazon freebies.
Redbox will rent Warner Bros. films on release day (updated)
Redbox's new deal with Warner Bros. to make all its movies available for rental the day they're released on home video. The previous agreement delayed arrivals until a week after they'd come out for consumer market. Now, not only can folks pick them up on DVD in the company's signature kiosks, they can also access them via the provider's Redbox On Demand service.
Airbnb lets hosts offer their homes for future emergencies
Airbnb hosts have long had the opportunity to offer free housing during emergencies. What about making yourself available ahead of time? If you live in the right area, you're set. The home rental service is launching a pilot program that will let San Jose residents put themselves on a standby list before there's even a hint of a crisis. The move should speed up the community's response in the event of a crisis, ensuring that stranded people don't have to wait for shelters over their heads.
Airbnb pulls over 48,000 rentals in Japan following recent law
If you're planning to stay at an Airbnb rental in Japan in the near future, you may be in for an unpleasant surprise. Airbnb has removed about 48,200 rentals (about 78 percent of those in the country) after the Japanese government ordered home sharing companies to pull any rentals booked before June 15th that didn't have license numbers issued under a recent law regulating home-based accommodations. This wouldn't be such an issue if it weren't that the June 1st order was "contrary" to previous guidance from the Japanese Tourism Agency, Airbnb said -- and officials didn't appear to care that "many" of the hosts were already registering or waiting for their licenses.
Airbnb starts sharing Chinese hosts' info with the government
China is determined to make foreign companies bow to its surveillance rules, and that extends to home rental services. Airbnb has told hosts that it will start providing their information to Chinese government agencies on March 30th in order to obey regulations. The country requires that citizens and visitors alike register their addresses with police in the first 24 hours after they either arrive in the country or stay at a hotel.
Airbnb makes it easier to find accessible rentals
Airbnb is making quick use of the travel accessibility startup it bought a few months ago. The rental service has introduced 21 filters that help you find disability-friendly listings that meet your exact needs. You can look for ramps, wide hallways, roll-in showers and other features that can help if you use a wheelchair or otherwise have special mobility requirements. Previously, Airbnb had a simple "wheelchair accessible" filter that frequently left glaring omissions.
