Airbnb Fee Structure Update: What This Means for You

As shared in our August newsletter, Airbnb has officially moved to a single 15.5% host fee structure as of October 27, 2025. This change applies to all new bookings made on or after that date.

How Gather Is Adapting

Historically, Gather has applied a % based channel markup to cover the platform fees that channels like Airbnb deduct before payout. With Airbnb’s new structure, and similar changes expected across the industry, we’re taking this opportunity to improve both clarity and transparency in how these costs appear on your Owner Statement.

Starting on your November Activity Owner Statement, Airbnb reservations will include a new line item called Channel Commission Recovery, which will appear separately instead of being included in gross rent.

Here’s how it works:

• The Channel Commission Recovery fee will be processed in the same way as rental income

• The total amount will appear as income on your statement, followed by a management fee deduction (Gather’s portion of the channel cost).

• The net result to you will directly offset the Online Travel Agent (OTA) commission shown on your Owner Statement.

• Your share of that cost will continue to follow your standard commission agreement.
  
  

In short, this change makes it easier to see exactly how channel fees flow through your statement and how they’re offset by the recovery credit.

A note about Markups and Overages: Our markup is designed to cover channel commission costs. However since costs can vary based on several factors, the recovered amount may occasionally exceed the actual channel fees (this is called an “overage”). If an overage occurs, that extra income is shared with you, just like other rental income. 

Looking Ahead

We plan to apply this same transparent structure to all pre-deduct channel partners in the near future.

If you have any questions about this change, please reach out to vrreview@gathervacations.com.