Airbnb, the Bread and Breakfast Rental website, is now slowly becoming a thing in Jamaica.
Many Jamaicans, particular Kingstonians, are taking advantage (Brown, 2016, January 15) of the Airbnb website to rent their entire home or even one night on their couch. They benefit as they get paid in foreign exchange via their Paypal (Deer, 2015, September 9) accounts or any of the below Airbnb approved Landlord payment methods 24 hours after the guest checks in:
- ACH / Direct deposit: Up to 3 business days
- Bank transfer or international wire: 3–7 business days
- PayPal: Within 1 business day
- Western Union: 1 business day (US Pacific Time)
- Payoneer Prepaid Debit Card: Within 1 business day
The Airbnb service helps the landlord with paying off mortgages and taking care of utilities. In the process, weary American travellers, save thousands of dollars off staying at a hotel, as they can pay the persons they are renting the property from directly via any of the Airbnb approved Customer payment methods:
- Major credit cards and pre-paid credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Discover, JCB
- Many debit cards that can be processed as credit
- PayPal for select countries
- Alipay for China only
- Postepay for Italy only
- Sofort Überweisung for Germany only
- iDEAL for the Netherlands only
- Boleto Bancário, Hipercard, Elo, and Aura for Brazil only
- Google Wallet for US Android App only
- Apple Pay for iOS App only
Airbnb used by Jamaicans – Real Estate competition caught napping
Interestingly, it’s not just foreign travelers!
Jamaicans tired of travelling great distances, often pop into for a bread and breakfast to quote Miss Elise, 47 y-o homeowner in Duhaney Park: “It is not just tourists, it is local people from the countryside and all over Jamaica that are visiting Kingston for the day and can’t afford a hotel, I have been able to connect with them and earn”.
Her story is particularly encouraging, as she uses Airbnb to earn money after her husband died and her mortgage still remained to be paid. She’s not alone as a Quick search on Airbnb reveals almost 330 plus listings in Kingston alone, with the other listing islandwide appearing to be mostly hotels.
Airbnb makes it possible for ordinary Jamaicans outside of the resort areas to rent the properties or sections to foreigners travelling from abroad, many of whom eschew the all inclusive hotels and holiday packages for travelling off the beaten path.
Oddly, enough, Airbnb does have competition in Jamaica in the form of the real estate agencies, property websites and even the Jamaica Gleaner Classifieds, as listed below:
- Century 21 Jamaica
- Coldwell Banker Jamaica Realty
- I Need a House in Jamaica
- Jamaica Classifieds
- Jamaica Property Finder
- Millennium Property Sales and Services
- Property Ads Jamaica
- Property Solutions Jamaica
Airbnb has the advantage as their website is not only user-friendly, but also easily searchable. They also have a well-designed App that’s optimized for Smartphone screens and their website is Google Browser (Deer, 2015, May 3) approved.
Most importantly, you have to also factor in the wide array of payment options for the weary travellers seeking accommodation and the Landlord, who can receive payment within 24 hours. This gives Airbnb a competitive edge over even the Gleaner Classifieds website, which isn’t user friend and offer no means by which persons can rent and purchase what they see directly!
So will this service take off in Jamaica when 4G LTE (Deer, 2016, January 18) goes islandwide as FLOW Jamaica upgrades (Deer, 2015, December 28), giving more Jamaicans access to Real-time Video Streaming and Video Calling? That remains to be seen in the future, Bread and Breakfast Style!
Here’s the link:
Airbnb approved Landlord payment methods
Airbnb approved Customer payment methods
References:
- Deer, L. (2015, May 3). @Google wants smartphone-friendly Websites – Pricier Sponsored Search Results Prices for Small Business’s Shopaholics. Retrieved from http://mythoughtsontechnologyandjamaica.blogspot.com/2015/05/Google-smartphone-friendly-Websites-Sponsored-Search-Results.html
- Deer, L. (2015, September 9). How Jamaicans can make money online – Setting up a Paypal Account. Retrieved from https://lindsworthdeer.wordpress.com/2015/09/09/how-jamaicans-can-make-money-online-setting-up-a-paypal-account/
- Deer, L. (2015, December 28). FLOW Jamaica Fiber Optic upgrade means FTTH, 4G LTE and Call Center by 2016. Retrieved from https://lindsworthdeer.wordpress.com/2015/12/28/flow-jamaica-fiber-optic-upgrade-means-ftth-4g-lte-and-call-center-by-2016/
- Brown, D. (2016, January 15). In tight economy, struggling Jamaicans turn to Airbnb. Retrieved from http://www.loopjamaica.com/content/tight-economy-struggling-jamaicans-turn-airbnb
- Deer, L. (2016, January 18). Why FLOW Jamaica’s 4G LTE Upgrade to counter Digicel Play needs islandwide LTE, VDSL and DOCSIS 3.1. Retrieved from http://mythoughtsontechnologyandjamaica.blogspot.com/2016/01/why-flow-jamaicas-4g-lte-upgrade-to.html
