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How to let friends and family book your holiday rental (free or at a discount)

Blake Harrold5 min read

Your sister wants the house for a week in January. Your mate from work asks about Easter. Your parents would like to come down, and they feel weird about asking.

Airbnb is a clumsy way to do it. You can send a special offer, but the stay still runs through Airbnb and the guest still pays Airbnb's service fee on top of whatever price you set. Most hosts block the dates by hand instead. That holds until the cleaner invoices you, or you forget the block and someone else books the week.

What goes wrong with a block

The cleaner charges the same whether your sister paid or not. If the week is only a block on the calendar, that invoice turns up afterwards and you're sorting the money in the group chat.

A blocked week also looks like an empty week. In July you can't tell "nobody wanted it" from "my brother had it". That matters when you're working out whether the place earns its keep, and it matters more at tax time.

The version that actually hurts: the dates stay open, a paying guest books them, and you're cancelling a real booking or telling your sister she can't come.

Put it through as a booking

Agree the price, then make it a booking at that price. Full rate, half, the cleaner's bill, or nothing.

On StayHive you set the price for this stay. "The house is yours, just cover the cleaner, $180" is a total of 180. Mates' rates is the nightly rate you want for these nights, or one amount for the week. You can change it here without changing what everyone else pays on the public page. Free is $0. Set the dates, then send a link or record the stay yourself.

Send a link when you want them to confirm it. When they do, including a free stay, they get the confirmation email: the dates, check-in and check-out times, the address, the total, and the house rules. The door code and the wifi go out in the pre-arrival email before they arrive.

Record the stay yourself when the week is already agreed. Cash, bank transfer, or other, at $0, confirms straight away and blocks your StayHive calendar from then. Put their email on the booking and the pre-arrival note goes out before check-in.

Airbnb and Stayz pick the nights up the next time they fetch your calendar, often a few hours later. How the feeds work.

A figure on the booking, even $0, also ends the awkward bit. Your mate isn't wondering whether to offer. You're not wondering whether to ask. A mates' rates week is still a direct booking. The same setup you use for guests who already know you is what the link runs on. Don't put that link, or your phone number, in an Airbnb or Stayz message. Both platforms ban that.

What to charge

Cleaning only is the one that causes the least grief. The cleaner is a real invoice.

A discount for friends, on weeks you'd otherwise sell. Half off is a common landing spot. Charge whatever you'd actually be happy with.

Nothing, for your parents, or a wedding, or a hard year. Still record it, or the calendar doesn't know the house is taken.

Decide the Christmas rule before anyone asks. A lot of owners will hand the place over any week except the fortnight that pays for the year. That's an easier sentence in March than it is on 12 December.

Your own weeks

Book the week in your own name at $0. It confirms straight away, so the calendar has you in the house and a paying guest can't land on top of your holiday.

Tax, briefly

This isn't tax advice. A free week or a cheap week for family is not the same as a week let at a normal rate. The ATO's holiday homes guidance, current in 2026, can go further than splitting the bills by the night. If the place isn't used or held mainly to produce rent, ownership costs such as interest and council rates can be refused, not just trimmed. Weeks you keep back in the school holidays for family count towards that. Write down which nights were a paying stay, which were empty and available, and which were yours. Your accountant will ask.

Common questions

Can I do a free stay on Airbnb?

Not cleanly. A special offer lets you name your own price, and the guest still pays Airbnb's service fee on top. It has to start from a message in Airbnb. Hosts who want a genuinely free stay take it off the platform.

How do I stop someone else booking dates I've promised?

Record the stay, at $0 if that's the deal. It blocks on your StayHive calendar straight away. Airbnb and Stayz pick it up the next time they read your calendar, often a few hours later.

Should I charge family the cleaning fee?

Almost always. Put that amount down as the total for the stay.

Does a cheap stay change my tax?

It can. Ask your accountant before you claim costs for a week you let cheap, or gave away.

What if they cancel late?

They will, sometimes, with less notice than a paying guest. Some owners won't release peak weeks to family more than a couple of months out, so a late cancellation still leaves a chance of filling them. Say that once, before the first ask.

General information, not tax advice

This is general information checked as at 31 October 2026, not advice about your circumstances. Tax treatment depends on facts specific to you. Check ato.gov.au and speak to a registered tax agent before lodging.

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