Air Concierge Property Management Review: Is It Worth It?

Air Concierge is one name that comes up when you search for options. As this is not one of the most popular choices such as Vacasa and Evolve, we’ve put together this Air Concierge property management review to provide vacation rental hosts with all the information they need to make an informed decision whether this might be the right choice for their property.

Is AirConcierge worth it? In brief, no! While the company promotes itself as a full-service provider, it charges extra for many basic services. It also doesn’t service all property types and markets besides having very few online reviews.

On our list of the best Airbnb property management companies we ranked Awning above Air Concierge for its better pricing, more complete service offering, and nationwide footprint.

What Air Concierge Is

Air Concierge was founded in 2014 by Ryan and Claire Danz, and the headquarters are located in San Francisco. As a West Coast-centric company, they provide services in a few locations in California and Washington.

Air Concierge aims to position itself as a one-stop company specializing in short term and vacation rentals. Unlike most other Airbnb property management providers, they focus on luxury rentals and Airbnb long-term rentals (30, 60, and 90 days).

Their full-service property management services include everything that investors need in order to own a vacation rental business without having to be involved in the day-to-day tasks and responsibilities. Air Concierge has achieved Airbnb Superhost and VRBO Premier Host status which helps them optimize the performance of properties managed by them.

The high-level services provided by Air Concierge include:

• Investment consulting
• Vacation rental design
• Short term rental property management

What Air Concierge Property Management Is

Air Concierge is a full-service short-term rental property manager specializing in luxury experiences. The company was established with the goal of becoming a leading hospitality team, so Air Concierge property management services have been around since the very beginning of the company in 2014.

Air Concierge manages properties owned by investors and not rentals owned by the company itself. However, certain vacation rentals can qualify for Air Concierge Signature Homes status based on a combination of unique design and exceptional architecture and remarkable location. They market these on a dedicated brand-owned website.

The company does not publicize how many properties they manage at the moment. Their Airbnb host profile shows 183 listings, which is relatively few considering that they’ve been in the vacation rental management industry for eight years. We could attribute this to their limited geographical location and focus on luxury properties.

Where Air Concierge Property Management Is Available

As a West Coast-focused property manager, Air Concierge works only in a few markets in California and Washington. These include:

• Los Angeles
• San Diego
• San Francisco
• Marin
• Palm Springs
• Lake Tahoe
• Orange County
• Seattle

Before starting working with Air Concierge, a property owner needs to contact the team to check if their home qualifies. The company doesn’t expect properties to be guest-ready. Through their interior design program, they help investors get empty and distressed properties ready to receive guests.

How Air Concierge Property Management Works

As a full-service vacation rental property manager, Air Concierge provides most services that a rental business requires. However, some are part of their standard package, charged at a monthly fee, while others are extra services and are paid separately.

Air Concierge services include:

Getting Your Property Ready for Renting

Air Concierge does not require short-term rentals to be guest-ready prior to working with them. The company helps investors prepare their rentals for guests.

Related services include:

• Noise monitoring: Air Concierge can install noise monitors for an extra fee.
• Licenses and permits: Air Concierge can help hosts get required short-term rental licenses and permits including a transient occupancy tax (TOT) permit. The company can also help with monthly reporting to the local authorities (if needed) and collecting and remitting taxes on a monthly basis.
• Checking Wi-Fi
• Setting up utilities on auto-pay
• Preparing instructions on power panels, water shutoffs, and for third-party vendors
• Stocking kitchens and necessary supplies
• Professional photography: If you don’t have professional photos of your property, Air Concierge will recommend a professional photographer.

Traveler Marketing

Air Concierge property management includes services related to listing your short-term rental and marketing it to potential guests:

• Optimized listing creation: Air Concierge creates listings including description and copywriting that are optimized for search ranking.
• Listing distribution: It posts listings on Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, TripAdvisor, Homes & Villas by Marriott International, and other top channels.
• Targeted digital marketing
• Guest reviews: Air Concierge has Airbnb Superhost and VRBO Premier Host status which helps them rank higher and attract more bookings. The company collects guest reviews after stays in order to continue enhancing its ranking as a host and your property’s ranking. However, since your property is listed under their name, you will lose guest reviews if you opt out of working with them.

Guest Experience

Air Concierge manages all aspects of guest communication and support including:

• Dedicated reservation agents
• 24/7/365 guest support including booking inquiries and on-site emergencies
• Concierge Service for guests including grocery delivery, baby items, restaurant and entertainment reservations, and special curated events

Dynamic Pricing

Managing dynamic pricing for Airbnb daily rates is the standard in the Airbnb rental industry, and Air Concierge provides this service. The company uses software for daily rate optimization, which they claim help boost pricing and occupancy by 10-40%. Owners and the Air Concierge team set up a minimum rate, and the software never goes below this.

However, top Air Concierge competitors like Awning employ a combination of technology and human review to secure the best pricing model. Relying only on a software tool is risky and might lead to suboptimal results.

Managing Property Between Guest Stays

Air Concierge takes care of all aspects of managing short-term rentals between guests including:

• Guest screening
• Consistent, professional cleaning: Air Concierge works with local vendors to clean properties after guest and owner stays to ensure compliance with industry standards.
• Property maintenance: Air Concierge coordinates with vetted local maintenance works, plumbers, electricians, landscapers, and others to make sure that your property is in the best possible shape at all times.
• Restocking supplies between guests
• Guest fees and charges: Air Concierge manages guest fees like site listing fee, booking fee, cleaning fee, pool/spa fee, pet fee, and incidental damage policy fee.
• Damage and claim filing: Air Concierge can provide support in case of guest damage beyond normal wear and tear in line with the booking site policies.

One thing real estate investors who consider hiring Air Concierge should keep in mind is that some basic services cost extra, on top of the monthly management fee.

Air Concierge Property Management Additional Services

Here are the services for which Air Concierge charges an additional fee. In most cases it is not clear how much this extra fee is.

• Interior design: Air Concierge founders are hosts of HGTV’s My House Is Your House, and they are directly involved in the interior design of vacation rental homes managed by the company. They can transform empty and distressed properties into luxury rentals ready for vacationers. The design takes into consideration the needs of both owners and guests. The process comprises a few steps: getting started, programming and collaborating, schematic design, renderings and elevations, and final touches. Standard project budgets vary between $10,000 and $1 million.
• Short-term rental insurance: Air Concierge can connect property owners with their partners at Farmers for optimal, comprehensive, affordable coverage. However, Air Concierge does not directly provide short-term rental insurance.
• Noise monitoring: For an additional monthly fee, Air Concierge can install noise monitoring devices to reduce noise-related issues which are common in the short-term rental industry.
• Alarm activation/deactivation for additional security
• Wireless entry keypad
• Trash take in/out
• TOT permitting as well as monthly tax collection and remittance
• Seasonal home inspection

Air Concierge Property Management Onboarding

Air Concierge claims to provide homeowner-driven onboarding which optimizes the property owner experience and the property performance. The process includes on-site visits, meetings between the owner and the local property management team, and getting the property fully ready for welcoming guests. However, unlike most other short-term rental property management companies, Air Concierge charges an onboarding fee of $300.

Air Concierge Property Management Benefits for Owners

Working with Air Concierge provides property owners with the following advantages:

• Ability to use their property for their personal purposes unlimitedly
• Local staff
• Dedicated client support contact person
• Booking fee collection and monthly payouts
• Help with licenses, permits, and taxes
• Zero party and good neighbor policy: Guests cannot exceed the maximum number of allowed guests and must adhere to local noise ordinances. This helps maintain the property and prevents trouble with local authorities.

Overall, Air Concierge provides all the services which full-service vacation rental property managers cover. However, many of these come at an extra charge which is not specified on the company website. That’s why it’s crucial to understand exactly how much you will have to pay for each of these additional services if you’d like to test Air Concierge. Air Concierge requires a three-month or one-year commitment on behalf of property owners, and it’s quite hard to get out of this if you are not happy with their performance. More details on this follow shortly.

How Much Air Concierge Property Management Costs and Fees

Air Concierge property management reviews show that they charge several different fees:

Air Concierge Property Management Standard Fee

Air Concierge has one of the most flexible and adaptable management fee structures among all Airbnb management companies. They charge a standard fee of 25% of monthly revenue for regular reservations, with a three-month management contract. They can significantly lower this fee depending on the type of rental, length of rental, and length of contract.

For example, luxury rental management fees go down to 20% with a three-month commitment. A luxury rental is one where the booking rate is a minimum of $1,000/night. Management fees for long-term stays are further discounted and can reach as low as 10% of revenue for 90-day stays, under a one-year contract.

So property owners pay a fee ranging between 10% and 25% of revenue collected from guests. Fees do not vary by market.

Air Concierge Property Management Onboarding Fee

Air Concierge charges an onboarding fee of $300 per property. This fee includes:

• Bringing the property listing live and within their platform and pricing software
• Preparing the host including a meetup at the property
• Educating the host on transient occupancy tax, insurance, licenses, and permits

Air Concierge Property Management Additional Fees

While Air Concierge claims it charges a single fee for the full-service vacation rental management that it provides, careful investigation shows that hosts can expect several extra charges.

Air Concierge does not consider lawn, pool, and hot tub maintenance as part of its obligations as a full-service Airbnb property manager. As they do not train their staff maintenance works, contractors, and repair personnel, they schedule regular checks by qualified personnel to work on electrical, plumbing, and handy tasks. Similarly, they arrange sourced, vetted landscape, pool, and hot tub vendors to perform the required maintenance work.

Then, Air Concierge bills property owners for the incurred costs. The company pays vendors directly and subtracts the money from the rental revenue or a credit card on file, to make the process stress-free for hosts.

Other services the company performs for extra fees include:

• Alarm activation/deactivation
• Wireless entry keypad
• Noise monitoring
• Insurance
• Getting a transient occupancy tax (TOT) permit and collecting/remitting monthly TOT
• Trash take in-out
• Seasonal home inspection

However, it is not clear how much these additional services cost per month or year, which is not optimal for investors considering whether to work with Air Concierge or one of its competitors. For comparison, Awning does all this work on their own, as part of the standard fee starting at 15%.

Another onetime service which is charged separately by the Air Concierge property management company is home design. If you opt for this, you can select your budget for all construction, supplies, labor, design fees, etc., starting at $10,000, reaching $1 million. They included the Air Concierge design team fees in this fee, but they do not specify this on the company website.

Air Concierge charges a reservation cancellation fee of $2,500 in case a reservation has been confirmed and a host decides to no longer host. They charge this fee in order to help the property manager cover the damage caused by a cancellation to their reputation and the online search result ranking. Some serious circumstances allow for cancellations without paying the penalty fee.

Air Concierge Property Management Cancellation Fees

Property owners can cancel an agreement by informing Air Concierge in writing to stop accepting new reservations at least 90 or 365 days in advance, for three-month and one-year commitments, respectively. Here, the early termination clause will not be activated.

If, alternatively, hosts would like to cancel working with Air Concierge sooner than that, they will have to pay an early termination fee of $3,500 in case of a three-month contract and of $7,500 in case of a one-year contract. This is a major termination fee which investors should consider before hiring this Airbnb property manager. After all, property owners should be free to opt out of short-term rental management services they are not satisfied with.

Air Concierge Property Management Fees to Guests

Besides charging various fees to property owners, the company also charges fees to guests. Depending on the property and the guest arrangement, these may include:

• Booking fee
• Cleaning fee: Air Concierge determines the amount together with their cleaners depending on the size of the property and the time it will require. They pay this fee to the cleaners. In case of excessive dirtiness, Air Concierge coordinates with guests to cover the extra cost or taps into the security deposit.
• Pool/spa fee
• Pet fee and pet deposit: Air Concierge charges a pet fee to cover the extra cost of cleaning after a pet stay, except for service dogs.
• Incidental damage policy fee

Air Concierge Property Management Fee Payment Method

Air Concierge collects guest booking fees on behalf of property owners. At the end of the month, they deduct their management fees and all other fees like cleaning, maintenance, and repairs. On the 1st of each month, the Accounting department sends owner payouts for the previous month. In most cases, it takes 1-3 days for hosts to receive their money.

Air Concierge Property Management Terms and Requirements

Air Concierge does not require property owners to sign a written contract. Paying the onboarding fee of $300 is considered the contract. After onboarding, Air Concierge requires a 90-day probationary period to determine if the company and the property/host are a good fit for each other.

Upon hiring this vacation rental management company, you can continue using your second home for personal reasons. Post your stay, you as the owner will be charged the same cleaning fee as hosts. This is because Air Concierge does not allow owners to clean after themselves as there is no guarantee that they will obey the standards expected in the hospitality industry.

Meanwhile, should you ever cancel a reservation that has already been confirmed, you will be expected to pay a fee of $2,500 unless you face extenuating circumstances.

After the 90-day probationary period, Air Concierge works on a three-month and one-year commitment basis. Hiring the property manager for 365 days results in savings on the property management fee, as explained above. But before committing to a full year, you should know that early termination incurs major costs. The only way to avoid paying the early termination fee is to provide Air Concierge with a written notification a minimum of 90 or 365 days in advance - for three-month and one-year agreements.

Air Concierge Property Management Reviews

Online Air Concierge reviews are very few considering the fact that the company has been around for eight years. The online major customer review website where are they are present is:

• Yelp: Currently 4.0/5 stars based on 59 reviews

While the average score is good, there are some concerning Air Concierge complaints. Hosts report poorly managed properties and doors being left open for guests to check in on their own. Guests have faced problems rescheduling reservations under extenuating circumstances (like testing positive for Covid-19) as well as last-minute cancellations by the company. Both property owners and guests complain about the lack of support from local teams.

Meanwhile, Air Concierge has 9,558 guest reviews on Airbnb. Most of those are positive, highlighting excellent properties and outstanding locations.

Air Concierge Competitors

While Air Concierge might be a good choice for investors in luxury rentals on the West Coast who don’t mind paying extra fees, it does not match the needs of many others. If you’d like to consider other options for your short-term rental properties, following are the main Air Concierge alternatives in the US market.

Below you can find a quick comparison between Air Concierge and its major competitors:

Awning vs Air Concierge

Awning is a full-service Airbnb property management company which covers all property types and all locations across the US market. This is a major advantage of Awning over Air Concierge.

Awning property management review shows that their services are truly comprehensive, allowing investors to make passive income from their short-term rental properties. They include all services in a single comprehensive management fee. The only exceptions are design, vacation rental furnishing, and insurance. Importantly, Awning charges an industry-low fee of 15% of monthly revenue, while most competitors charge between 20% and 50%.

Awning is comparable to Air Concierge in terms of portfolio. The former manages 100+ vacation rentals at the moment, but they’ve been on the market since 2020. Awning puts outstanding effort into building local teams in each market before even taking on properties there, which requires extra time. The company grows at a pace which allows it to continue providing the best overall short-term rental property management in the US market.

Evolve vs Air Concierge

Unlike Air Concierge, Evolve is a half-service Airbnb property manager. Their services are mainly focused on creating and optimizing listings. They offer to connect property owners with local vendors for fulfillment of all other services (like cleaning, property maintenance, repairs, etc.), but this means that investors need to continue being directly and actively involved in the management of their property.

Evolve manages most property types and is available in 750 markets across the US and Mexico. The company manages 24,000+ short-term rentals, which makes it significantly larger than Air Concierge.

Furthermore, Evolve charges only 10% of revenue across all markets and property types. While this sounds like a very low management fee, it corresponds to the limited services offered by the company.

All in all, Evolve might be a good choice for investors who’d like to remain involved in the management of their vacation rental while getting some extra help. It’s a workable option for those in the same market as their real estate investments. 

Vacasa vs Air Concierge

Vacasa is the biggest short-term rental property management company in North America, present in 35 US states, Canada, Mexico, Belize, and Costa Rica. They manage 35,000+ properties of all types and sizes. Similar to Air Concierge, they are a full-service Airbnb property manager.

Vacasa covers most services for a monthly management fee ranging between 25% and 35% of revenue, as reported by hosts in their online reviews. Unlike other Air Concierge competitors, Vacasa does not publish its pricing structure on the company website, only stating that fees vary between markets and property types. They charge separately for extra services like interior design, linen program, and insurance. However, hosts report unexpected charges when working with Vacasa.

So, although this is the best-known name in the vacation rental property management industry in the US, Vacasa complaints by property owners and guests raise red flags that this might not be the top choice.

Bottom Line

Our Air Concierge property management review reveals that this company might fit the needs of investors in luxury and long-term Airbnb rental properties across the West Coast. However, its limited geographical coverage and the many additional fees make it irrelevant for the vast majority of short-term rental property investors in the US. So they need to look among the top Air Concierge competitors to find the most appropriate choice for their needs.