Estate planning as a Airbnb account holder

Airbnb is the world's largest short-term rental platform. An Airbnb account can hold significant financial value: host accounts generate rental income, carry pending payouts, hold active reservations with guest obligations, and hold property listings with reviews and Superhost status. Guest accounts hold upcoming reservations, travel credits, gift card balances, and payment methods. Airbnb host accounts are among the most time-sensitive digital assets after a death, because active reservations continue and guests keep arriving unless someone cancels or manages them. Airbnb publishes no bereavement or deceased-user policy; its terms state that an account may not be transferred to someone else, and its help center confirms there is no way to transfer ownership of an Airbnb account to a different host.

Airbnb, Inc. reviews transfer requests for Airbnb accounts on a case-by-case basis after the account holder's death. Approval is at the company's sole discretion, and documentation requirements must be met before any transfer is considered.

What happens at death

Airbnb publishes no bereavement policy and no deceased-user policy. Its Terms of Service (Last Updated February 5, 2026) do not address death, inheritance, or what becomes of an account when the account holder dies. What the terms do say is that the account itself does not pass to anyone: Section 16 (Member Accounts) states "You may not transfer your account to someone else," and Section 28.3 (Assignment) states a member may not assign, transfer, or delegate the agreement or their rights and obligations under it without Airbnb's prior written consent. Airbnb's help center reinforces this outside the terms: its article on merging accounts and transferring ownership states there is no way to transfer ownership of an Airbnb account to a different host. Because there is no published estate channel, a survivor's request goes into Airbnb's general customer support and is handled at Airbnb's discretion, case by case. Three published mechanisms are what an estate actually has to work with. First, co-hosts: a co-host with full access operates through their own Airbnb account and can manage reservations, pricing, messaging, and Resolution Center claims, and can designate themselves or another co-host as the listing's primary host. Second, deactivation versus deletion: deactivating hides the profile and listings while Airbnb retains the account data and the account can be reactivated, whereas deletion is permanent, cannot be reversed, and no data can be recovered afterward. Third, the dormant accounts policy: Airbnb deletes an account after four years without activity, or after one year where the account has had no activity since it was created, sending warning emails 30 days and 48 hours before deletion. Airbnb does not document what it requires from an estate, whether it accepts a death certificate or letters testamentary, or whether it will release pending payouts to an estate; none of that is asserted here.