Checkout instructions and chores: what hosts can still ask

Airbnb checkout instructions changed for reservations booked on or after November 20, 2026. Hosts can no longer require tasks that take significant effort or time, or that a cleaner would typically do, such as stripping beds, washing and putting away dishes, or taking trash off-site. Light requests are still allowed, and guests are encouraged to follow them.

This guide covers what is out, what is still fine, how checkout time works and what the change does to your turnover. The policy is quoted from Airbnb’s help pages, read on November 10, 2026.

What changed at checkout

Airbnb checkout instructions used to have their own place in the listing. Airbnb has now folded checkout into its policy on reasonable house rules and requests. Three points in that policy affect the morning a guest leaves.

Everything you ask has to be in the designated section of the listing before the guest books. You cannot add tasks later by message, on a sign in the home or in person.

What you ask has to be reasonable. Airbnb defines the limit as tasks that take significant effort or time, or that a cleaner would typically do.

You cannot attach a fine or a penalty to any of it.

What hosts can no longer require

The policy gives three examples of tasks that are generally not allowed.

• Stripping the bed
• Taking trash off-site
• Washing and putting away dishes

These are examples of a test, not a complete list. The test is effort, time and whether it is a cleaner’s job. Starting a load of laundry, mopping, vacuuming and wiping down the kitchen all fail it for the same reason.

A printed checklist on the counter does not get around this. A rule or request that is not in the listing section when the guest booked does not apply to that guest.

What hosts can still ask

Less than before, and more than nothing. Airbnb checkout instructions can still cover the basics.

Locking up is covered by a standard house rule. “Lock up at checkout” is one of the seven standard rules a host can set, which means guests must follow it.

Anything else is a request. When you add a request in the listing editor, you mark it as applying during the stay or before checkout. A before-checkout request should be something a guest can do in a minute on the way out.

Airbnb also allows for context. It says it considers the type of listing and local conditions, and may grant exceptions. Its examples are animal-proof trash containers in bear country and shorter showers under drought restrictions.

One rule of thumb helps. If you would feel awkward asking a hotel guest to do it, leave it off.

Checkout time: who sets it and where guests see it

The host sets the Airbnb checkout time for each listing. There is no platform-wide hour.

Guests see it on the listing page before they book. Airbnb’s standards for guests include respecting the check-in and checkout times a host has set.

Pick a time your cleaner can work with. The gap between checkout and the next check-in is your turnover window. Now that guests do less on the way out, that window may need to be longer.

If a guest asks to leave late, say yes or no in the message thread so there is a record. A late-checkout fee cannot be imposed as a penalty, and any fee has to follow Airbnb’s pricing rules.

Checkout instructions that fit the policy

Good Airbnb check out instructions are short enough to read on a phone in a doorway. Here is a sample message. Adjust it to what your listing section already says.

Checkout is at 10 a.m. Before you go, please turn off the lights and the air conditioning, close the windows, and lock the door behind you. Leave the key in the lockbox. That is all. Thank you for staying, and safe travels.

Notice what is missing. No dishes, no beds, no trash run, no warning about fees.

A few points on sending it.

1. Send it the evening before, not the morning of.
2. Repeat only what the listing already says. A message cannot add a new task.
3. Put the time first. It is the one thing every guest needs.
4. Say thank you. It costs nothing and it is the last thing they read before a review.

Bookings made before November 20

The date that matters is when the reservation was booked, not when the stay happens.

A stay in December that was booked on November 12 is not under the new policy. A stay in December booked on November 21 is. Airbnb also says that changes you make to house rules and requests apply only to reservations received after the change.

For a few months you will have both kinds on your calendar. The simplest approach is to treat every guest under the new standard. It avoids sending the wrong list to the wrong guest.

What this does to turnover costs

Shorter Airbnb checkout instructions mean a longer clean. If guests used to strip beds and start the laundry, your cleaner now does it. That is more time per turnover.

Ask your cleaner what the change adds. Then look at your cleaning fee. It is part of the booking subtotal, so the platform’s service fee comes off it. At 15.5%, a $120 cleaning fee leaves you $101.40.

You have three options. Raise the cleaning fee, raise the nightly rate, or absorb the cost. Which one fits depends on what similar listings near you charge. The Host Fee Calculator shows the fee on any combination of rate and cleaning fee.

Checkout on Vrbo and on your own site

Vrbo has its own house rules settings. I did not find a matching limit on checkout tasks on Vrbo’s help pages as of November 10, 2026. Check its current host policies before you assume the two platforms match.

On your own site, the checkout terms are yours. A direct booking can include the instructions you think are fair, written into your terms and shown before the guest pays.

That freedom is worth using with care. Guests have now been told by the largest platform that checkout chores are not normal. A long list on your own site will stand out, and not in a good way.

The wider set of changes is covered in the guide to Airbnb rules for hosts, and the house rules template has wording for each standard category.

Final Thought

Airbnb checkout instructions are now close to what a hotel asks: leave on time and lock the door. That is good for guests, and it moves work onto your cleaner and your margin.

You cannot change the policy, so price for it. And if you want a channel where the terms are yours to write, that is what a site of your own is for. See vacation rental website design for how I build one.