Rolling out our anti-party system for Halloween

This Halloween, Airbnb is deploying advanced anti-party technology across the United States (including Puerto Rico) and Canada. This is the fifth year we are rolling out this technology to try to reduce the risk of parties, emphasizing our commitment to support our hosts and local communities.

This proprietary system uses machine learning to analyze attempted bookings of entire homes over the Halloween weekend, looking for signs of a potential party risk, such as the length of the reservation, the distance of the listing from the guest’s location, property type, and timing of the booking, including last-minute requests. Higher risk booking attempts will be blocked, and guests will have the option to book alternative accommodations, such as a private room where a host is more likely to be present.

As a result of these efforts, last year approximately 38,000  people in the United States and approximately 6,300  people in Canada were deterred from booking entire home listings over Halloween.

The vast majority of stays are positive, and party-related reports are rare. In 2024, we saw a decrease in the reporting rate of parties compared with 2023, with fewer than approximately 0.035 percent of stays worldwide leading to an allegation of a party. Since introducing our ban on disruptive parties in 2020, we have also seen an over 50% decrease in the rate of parties reported to us globally¹. 

As the holiday approaches, we are also reminding parents, grandparents, and other adults that they should not use their account to book stays for anyone else. Third-party bookings – when a user books a listing for someone else and won’t be staying themselves – are prohibited on Airbnb. All users are also required to be at least 18 years old, and guests under 18 to be accompanied by a registered adult. These policies help to ensure guests and hosts are covered by our support programs and helps safeguard hosts’ homes against issues like unauthorized parties, and we take them seriously.

If anyone breaks these rules, their account could be suspended or banned. This means we may cancel their upcoming trips and they won’t be able to use the platform to make future bookings potentially putting winter holiday or summer vacation plans at risk. Importantly, they could also be held financially responsible for any property damage that occurs during the stay. We urge users to be vigilant: do not share access to your account, do monitor for unexpected bookings or payments, and reach out to Airbnb’s customer support team in the event of any concerns.

We lead the way in proactive measures to reduce the risk of unauthorized parties, and our heightened technology for Halloween is one important layer in a comprehensive suite of policies and tools to support hosts, guests and local communities, and promote responsible travel. These include:

• A global ban on disruptive and unauthorized parties.
• Reservation screening technology to try to identify and deter potentially higher-risk bookings
• Tips for hosts on preventing parties in their listing.
• Our Neighborhood Support Line for local residents to report urgent issues directly to us, like a party in progress at a home they believe is listed on Airbnb.
• A 24-hour safety line for hosts and guests to directly reach our Safety team for support.
• A noise sensor for hosts, which can help to get ahead of issues before they start while respecting guest privacy.
• Support for law enforcement through a dedicated channel and specialized response team, in the rare event of an issue that potentially involves an Airbnb listing or stay.