Visiting Seattle: How to Save Money on AirBnB
A Data-Driven Approach
Introduction
Have you ever considered visiting Seattle? If not, you should! Not only is it surrounded by lush green forests and hiking trails, but this beautiful city is filled with lakes, islands, parks, rivers, and a lot more. Downtown Seattle has a really fun vibe. You could take a stroll by the waterfront, visit a museum, check out the aquarium or enjoy some fresh seafood at Pike Place Market. I visited Seattle in 2016 when I was living in Vancouver, and definitely plan on going back. Cause why not? West coast, best coast!
Just like me, most young avid travelers are very keen on spending wisely on their vacation. Hence, you might be wondering the following:
1. Does time of the year influence prices? If so, what are the best times of the year to visit Seattle?
2. What are the main factors which affect reservation prices?
3. What percentage of listings are overpriced, a fair deal or even a great deal?
To answer these questions, we will look into the Seattle AirBnB Open Dataset which is part of Airbnb Inside.
1. Does time of the year influence prices? If so, what are the best times of the year to visit Seattle?
From the above plots, it can be seen that listing prices are most expensive during the summer months with a mean price of $150.05 per night. This is the peak travel time as the weather is nice and warm. Due to the demand in the summer months, an increase in listing unavailability can be seen as well. If you don’t mind the rain and maybe some snow, visiting Seattle during the off-peak times might not be a bad idea when listing prices are 10% cheaper on average. Don’t be discouraged by the weather as there are tons of things to do in the Winter. If you plan on doing some hiking or other outdoor activities however, I’d suggest visiting early Spring (hiking slippery trails is not the safest thing to do) when the precipitation is much less compared to the Fall and Winter. Of course, do your due diligence and check the weather forecast when planning your trip!
Avoid visiting Seattle during peak travel time in the summer.
Wondering how to save even further when planning your trip? Weekday travel is where it’s at. Listing prices are 5% higher on the weekend. Hence, it may be a good idea to get some time off during the workweek or even work remotely in Seattle. This way you’ll deal with shorter wait times and fewer crowds. Not to mention, airfares are cheaper during the week as well (yay, even more savings)!
Consider a weekday getaway.
We can seen how listing prices vary by season and day of the week. A fun fact that can be inferred from the data is that the mean and median listing prices increased by 12.99% and 6.06% respectively in 2017. These numbers reflect the increasing prices of real estate in Seattle. The housing market just won’t cool down, so why wait? Now’s your chance to visit Seattle!
Inflation is inevitable. It is best that you plan to visit Seattle sooner rather than later. Just in case you were wondering, this is not a paid promotion.
2. What are the main factors which affect reservation prices?
Looking at the distribution of listing prices, we can see that the mean and median Airbnb listing prices in the Seattle area are $128.02 and $100.00 respectively per night. If you are a student on a budget, there are cheaper options with the lowest listing valued at $20.00. You can also see that there are a few places priced at in the higher 100s if you’d like to burn some money. I tend to stay away from these.
We next look at the correlation between listing price and other features. There is a positive correlation between price and the following factors: number of people the listing accommodates, bathrooms, bedrooms, beds and cleaning fee. These features are closely correlated as a listing which can accomodate more people will have more beds and bathrooms resulting in a higher cleaning fee as well.
It would be economical to find a listing that meets your basic needs unless you’re feeling fancy, but don’t forget the cleaning fee!
Looking for ways to cut down costs even more? Travel with a group of friends. There is nothing like good company coupled with some savings, right? We can see how the price per person goes down with the number of people listings can accommodate.
Plan a trip with your friends. Share the costs, share the savings!
Majority of listings in the Seattle area are apartments and houses, with roughly the same number of apartments and houses. All other property types account for less than 10% the total number of listings. This 10% includes some rare finds for those looking to get away on a magical adventure. Looking at the mean listing price heatmap below on the right, we can see that entire places are more expensive than private rooms, which are in turn more expensive than shared rooms. As a solo traveller, you could save about 36% on average by opting for a shared room instead of a private one. If you are travelling as a group and need your own place, consider getting an apartment. They work out to be 30% cheaper than houses.
Choose wisely when selecting your Airbnb. A variety of property and room types are available to satisfy a wide range of budgets.
Demographics make listing prices even more interesting. By looking at the neighbourhoods on the map, we can see that prices are higher near the downtown Seattle area and along the waterfront connected by ferry routes. On the other hand, prices are generally lower in the suburbs. However, some listings in the suburbs are a bit more pricey due to close proximity to good transportation infrastructure, and places of interest and recreation. If you plan on renting a car, living in the suburbs will save you some money and ensure you get a good night’s rest. You’d be fine without a car as well given the wide variety of transit options Seattle has: bus, rail and water.
If you prefer to live close to downtown Seattle in one of the more expensive neighbourhoods, getting a private or shared room will help lower the cost. Atlantic, International District, Minor and Yesler Terrace are some of the cheaper neighbourhoods close to downtown Seattle. Southeast Magnolia and Portage Bay are the two most expensive neighbourhoods in Seattle, so try and avoid those. If you are looking to get an entire place, Delridge and Riverview neighbourhoods have the best prices. In general, cheaper listing prices are seen as we move away from the downtown Seattle area or neighbourhoods with ferry connections.
Neighbourhood is an important factor when it comes to listing price. Use this price heatmap to help you find the best neighbourhood.
3. What percentage of listings are overpriced, a fair deal or even a great deal?
To answer this question, we fit a linear regression model to the data and use this model to predict listing prices. Majority (68%) of Seattle Airbnb listings are either fairly priced, a good deal or a great deal. 22% of the listings are high priced and 10% of the listings are overpriced. Do your own research by comparing the price of a listing you are interested in to other listings in the neighbourhood. This will help you find a good deal or even a great deal!
10% of listings are overpriced, 22% high priced, 35% a fair deal, 24% a good deal and 9% a great deal. Take your time and look at multiple listings before booking one. This will give you a better sense of the listing price.
Conclusion
In this article, we addressed 3 main questions which will help us save money when booking our next AirBnB in Seattle. The key takeaways are:
- Avoid visiting Seattle during peak travel time in the summer. Consider a weekday getaway. Inflation is inevitable, so plan to visit Seattle sooner rather than later.
- Listing prices depend on a lot of factors. It would be economical to find a listing that meets your basic needs. Planning a trip with friends will save you money. Choose wisely when selecting your Airbnb. There are a variety of property and room types available to satisfy a wide range of budgets. Neighbourhood is an important factor when it comes to listing price. Use the price heatmap to help you find the best and cost effective neighbourhood.
- 10% of listings are overpriced, 22% high priced, 35% a fair deal, 24% a good deal and 9% a great deal. Take your time and look at multiple listings before booking one. This will give you a better sense of the listing price.
Let me know how much you’re able to save when booking your next AirBnB in Seattle!
