Taylor Swift Eras Tour Australia 2024: Fans left without accommodation as Airbnb price gouges Swifties and charges thousands of dollars for rooms already booked out in advance

After fighting ticket scams, scalpers and glitching websites, Swifties are now contending with greedy Airbnb owners taking advantage of Taylor Swift tourism in Sydney and Melbourne.

Despite booking out accommodation months in advance in preparation for the popstar’s Eras tour, countless fans have found themselves losing their rooms at the eleventh hour as Airbnb hosts price gouge them for more money.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, dozens of eager concertgoers had their pre-booked rooms cancelled at the last minute by short-term rental owners, only for those spaces to be relisted on Airbnb at a much higher price.

One fan from Gunnedah, NSW said she secured accommodation near the MCG between February 16 and 20 for $630, only for the host to cancel her booking a week before the show.

Jasmine said the host wanted to ‘redo the carpets’ and would subsequently need to cancel her booking – at least, that’s what the 24-year-old was told.

After fighting ticket scams , scalpers and glitching websites , Swifties are now contending with greedy Airbnb owners taking advantage of Taylor Swift tourism in Sydney and Melbourne

Two days later, as Jasmine struggled to find accommodation among the already booked out rooms and hotels in Melbourne, she discovered the Airbnb host had relisted the property she originally secured for $1,347.

The host listed the same four nights as vacant, charging $717 more than what Jasmine was originally charged.

Furious at the host’s blatant price gouging, the Swiftie contacted the property owner demanding answers.

‘I don’t know why it’s relisted’ is all the host responded, leaving Jasmine scrambling to secure another room just days before her flight to Melbourne.

Despite booking out accommodation months in advance in preparation for the popstar’s Eras tour , countless fans have found themselves losing their rooms at the eleventh hour as Airbnb hosts price gouge them for more money

‘I looked again that night and it was gone, but I assume someone had just booked it at the new price based off how quickly everything was booking,’ Jasmine said.

‘I usually find Airbnb reliable, so I was really annoyed by this. So inconvenient and it made an already stressful time even worse.’

Jasmine isn’t the only fan to suffer from the sudden price gouging of Airbnb hosts, with others claiming their rooms were cancelled for ‘family reasons’ or ‘plumbing issues’ before being relisted just days later for hundreds more dollars.

Airbnb has a host cancellation policy which ‘may impose fees and other consequences such as blocking a host from relisting on the same dates that were cancelled,’ a spokesperson said.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald , dozens of eager concertgoers had their pre-booked rooms cancelled at the last minute by short-term rental owners, only for those rooms to be relisted on Airbnb at a much higher price

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission said Airbnb hosts can not mislead consumers about the reasons for a cancellation.

‘Where the failure to meet these consumer guarantees is a major failure, consumers are entitled to their choice of a refund or replacement service,’ they said.

The ACCC spokesperson went on to say Airbnb hosts may even be forced to compensate reasonable foreseeable losses caused by the cancellation.

Given the cost of tour tickets, interstate flights, and costumes, among other things, some Swifties could be out thousands of dollars if they are unable to find alternative accommodation after having their Airbnb bookings cancelled.