1. The hidden cost of being a free concierge
If you're a Miami Airbnb host, you already know the script. The guest checks in. Within an hour, the WhatsApp messages start: "Hey, where's a good place for sushi?" "Can you recommend a jet ski rental?" "What's the best sunset cruise?"
You answer. You always answer. You spend 10, sometimes 30 minutes per booking writing thoughtful recommendations because (a) it's part of the hospitality and (b) good recommendations get you 5-star reviews.
Here's the part nobody talks about: those recommendations move real money. A typical Miami jet ski rental runs $89-$200 per hour. A yacht charter is $400-$2,000. A sunset cruise is $45 per person, $180 for a family of four. When your recommendation lands a booking, the operator just earned $180-$2,000. The platform processing the booking just earned $20-$300 in fees.
You? You earned a "thanks!" and a 5-star review.
Refstay was built to fix exactly this. You keep being a great host. You keep recommending the best operators. The difference is now you get a small slice of the revenue you've been generating for free.
2. What Refstay actually is
Refstay is a referral platform that pays Miami Airbnb hosts a flat 5% commission on every activity booking your guests make through your unique link. Activities include jet skis, boats, sunset cruises, fishing trips, parasailing, helicopter tours, Everglades airboat rides, slingshots, scooters, snorkel trips, and roughly 2,000 more.
Think of it like an affiliate program, but specifically built for short-term rental hosts. You're not selling, advertising, or upselling. You're just sharing a link your guests would have found anyway — except now the booking is attributed to you.
Under the hood, Refstay sits on top of FareHarbor, the same booking platform Airbnb Experiences uses. We're a verified distributor partner. When a guest books through your link, FareHarbor tracks the attribution, takes its standard fee from the operator, and routes 5% of the booking back to you.
No money changes hands between you and the guest. No money changes hands between you and the operator. You just collect at the end of the month.
3. How it works (5 steps)
Sign up in 60 seconds
Go to refstay.com, fill in your name, email, password, and the zone you host in (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Punta Cana, etc.). No credit card. No verification call. You'll get a confirmation email within 5 minutes.
Get your unique link
The system generates a link tied to your account in the format refstay.com/r/your-name. Short, easy to type, memorable. You can also create multiple aliases later (e.g. refstay.com/r/jean-brickell for tracking by unit).
Drop it where guests look
Three places work best, in order of effectiveness:
- Welcome book / house manual in your Airbnb listing under "Things to do nearby" — 30-50% conversion rate
- WhatsApp message at check-in ("Welcome! Here are my favorite Miami activities…") — 40-60% conversion rate
- Printable QR code on the fridge, by the keys, or in the welcome packet — 15-25% conversion rate
You don't have to pick one. Hosts who use all three see the highest commission volume.
Guests browse and book
When a guest clicks your link, they land on a personalized page showing your hand-picked favorite activities, your welcome message (optional), and the rest of the operators in your zone. They book directly through FareHarbor. The booking confirmation goes to them instantly. Your attribution is recorded automatically.
Get paid on the 5th of every month
On the 5th of each month, we send you a report listing every booking attributed to your link the previous month, with the commission calculated. If your balance is above $25, payment goes out the same day via PayPal or Zelle. Below $25, it rolls to next month. International hosts welcome (we pay in USD).
4. What your guests can book
Refstay connects to over 2,000 operators across South Florida and the Caribbean. Categories your guests have access to:
Every operator is on FareHarbor, which means they've passed FareHarbor's onboarding (verified licensing, insurance, customer service standards). Reviews average 4.4 stars across the network. Your guests get instant confirmation and standard cancellation policies.
Coverage by zone: Miami (458 activities), Fort Lauderdale (325), Florida Keys (458), Palm Beach (110), Orlando (181), Tampa & West Florida (1,288), Gulf Coast (264), Space Coast (200), Northeast FL (352), Central Florida (84), Everglades (60), Punta Cana (80), Cancún (477).
5. How much can you earn?
Honest math. Earnings depend on three variables:
- Guest volume — how many groups check in per month
- Conversion rate — what % of guests click your link and book something
- Average booking size — Miami tends to skew high because of yacht charters
Plugging realistic numbers in:
10 groups/mo × 30% conv. × $300 booking × 5%
15 groups/mo × 40% conv. × $500 booking × 5%
5 units × 8 groups/mo × 35% × $600 × 5%
10+ units, prominent welcome book placement
Use the live calculator on the homepage to plug in your own numbers. There's no upper limit on earnings. The hosts who tend to earn the most do three things:
- Mention the link explicitly in WhatsApp at check-in ("Here's my list of favorite activities, all bookable here:")
- Star 5-10 favorite activities so guests see curated picks first
- Add a printable QR code by the front door or fridge
6. Real host examples
Three host profiles based on our beta cohort. Names changed for privacy. Earnings shown are typical monthly averages over a 90-day period.
Maria added a WhatsApp message to her check-in flow: "Welcome! Here are my favorite Miami activities — jet skis, sunset cruises, and our hidden-gem yacht tour: refstay.com/r/maria-brickell". She also added the same line to her Airbnb welcome book under "Things to do." She doesn't promote it any further.
José tested it casually with just the welcome book mention. No WhatsApp push, no QR code. His guests are art-focused, so they don't book activities as often as beach guests. Still earning a passive $50 a month for one extra line of text in his welcome book.
Carlos created an alias per unit (refstay.com/r/carlos-brickell-1, carlos-southbeach-3, etc.) so he can track which buildings convert best. He uses the printable QR code packet in every unit. Bookings are highest from his South Beach properties where families want jet ski combos.
7. Why hosts love it
Six reasons we hear repeatedly from beta hosts:
It's actually passive
Once the link is in your welcome book and your WhatsApp template is saved, there's nothing to manage. No invoices to send. No commissions to chase. No customer service to handle — that's all FareHarbor + the operator.
The math is honest
5% from day one, on every booking, regardless of your volume. No tier system that requires 25 bookings before you "unlock" a real rate. No quarterly performance reviews. You earn the same percentage as a host with 100 units does.
It matches your hospitality
You'd recommend a jet ski operator anyway. The link doesn't change what you recommend — it just changes whether you get a cut. Your guest experience stays identical (or improves, because you're motivated to recommend the best operators).
Dashboard transparency
Every click is tracked. Every booking is shown. Every dollar of commission is displayed in real time on your dashboard at refstay.com/dashboard.html. Pending earnings, paid earnings, next payout date — all visible.
Monthly cash flow
Most affiliate programs pay quarterly or only after $100+ thresholds. Refstay pays monthly, $25 minimum threshold (which rolls over if you don't hit it). Predictable cash flow.
No exclusivity
You can run Refstay alongside any other monetization (Airbnb co-host, building partnerships, your own affiliate deals). We don't ask you to drop anything.
8. Who Refstay is for
Refstay works well for you if:
- You host short-term rentals in Miami, South Florida, Florida (Tampa, Orlando, Keys, Palm Beach, etc.), or our Caribbean zones (Punta Cana, Cancún)
- You already have a welcome book or house manual — adding one line is trivial
- Your guests are leisure travelers — vacationers, families, bachelor/bachelorette parties (vs. business travelers who don't book activities)
- You want passive supplemental income, not a full-time side business
- You're comfortable sharing a link via WhatsApp, welcome book, or QR code
Refstay is not the right fit if:
- You only host business travelers who never book activities
- You don't have control over your listing's welcome book (some property management contracts restrict this)
- You want to upsell guests on activities pre-booking — Refstay is post-arrival only, not pre-arrival marketing
- Your zone isn't covered yet (we're adding zones as operator coverage allows)
9. Refstay vs other options
How does this compare to alternatives?
| Option | Rate | Setup time | Payout | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refstay | 5% flat | 60 sec | Monthly (5th) | Hosts who want passive income with no effort |
| Operator-direct partnership | 3-10% (varies wildly) | Days–weeks (contracts) | Operator dependent | Hosts with one specific operator they love |
| Generic affiliate programs (Viator, GetYourGuide) | 3-8%, tiered | Hours (apply, get approved) | Net-60 | Hosts who already run travel content |
| Become a tour operator yourself | Direct profit | Months (licensing, insurance) | Same-day | Hosts with extra capital + risk appetite |
| Doing nothing (status quo) | 0% | 0 sec | — | Hosts who don't recommend activities |
The most common alternative is doing nothing — which is what every host did before Refstay existed. The "cost" of doing nothing is invisible (you don't see the dollars you didn't earn), but real ($50-$1,200/month for the average host depending on volume).
10. Payouts & transparency
When you get paid
Payouts run on the 5th of each month, covering bookings from the prior month. If June 5 lands on a weekend, payouts go out the following business day.
How you get paid
Choose PayPal or Zelle in your dashboard. Both are USD. We can pay international hosts (PayPal supports 200+ countries; Zelle is US-only). No wire fees, no platform fees deducted from your balance.
Minimum payout
$25 minimum. Below that, your balance rolls to next month. We never expire balances. Even if you earn $5 in your first month and quit hosting, that $5 stays in your account waiting for the threshold.
What you see on your dashboard
Real-time view of:
- Clicks this month, by source (WhatsApp, welcome book, QR scan)
- Bookings this month (with date, activity, customer first name, amount)
- Pending payout balance
- Lifetime earnings
- Per-alias tracking if you've created multiple links
- Top sources of traffic (which channel converts best)
Cancellation handling
If a guest cancels before the activity date, the commission is removed from your pending balance. If the activity completes, the commission is locked in. Once paid out to you, no claw-backs ever — even if FareHarbor later refunds the operator.
Tax reporting
At year-end, if you've earned $600+, we send you a 1099-NEC by January 31 of the following year. Below $600, you're responsible for reporting per IRS guidance. International hosts: we don't withhold taxes, but you may owe in your country of residence.
Ready to stop being a free concierge?
Signup takes 60 seconds. No credit card. No commitment. If it's not working for you in 30 days, just delete the link from your welcome book — you've lost nothing.
Get my unique link →11. Frequently asked questions
How does Refstay pay Airbnb hosts?
When a guest books an activity (jet ski, boat tour, sunset cruise, etc.) through your unique Refstay link, you earn a flat 5% commission on the booking amount. Payments are sent monthly via PayPal or Zelle on the 5th of each month, as long as your balance is above $25.
How much can Miami Airbnb hosts earn with Refstay?
Earnings depend on guest volume and booking conversion. A typical Miami host with 10 guest groups per month and a 30% activity conversion rate earns around $45-$75 per month. Active hosts with welcome books, in-unit QR codes, and WhatsApp share habits typically earn $150-$400 per month. Property managers with 5+ units commonly earn $500-$1,500 monthly.
What activities can guests book through a Refstay link?
Guests can book over 2,000 verified activities across South Florida and the Caribbean: jet ski rentals, yacht and boat charters, sunset cruises, fishing trips, parasailing, snorkel and dive trips, airboat Everglades tours, jet cars, slingshot rentals, helicopter tours, ATV and UTV adventures, and more. All bookings are processed through FareHarbor — the same platform used by Airbnb Experiences.
Is Refstay free for hosts?
Yes, Refstay is 100% free for hosts. There are no setup fees, monthly fees, transaction fees, or platform commissions deducted from your 5% earnings. You sign up for free, share your link, and receive your full 5% commission on every booking.
Do I have to be a Miami host to join Refstay?
Refstay currently covers Miami, Fort Lauderdale, the Florida Keys, Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa, the Gulf Coast, Northeast Florida (Jacksonville), and Caribbean destinations including Cancún and Punta Cana. We're focused on regions with strong activity operator networks. Check the host signup form to see if your area is supported.
What if a guest cancels their booking?
Cancellations before the activity date are removed from your pending balance. Commissions confirm once the activity is completed by the guest. Anything already paid out to you stays yours — we never claw back previously paid commissions.
How long does it take to start earning with Refstay?
Signup takes 60 seconds. Adding your link to your Airbnb welcome book or sending it via WhatsApp to a checking-in guest takes another 2 minutes. Most hosts see their first booking within 2-3 weeks of placing the link, depending on guest turnover and how prominently the link is shared.
Will my guests know I'm earning a commission?
The booking experience on FareHarbor looks identical whether they came through your Refstay link or not — same prices, same operators, same booking flow. You can choose to be transparent ("I get a small thank-you when you book through this link") or just keep it as a recommendation. Most hosts mention it casually; guests universally don't care, because they're getting the same operators they would've booked anyway.
Can I track which of my units / channels converts best?
Yes. From your dashboard's Settings tab → Tracking links, you can create aliases per unit, per channel, or per campaign. For example: refstay.com/r/jean-brickell for your Brickell unit, refstay.com/r/jean-instagram for your Instagram bio. Each alias tracks clicks and bookings independently, but all earnings consolidate into one monthly payout.
What information do you collect about me?
Just what's needed to operate the service: your email (for login + payout notifications), your name (for the dashboard + 1099 if you earn $600+), your listing URL (optional, helps us verify you're a real host), and your payment method. We never sell or share your data. Full details in our Privacy Policy.
What's the catch?
No catch. Refstay earns by being a verified FareHarbor distributor partner — when guests book through our links, FareHarbor pays our distributor account a 10-15% partner fee. We share 5% of that with you (the host who referred the guest). It's a standard affiliate setup; the only difference is we built it specifically for hosts instead of generic publishers.