Airbnb Spent Millions on the LA Elections and Here’s Why

Airbnb pours millions into Los Angeles elections ahead of the 2028 Olympics as Mayor Karen Bass pushes to expand short-term rentals to second homes, Skift’s Rafat Ali argues the hotel brands versus OTAs fight has been misread because the owner often pays both, and JetBlue becomes the first U.S. airline to raise bag fees twice this year. On today’s Skift Daily Briefing, Bailey Schulz, Skift’s Global Tourism Reporter, breaks down why Airbnb sees megaevents as a way to build supply, why hotel owners can end up paying both the OTA commission and the brand royalty on the same booking, and what JetBlue’s second bag fee hike signals about where airline pricing is heading. This episode is brought to you by ZS Articles Referenced: Connect with Bailey Schulz Why Airbnb Is Spending Big on LA Elections Why We’ve Been Looking at the Hotel Brands vs. OTAs War All Wrong JetBlue Raises Bag Fees for the Second Time This Year Connect with Skift LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/ WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/ Facebook: https://facebook.com/skiftnews Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skiftnews/ Threads: https://www.threads.net/@skiftnews Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/skiftnews.bsky.social X: https://twitter.com/skift Subscribe to @SkiftNews and never miss an update from the travel industry.