My location is conveniently located minutes from a major int...
My location is conveniently located minutes from a major international airport (SEATAC), but also minutes to the forest and P...
Hiya!! Does one have to request a trip in order to ask me a question about my place? Is this a setting that I can change?
To be able to sent an enquiry ("contact the host" on the listing) also dates must be selected. You can not change this.
@Jacquelene1 Be careful. If you make a booking request then if the host accepts you have committed to the booking. If you make a booking inquiry then whilst you need to put in dates you have made no commitment to book whatsoever.
@Mike-And-Jane0 The poster is a host, not a guest.
@Jacquelene1 Guests have to enter dates to send an inquiry. This does not make it a request- they can enter any free dates, not necessarily the ones they want. It's stupid that Airbnb does this, but that's how it is.
You can't change that.
Sarah!! When you say this does not make it a request, what do you mean? I am still having this problem and I did not get superhost status as a result. I will be using my cabin all winter. People send me a trip request for dates they are not interested in only to ask if they can come some time in the winter, which they can't. I decline the request and now i am at 77% instead of 88% acceptance rate. What am ii missing?
@Jacquelene1 Okay, you need to understand the difference between a request and an inquiry, from both the host and guest end.
If the guest sends an Inquiry message, they need to enter dates to do so, and they may not want those dates, as you are finding. The options for the host on an Inquiry message are pre-approve, decline, or simply message back, which is what most hosts do with Inquiries. There is no need to decline an Inquiry. Even if you pre-approve an Inquiry, the guest still has to take another step to go on to book, or they might not do that, in which case the Inquiry will expire after 24 hours.
If a guest sends a Booking Request, and the host accepts it, Airbnb instantly begins the process of charging their credit card. So if they have entered dates they don't actually want, and the host accepts it, the guest will have a nasty surprise, so it would be stupid of them to send a Request instead of an Inquiry.
If it's a Request, and they were that dumb, then you should message them telling them the dates they actually want are blocked on the calendar, so it didn't make much sense for them to ask about those dates, and urge them to withdraw the request ASAP, so they will be free to look for a listing that is open for the dates they want.
If they withdraw the request before the 24 hour window to accept or decline (which you do have to do on a Request), you won't have to decline it.
So, Inquiries never require a decline, and Requests may not either if they withdraw it in time.
I hope I explained that understandably?
If you are getting a lot of these, you may want to add some wording near the top of your listing like "Please do not send Inquiries about booking dates which show as blocked on our calendar. If they are blocked, they are unavailable."
How far in advance does your calendar show? If you only have it set for 3 months ahead, then guests may assume that some winter dates might be available, so it would be better to show the calendar for 6 months ahead and block off all the dates that you will be using the place yourself.
And your Acceptance raate is not why you lost Superhost status- that stat is not factored in to Superhost criteria. Response rate is, but not Acceptance rate. So there was some other reason that you lost Superhost.
my goodness! thank you so much for this answer!! I very much appreciate this and I understand now.