My default and preferable number of guests is four with an extra charge for extra guests .

[Mary-and-Brian0]

My booking form is set to accept four guests and can cater well for that number. However I can accommodate two extra with a double bed settee if requested and guest will accept this. My problem is that the booking app only accepts bookings for four and does not allow for extra people except children. There is no place to pre book and charge for these extra adults. My preference is to advertise and have the apartment advertised and not any bigger number ideally for four guests but these requests for additional people do come in. How can I charge for these extra guests on the booking platform without changing the default number of four guests?

[Lisa723]

@Mary-and-Brian0 you can't do exactly what you want. You can set your maximum guest count to six, and your extra person fee for counts over four:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1507/how-do-i-add-a-fee-for-additional-guests-to-my-listing

[Ann72]

@Mary-and-Brian0  As an alternative to @Lisa723's suggestion, you can manually change the maximum number of guests when you get a request for more than 4 guests.  (You should have the extra person charge already in place before you change the maximum number.)  Tell the inquirer they can put the correct number of guests in and complete the booking as soon as you make the change.  Once they've booked, you can change the max number back to 4.

[Mary-and-Brian0]

Thank Lisa for your information.  We will try that. We didn't think I could do that? 

Mary & Brian

[Ann72]

@Mary-and-Brian0  I just noticed your response to @Lisa723's suggestion.  Yes, you can set your maximum to any number and your extra guest charge to a certain amount that would kick in for more than 4 guests - see Pricing -> Standard fees and charges -> Edit -> Extra guests.

(Please ignore the price in the above example.  It is never actually used :))

[Mary-and-Brian0]

@Ann72 Anne thank you for your answer.It was really helpful. I was also thinking that I have instant book and if guests book before I see it they can only book four. I do say that there is a charge for any guests over four but I couldn't figure out how I would charge for them.  I think there really needs to be a section on the booking form for extra guests  over the default number the same way as there is for children

[Ann72]

@Mary-and-Brian0  Oh that's good.  But are you saying you haven't found a place to enter the extra guest charge?  Go to your listing, then "Pricing."  Scroll down to "Standard fees and charges," choose "Edit," and go down to "Extra guests."  There you can enter an amount as well as the number when it kicks in - for instance, $25 per person per night for every guest after 4 guests.

[Mary-and-Brian0]

@Ann72 . Thanks Ann. I have learned how to enter the extra guest charge alright. I do feel however that there maybe should be a box on the booking section for guests to state /book for the extra guest over the default number . It was just a thought .Possibly Airbnb feel it works better the way it is.

[Ann72]

@Mary-and-Brian0  I totally see what you mean now.  But I think that would be difficult to implement.  Probably more hosts than not put their actual maximum and wouldn't like people to have the option of booking for more.  Where my maximum is two, that's it, and I would hate to find bookings coming in for 3 or 4.  I still think that in your position I would simply change the max number once a guest is ready to book and change it back when they're done.  

[Mary-and-Brian0]

@Ann72 . Yes Ann I am beginning to see how to manage this better now. I have kept my default number to four as I prefer that number. However, I have a bed settee in the living room that could accommodate another person if they really wanted  to have five to stay and understood the situation and were prepared to cover the additional cost.  So I will get working on that now. Thanks to everyone for your help.

[Joey218]

@Mary-and-Brian0 @Ann72 @Lisa723  

Can I piggy back on to this thread as you seem to have captured hosts with the right level of knowledge - I had the same problem as OP in that my house has three bedrooms accommodating 5 adults but with additional luxury air mattresses and spare under bed mattresses we can take up to 10 people.  The extra guests is therefore set at after 5 so we pull in extra money for laundry/cleaning  when using spare beds/bedding.  

But....we recently had 5 contractors trying to book who would have met the maximum guest level so get the house for the standard nightly rate yet they wanted two spare beds putting up so they could all sleep separately.....currently I think I have it still set for 5 guests as standard but in the blurb somewhere I have mentioned if additional beds/bedding required this will be an extra guest charge per bed?

Should I be doing something else instead?

[Lisa723 · Accepted solution]

@Joey218 unfortunately there's no good solution for this, since Airbnb doesn't provide any method to charge per bed rather than per person. You can try to enforce a rule that the extra beds aren't available for guest counts under 6, but it's kind of a no-win situation, as it will be hard to enforce and create friction with guests.

[Mary-and-Brian0]

@Joey218 

My situation is similar to yours on a smaller scale. I prefer four guests. I have two rooms one with a double bed and the other with twin beds. If four want separate beds I offer a comfortable bed settee in the living room but charge the standard rate for this. If there are five guests and the fifth uses the bed settee then I charge  the extra guest fee in this situation. You say you have three rooms but you don’t state the bed sizes in each room. Your  best decision may be to set your guests at the number you prefer and can comfortably accommodate which maybe four and charge for extra guests after that.