Understanding Response Rate and Acceptance Rate

[Airbnb]

For many of you, hosting is important, but you’ve also got work, family, and your personal life keeping you plenty busy. So, tracking how quickly you reply to guest inquiries and monitoring the percentage of booking requests you’re accepting versus declining is probably not on the top of your to-do list. Some of you have asked about the specifics of these measurements, why they matter, and how you can improve them without much fuss—and we’re happy you asked! We’ve gathered answers from the folks who build these tools, so let’s dive in to see what they have to say.

What’s the difference between my response rate and acceptance rate?

• Your response rate measures how consistently you respond within 24 hours to guest inquiries and booking requests. You can find your response rate from the last 365 days by clicking on the Progress tab, then clicking Basic Requirements.
• Your acceptance rate measures how often you accept or decline reservations. Guest inquiries are not included in the calculation of your acceptance rate. You can see your acceptance rate from the last 365 days by clicking on the Progress tab, then clicking Basic Requirements.

For my response rate, does just the first message/inquiry count or do subsequent messages in a thread count, too?

We only measure a response within 24 hours of the guest's first message or inquiry. Subsequent messages in that thread do not impact your response rate.

What happens to my acceptance rate if I answer a question rather than approve, pre-approve, or decline a booking request?

The short answer is this: If a guest sends you a booking request and you only answer a question, but do not approve or decline before the request times out, that counts as a decline.

Let’s dive in a little further. It’s important to note the difference between an inquiry and a booking request. An inquiry is just a message—perhaps asking to clarify something about amenities, dates, or House Rules. The guest may be interested in staying with you and may even ask something like: “I want to book your home; is it ok if I bring my dog?” This is not a booking request. It’s an inquiry. You can respond to an inquiry with an answer, a pre-approval, or by declining. Declining an inquiry signals to the guest that their needs aren’t a good fit for your space and encourages them to request another listing. But none of these actions directly affects your acceptance rate. If you pre-approve an inquiry and the guest books your space, that counts as an acceptance. If you pre-approve and they don’t book, it doesn’t have any effect on your acceptance rate. And if you decline an inquiry, your acceptance rate is not affected.

A booking request means that the guest is officially asking to book your listing and is waiting for you to accept or decline. As far as your acceptance rate goes, we only measure the final outcome of the booking request, and there are just three possible actions you can take: accept, decline, or let the request time out. If you let a request time out—even if you answer questions but take no action to approve or decline a request within 24 hours—that’s considered a decline.

How do these rates affect me as a host?

That’s a great question. The technical answer is that low response rates can impact your eligibility for the  Superhost  program, and acceptance rates can impact eligibility to become a Plus host. And hosts who have very low rates could face penalties, including having their listings paused. But, it's important to note that one-off instances of not responding or declining a booking request rarely lead to any action being taken. We’re much more concerned where we see a consistent pattern of non-response or declines.

Can you share insider tips or suggestions on how to keep my response and acceptance rates high?

We think hosts are actually the experts in this area, so we’ll share some of your ideas here, too, but for response rate, one of the best ways to manage messages on the go is to use the Airbnb app on your mobile phone. You can also consider temporarily snoozing your listing if you know you’ll be unable to respond to messages for a while. If you’re taking a vacation, attending a long work conference, or just needing to unplug for a while, you can rest easy knowing there’s no response clock ticking or messages piling up in your inbox.

To snooze your listing and hide it from search results for a set period of time:

1. Go to Your listings and select a listing
2. Click Listing Details
3. Next to Listing status, click Edit
4. Under Listing status, select Snoozed from the dropdown menu
5. Enter the start and end dates, then click Save

Your listing will automatically reactivate when the timeframe you set is over. The day before your listing reactivates, you'll get a reminder email.

Here are some tips hosts in the Community Center share for keeping your response rate high:

• Set aside daily time to reply to requests and inquiries.
• Have a co-host or a friend respond for you if you’re unavailable and don’t want to snooze your listing.
• Save time by pre-writing responses to commonly asked questions. Look for the “Use a Saved Message” prompt in any active message thread you have with a guest. You can create, use, and re-use responses there.
• If you’re very busy or your hosting business really takes off, consider hiring a virtual assistant.

For your acceptance rate, ensure your calendar and booking preferences and settings are accurate and up to date. For example, if you can't accommodate same-day requests, update your listing to reflect the time you need between reservations. Hosts also tell us they find it helpful to keep their house rules updated so that guests understand what’s ok and what isn't before submitting a booking request. You’re less likely to get requests you can’t accept if you’re very clear about your expectations.

What is Airbnb doing to avoid penalizing hosts' acceptance rate when they decline unfit or illegitimate requests?

We understand that sometimes you may get requests that clearly violate your House Rules, or that are actually marketing attempts disguised as booking requests. These can put you in the awkward position of having to risk harming your own acceptance rate when there’s not a better action to take. To address this, the first thing we need to do is help you flag to us when there’s a problem. We’re exploring how best to do this, and while we don’t have a feature to announce at this time, we are absolutely aware of this pain point for you.

We want to ensure you’re empowered to decide who you welcome into your home and that you’re comfortable with the guests who stay with you. We understand that you only want to be held accountable to legitimate booking requests, and we’re committed to making sure that happens.

Numbers are just part of the story

While it’s good to keep response and acceptance rates in mind, the bigger picture isn’t about these measurements—in fact, they’re just indicators of the actual hospitality you show to your guests and the connection you establish when they reach out to you. You impact your guest’s experience from the moment they contact you or request to book, and the host community rightfully takes a lot of pride in creating experiences of welcome and belonging for the people who stay in your listings. So, yes, please do care about communicating in a timely way and setting guests up for success while they’re trying to find a good listing match for their needs; but know that numbers are just one way to tell the story about how you host.

[Sarah1617]

I always ask potential guests, whether they are LOOKERS or BOOKERS, why they cHose Boulder for their stay and what they hope to get out of it. They are almost always amazing folks doing magical adventures, academic and scientific projects, start-ups, yoga,  self-improvement workshops, sporting events, concerts, and family gatherings. These engaged travelers are most welcome in my home.

Others want to hang out or just don't bother to reply and may not be a fit.

Instant Book has made airbnb more like a hotel booking service than a community based platform for the  sharing economy.  It's reputation has gone way down after this change. Neighbors and city counselors worry about the supply of rental housing for longer term guests  and slap strict

limitations on hosts.

Airbnb has not benefitted in the long term with these regs.  Airbnb don't push instant book!  It has not helped your couse or your company!

I

[Sian21]

Why can’t Airbnb have a ‘no reply needed’ button ... like Booking.com. It gets ridiculous sometimes that I’m saying thank you to a thank you from a guest. Eg They have asked a question, I’ve replied they have said thank you... and now I have to respond to keep my response rate high when there is nothing else to say. A few of my guests have felt the need to respond to my second thank you message. ( I’ve had to tell a few of them there is no need but they still come back with yet another thank you!) 

[Jane563]

Another female host here.

It doesn’t matter whether I have ”Single Female Travellers Only” in my headline or just early in the description, I still get men trying to book. I had four on Friday and turned them down. I was at the top of the listings because I had a cancellation, now I’m at the bottom.

I’ve got a small single room in my house that I am also thinking of making available. Some of the female guests I have had here, have been very upfront about asking who else I have living here. Safety is obviously a huge concern to them, and they appreciate a female only house. One female student here for a uni open day said she couldn’t stay overnight in a house with a single male for religious and cultural reasons. She only booked when I assured her that there would only be me and a female relative.

I’ve done very well with Airbnb in a short time, and love spending time with my guests, some of whom I’ve become friends with. If I’m honest, the money comes in handy too. But if I can’t choose who I feel comfortable with in my home, I will leave the platform.

By the way I don’t hate men, and have many friends of both sexes. I recognise that there are unpleasant women, but feel better equipped to deal with them, if I am unlucky enough to host one.

[Kate507]

I declined a request from a guest asking if they could bring a dog. Our listing clearly states no pets. I then got a rebuke from Airbnb saying that declining a guest may mean they won’t book with me at another time. This has left me very confused as I declined this guest as he was breaking my house rules , I don’t want him to book with me as he has a dog so my question is why the rebuke? Surely it would be much more appropriate to ask me why I had declined this guest?

[Cherry42]

I feel that I should be given the option of either accepting or refusing a booking without penalty- I am not happy when I am told that a guest has been booked and I haven’t been given this option.

i also feel that when a person books stating 3/4 are accompanying them that they should be identified.Hosts are reluctant to host a group of young people as there is the danger they will be noisy,untidy and disruptive,Many of us have neighbours to consider!!

[Simon397]

I'm glad I found this very active community site 🙂

I'm also highly critical of the use of acceptance rate as a metric for determining ranking in listings. I have a holiday villa in Spain and the listing states that the pool season starts on Apr 15 (because it's too cold before that). Someone made a booking request in which they asked if the pool could be heated from March 31st. I declined and then got penalised ... Ridiculous.

I've dropped out of instant booking despite all the dire warnings about my ranking. I don't want to be forced to accept a booking 3-6 days away from another one, as the short gap is virtually unlettable. 

My only consolation from reading all these postings is that we're all affected roughly equally by these stupid rules, so maybe overall it doesn't make that much difference......

.. and I've found better sites in which to advertise my villa anyway 🙂 

[Lynette27]

Thanks for this info.  But, am still not satisfied with my situation which has not been resolved to date.

one of my listings has instant book. A guest booked through her friend, while am on the computer updating the listing, told them, l cannot accept them because, the room had just been book a minute before them.

the guest went a head, still booked,  and to my surprise, Airbnb asked me to review them, l refused, because:

 THE GUEST HAD NOT CHECKED IN.   HOW DO I REVIEW A GUEST WHO HAS NOT CHECKED IN?  

YET AIRBNB allowed them to review me and she has not checked   in?

To make it worse: Airbnb posted her nasty review on my listing?

WORST:  Airbnb PAUSED my listing because of " nasty"  review from a guest who did not even check in? 

That was on 21 July 2018. The guest was for 1-13 August 2018. 

I Wrote prostesting about this immediately and todate, Airbnb has not bothered to respond. 

 I do not understand.

[Mieke0]

The translation in Dutch gave some space for discussion on our Facebookpage: 

Cijfers vertellen slechts een deel van het verhaal

Hoewel het goed is om de responsgraad en acceptatiegraad in je achterhoofd te houden, is het grotere plaatje niet alleen opgebouwd uit deze metingen. Het zijn slechts indicatoren van hoe gastvrij je werkelijk bent naar gasten en de band die je creëert, wanneer je contact met ze opneemt. Jij beïnvloedt de ervaring van je gasten vanaf het moment dat ze contact met je opnemen of een reserveringsaanvraag indienen, en de verhuurderscommunity kan met recht trots zijn dat ze voor de mensen die in hun ruimte verblijven, gastvrije ervaringen neerzetten waarbij mensen zich thuis voelen. Zorg er dus voor dat je op tijd communiceert en gasten laat slagen een ruimte te vinden die bij hun behoeften aansluit, wanneer ze op zoek zijn naar een ruimte, maar weet dat de cijfers slechts één kant belichten van hoe jij verhuurt.

English:

Numbers are just part of the story

While it’s good to keep response and acceptance rates in mind, the bigger picture isn’t about these measurements—in fact, they’re just indicators of the actual hospitality you show to your guests and the connection you establish when they reach out to you. You impact your guest’s experience from the moment they contact you or request to book, and the host community rightfully takes a lot of pride in creating experiences of welcome and belonging for the people who stay in your listings. So, yes, please do care about communicating in a timely way and setting guests up for success while they’re trying to find a good listing match for their needs; but know that numbers are just one way to tell the story about how you host.

The last sentence gives in the Dutch translation that you need to help your prospect guests to find a good listing/stay but the English version tells you that it is important that you help them with your information (about your own listing) to find the apartment/room thats suits them most. It is clear in the English version that you need to give the best and the right information about your listing and in the Dutch version it gives the impression that you need to help them find the best listing.

[Bonani1]

After going thru some of the feedbacks from my fellow hosts, I agree with every one of them.... We hosts welcome guests with open arms for their "Second Home" .

For hosts, you should  remove "Pre approve" and replace it with simple "Approved" and add another option "Most Likely to be Approved".

For guests, have the options, "Thinking" and "Decided".  Deduct from guests only when they "Decided".

These subtle changes mean that host and guest will know if the stay suit both parties  only after exchange of mails and AVOID misleading Approvals.

We decline when we have real problems. You can only intervene if it is due to religious / race/ creed. In that case you should discuss with hosts. Otherwise you have no right to intervene. This view is expressed by nearly all hosts.

So would request you to drop  penalizing concept. 

Your correct descicion would bring relief to both hosts and guests.......

[Anonymous]

No matter what; Airbnb is always taking sides with the guest, rather then helping out the host. I had to cancel 2 reservations last year; knowing that I haven’t given an approval for the guest to reserve. The guest reserved despite me declining; and I ended up by paying a penalty to Airbnb 😳

Moreover; Guests are breaking stuff in my house and Airbnb is not deducting any of the deposit that should be taken from the guest. 

Last wee I had a big problem with one of my guest; the internet connection is weak due to peak season; and the guest wanted to perform conference calls for hours, and upload files for her business. We clearly informed the guest that internet at that time is weak and is only for daily common use and not for high performance. Airbnb didn’t help at all and wanted to refund in total the guest; knowing that we will end up with an empty month of August and suffer huge losses. 

I hope that Airbnb will take into consideration these issue and stand next to the host a bit more. This will help for better hosting and more advanced quality. 

[Jill351]

Yes, most of the inquiries I decline are not real enquiries - either they can't find out where to ask me the question without adding a date - or they are just deliberately asking for a date to make some other point, "like would you rent out for a whole month" or "can I come clean your carpets?" It would be helpful to have " not a real booking" option when declining - sometimes it can count as spam, but sometimes it's a genuine question that the client can't seem to find the appropriate space to ask.

[Skye19]

Despite trying to follow the provided instructions, I cannot access, much less enable, the “snooze” function.  I can find no “listing details” or subsequent “listing status” when I click on my listing.  I actually need to use the Snooze feature, so would appreciate any guidance.

[John1749]

I had a guest who booked 1 week then a gap of a week then another week. At the time my settings allowed instnat boikings an no cancellation penalty.

24 hrs before the 1st week he cancelled so I messaged him and asked did he still want the 2nd week. His response "I haven't decided yet. I told him sorry I can't accept that and cancelled the reservation. I was penalised by airbnb for someone who was exploiting the spirit of openness.

I have now changed my reservation cancellation policy but still have a black mark against me.

[Gilbert70]

Hello,  we had a question. Some of our request or inquiry,reservations have been coming in around 1 or 3 o'clock in the morning depending on the time zone and we know it is that we have been penalized by not responding on time. At that time of  the night there are no responses because we are sleeping. 

[Linda-And-Jack0]

I completely agree with Airbnb response suggestions and response time.

I believe people are looking for a getaway, some place to celebrate their occasion or just a place to stay.  

Response time is critical.  With my inquiries I have learned asking their questions and adding more welcoming response and amenities, they will book immediately.   

We have a huge amount of 1st time Airbnb guests. In my response I welcome them to our home and Airbnb. They have thanked me.  In return I explain briefly the super host program, encouraging them to use Airbnb in their future stays. 

My husband and I have had wonderful guests the last 15 months. I try to remember to ask how they heard of Airbnb and us.  Word of mouth is still great advertising.