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.

[Randi16]

The Acceptance Rate issue comes up for me in relationship to Reviews/References.  I live alone and am sharing my home with strangers.  I made a promise to my adult son that I would only accept guests with either a review or reference on Airbnb.  MANY of the inquiries I receive are from first-time users, and I would like to host them.  I explain my policy immediately and ask that they obtain a reference. But now the option of requesting references from friends who have used Airbnb seems to be gone - or at least nobody can find it.  So I end up not accepting many of these requests.  This really needs to be remedied.

[Paul1105]

As has been written before, I agree, many times guests request to book on the wrong date because the date they want is already booked. Why in the world isn't there a way to simply send the host a message or question without first selecting a date? Also, all this talk about trust yet you don't trust your hosts enough to have free and unfettered communication between our guests without Airbnb blocking everything from URL's to phone numbers. Sometimes it's just easier to explain the situation over the phone but that's impossible unless they book. Look, people either have integrity or they don't. People are going to play by the rules or they're not. The vast majority of people who use Airbnb either as guests or hosts are people who trust others and are honest trustworthy people. We have no desire to skirt the system to cut out Airbnb. There is no need for all these silly blocks on the messaging system (which, by the way, if you have have half a brain, you can bypass). Isn't this supposed to be about TRUST. Please stop talking out of both sides of your mouth. Other than that Airbnb is pretty good!  : )

[Cynthia363]

I repeatedly get penalized for declining requests even when people ask to bring several more guests than are mentioned in the listing! Recently a woman "booked" for 4 guests. Then came with 15. Different price and the villa doesn't accommodate that number of guests. She canceled saying WE misrepresented how many guests the villa accommodates. I hate the new "grace period". It has cost us a lot already. 

[Marius-and-Adél0]

I have just had a similar request from guests who made an instant booking but at the same time stating that they actually wanted a different date (which was already booked).

Of course I accept their initial booking and also inform him that unfortunately the date they were asking for is already booked; “educating” them that that’s why they could not book the preferred date/s. 

I also inform them that it was up to them to cancel the booking they made if they didn’t want it. Sodoing not affected my acceptance rate as the host. 

[Lila-Jyotee0]

The response time of 24 hours should be increased. If a guest is on the other side of the world we actually get only 12 hours for responding. Those 12 hours are not enough if we want to know more about the guests whom we want to welcome into our homes. Very often a guest has no reviews, is new to airbnb or the profile says nothing and the guest is slow to respond. Why penalize the host for wanting to know more about a guest. WE ARE NOT RUNNING A HOTEL BUT OPENING OUR HOMES TO STRANGERS. Hotels can be booked without any introduction from the guest, but a home cannot be opened to anyone without prior knowledge.

[Amy843]

Exactly!

[Jimmy126]

Enquiries and booking requests should be treated as one and the same surely. 

[Giulia297]

I agree with the general sentiment here but wanted to add that it would be nice if Airbnb customer support were also trained on the difference. I got several “requests” that were messages from locals who wanted to become my cohost (no thanks) which I had to decline. This was on a listing that is only open a few weekends a year and that made my acceptance rate plummet to 60%. I was passed from one support team member to the next because trying to get an answer as to why they were counting non legitimate requests and half of the people I talked to were unaware of this rule and gave me incorrect information.

[Kathleen124]

I have the same problem as others regarding expired clock due to the GUEST not responding in time. 

I do not use instant book  - I always like to have a brief exchange with a prospective guest prior to accepting - particularly if they are new to Airbnb and do not yet have any guest reviews from other hosts. I am a single female living alone, renting my guest room, and I want to feel comfortable with the person before I accept. Often I will respond immediatly to the guest with a kind request for a few more details about their stay or about themselves - and they do not respond back before the timer runs out. So I am penalized for this? The last few times the time has almost run out - as I am waiting for a response from the guest - I have called Airbnb and they assure me each time that it will NOT affect my response rate. But clearly here in the detailed explanations it says that it does. 

I am disappointed that there is no clarity here yet. Is there no simple solution? Can't they just stop the timer once the host replies with the first message?

[Kerry152]

It is somewhat comforting to know I share so many problems with other hosts, as I hope it means Airbnb will be listening to us.

I have found that a significant percentage of prospective guests have learned to use the request/inquiry function as a means to establish a dialog with you in which they then ask for something they can't get through the normal booking process. This runs the gamut from asking for unavailable dates (as other hosts have noted), to wanting exceptions to my minimum stay or to my house rules.  I would say 10-15% of my new messages start out something like, "I know it says no parties (or some other restricition), but I was wondering..." and my heart sinks. I also have people try to send me phone numbers, email contacts or website info so they can either circumvent Airbnb or try to talk me in to an unorthodox use of my house, such as a movie shoot (tried that twice and never again)! As someone above pointed out, some unscrupulous folks have learned they can sort of "blackmail" hosts by requesting a booking and tacitly daring you to decline.

The only time I ever canceled a guest was when I allowed a booking from someone who said he wanted to use my home for some photography. Silly me! After he booked he told me he needed me to sign a release. When I read the fine print I learned he was intending to shoot pornographic material in my home. That wasn't going to happen!

I fail to understand why Airbnb feels it needs a policy to incentivize hosts to accept guests. We hosts are all in the business of accepting guests! Most of us want as many as we can handle, providing we're comfortable with them in our homes. I agree with everyone above that we hosts should be allowed to use our instincts and experience to decide who we host, and not be second-guessed by a computer algorithm or punished by a policy made by people who don't understand our job. That just makes common sense, so I think the only reason for the policy is that Airbnb makes money every time we host, regardless of who the guest is and how little we charge.

[Wanda12]

Interesting article, but the main thing I think that is not addressed here is the booking requests that come through where the guest does not meet my criteria of having government ID verified.  (therefore they cant instant book).  I will reply straight away and ask them to add it, but I am forced to decline the booking if they do not verify their ID within 24 hours.  Why should I be penalised for that?  Can Airbnb not flag to a guest that they cannot request to book at all if they dont have govt id?

[Linda108]

@Kathleen124 When I am responding to an inquiry or to a request, I treat them the same.  I put the ticking clock into their court and require a response within 12 hours...period.  Of course I let Air BNB be the fall guy and state it is their requirement.  If I do not hear back, I decline the inquiry and/or request.  So far, no problem with my stats.

[Sandra211]

Besides of the already mentioned problems if I do not feel OK with a booking and the subsequent lower rating, there are several problems in ratings overall:

- The guest does not read and gives a lower rating because of location, stairs instead of elevator, check-out time and small toys for young children when EVERYTHING is explained in the description and sometimes even made clear again during the conversations prior to arrival (e.g. no infrastructure for babies, no elevator, exact check-out time etc.). Why do we have to accept such a rating, when it is clearly up the guests to read?

- The pushing for a lower rate, to open dates etc: not usefull for hosts who usually live in the rented space. There should be a clear difference in rating and offering (Super Host conditions!!) for non-commercial airbnb hosts. 

[Rene138]

We are very new to Airbnb so still batteling to understand the decline and accept thing. But what happens if I had a request but the person decided that we were to far from the destination they wanted to be at?  I had a request from 4 cyclists who was going to partake in a race in Knysna which I stated is in a 60km radius from our place.  I did not decline because I did not know what to do next after they informed me that our place is a bit to far from the event, this was all done by msg each other am I suppose to then decline that request and be penalised?

[Linda810]

I have no problem with Airbnb monitoring my response rate, I believe it is very positive when guests know they will get a quick response. One of the great things about Airbnb is that I have the right to reject guests if I don't feel comfortable. So being told my Superhost status is in jeopordy only becuase my acceptance rate is at 88% while all other measurables are well above requirements is upsetting. I have identified no events, yet I get the odd request for bachlor parties, college friends etc, if during the conversation I don't feel comfortable, I will decline. I use instant book and have never rejected an instant book, I have accepted many reservations when guests don't meet my instant book requirements of having reviews with great results.