We have been on Airbnb for 2.5 years, have had no problems with the instant book option until now. Our listing availability is that the guest must book with at least one day notice or send us a request, and that we have one day before and after bookings to clean. We had a guest surprise instant book a couple of days ago. She somehow was able to book late in the evening less than a day before she was to arrive, and arrive the very next day after a guest had left. When I looked at my phone that morning and saw that someone was already booked and on their way, I was really surprised and very glad I had done most of the cleaning right after the previous guest left.
How did this happen, and how can I make sure that something like this doesn't happen again? I reset the availability parameters but don't know if that is enough.
Also this guest has a couple of symbols next to her name in the Inbox - an A in a white box, and a star but not a star in a black box. Another future guest has them also. They only show up on the big screen of my computer and not on the app on my phone.