Are my messages going through? Contacting a host before booking a Reservation

[Julie4366]

I am currently searching for an Airbnb for 2023. I know this is a ways off and many Airbnb listings aren't available to book until a year- 6 months out, but I decided to reach out to a few hosts regarding the availability of their properties and if there's any way to book ahead of time. To do this, I went to the "contact host" button at the bottom of each listings' page. I was prompted to input dates for the reservation before I could send a message, but the dates I was trying to ask about weren't available to select so early in the process. Still, I wanted to send some messages, so I put in some random dates so that I could start some conversations.

After this, I had a few great chats with different hosts, and one host was even kind enough to offer to block out our dates for us, even though it's a year and a half away. This was an amazing offer, but I told them I would need to discuss it further with my fiancé before making any final decisions. A few weeks went by and finally I decided that the specific host I had spoken with and their Airbnb listing was the best route for us to take. I used the Airbnb messenger again to reach out to them to confirm whether we could still block out our future dates. Although their response time says 1 hour, I never got a response back. I waited 2 weeks before finally attempting to message them again. So far I still haven't received a response. I really felt that this host was very communicative and friendly, so it seems odd to me that they aren't responding now. Even if they changed their mind, I felt it was in their character to at least let us know.

I'm wondering if my messages aren't going through? Is this possible? It looks as though the message is sent. However, because I had to input random dates for the reservation, those dates now say "unavailable." Does this affect whether my messages get sent or not? Will I need to try inputting new dates so that I can reach this host again? Or have my messages gone through and the host just isn't responding? I completely respect this host and don't want to keep bothering them, but it would be great to know if my messages simply aren't going through. 

Any opinions or help on this would be greatly appreciated! 

[Sarah977]

@Julie4366  It would be nice to see if a message got retrieved, huh? Like the check marks on whatsapp messages. 

The dates you input for the first inquiry should not affect the ability to contact the host again on that same message thread. But it's possible you might have to input new "fake" dates.

Considering that you had a warm exchange with this host before, I would assume she either hasn't seen the message for some reason, or something is going on in her life- we never know if the other person may be ill, had an accident, a death in the family, or some other event that is consuming them. They might even be on vacation themselves. I've had upcoming guests not answer messages and it turned out they were in a camping trip with no reception, or a meditation retreat where they weren't allowed to use devices. 

AlI can suggest is that you send a new inquiry message with new dates and see if she responds.

[Julie4366]

@Sarah977 Thank you for your thoughts on this!

You could be right, perhaps the host is going through something in their life or is preoccupied with other obligations. I'll give my second message some more time, and if I still don't hear back, maybe I'll try making a new reservation for random dates again and see if that allows me to get in touch.

I appreciate your time, take care!