Bad luck, or am I missing something?

[Laura4711]

Hello and Thank You in advance for your advice,

I have never used Airbnb before and have struck out three times trying to book a place for a week in August. (Three separate listings.)  As far as I can tell, I have everything filled out in my profile and have followed  all the directions. I've messaged my potential hosts politely and am ready to put down a deposit - Airbnb has my credit card  and driver's license information and I have a professional looking profile picture. This is for me, my husband and my son, which I fully disclose. 

For my first try, I may have erred by not messaging the host first; though I included a  friendly message in my booking request. This was denied "due to covid". Fair enough (though why is it listed as available?)

The second one I messaged  first and got a response inviting me to book. I thought I had 24 hours to respond, but when I went to confirm and pay near the end of the 24 hours, the host had blocked off the last two days of the week I asked for, which meant that the 7-day-stay discount would no longer apply for the remaining days we had available. So it would have been more expensive, for fewer days. 

The third one I, again, messaged politely. Their profile says they usually respond within 1 hour.  The Airbnb site suggests submitting a reservation while waiting for a response, to secure the reservation. I did so, and 24 hours has run out and I never heard back from them; Airbnb has cancelled the request. 

Have I just had back luck, or is there some point of protocol or etiquette that I am missing? I would have been happy to answer any questions from a potential host. I searched for a Saturday-to-Saturday stay. Is this what hosts prefer? (We have to arrange vacation days from work far in advance and can't really change dates now.) 

Any suggestions  from the point of view of a host would be greatly appreciated.

-Laura 

[Helen3]

Do a search for super hosts who use instant book - then you don't have to wait for them to reply @Laura4711 

[Sarah977]

@Helen3  But she won't be able to IB if the host has "recommended by other hosts" checked, as she is new and has no reviews.

I advised her the exact opposite 🙂

[Sarah977]

@Laura4711  First of all, it sounds like you are submitting Booking Requests, correct? As opposed to Inquiries?

Either one is fine to use- if you have any questions for the host before wanting to commit to a booking, an Inquiry, ( the Contact Host button) is appropriate. The host then has the choice to pre-approve, (in which case you can then go on to book), or decline, or just answer your questions. They don't have to pre-approve or decline, just answer, so many, if not most hosts will just answer. If you get the answers you are looking for that lead you to want to book and the Inquiry has expired, just go on to submit a booking request.

For a booking request, just the message you send with the request is all that's expected. Hosts like to receive requests where the guest has provided info about their group, made it clear that they have thoroughly read through all the listing info, including the house rules, and maybe give a little indication of the reason for booking (coming to attend a wedding, visit museums, go hiking, etc), and have entered the correct number of guests on the booking.

If the host has questions they'd like answered, they may just message you back before deciding to accept, based on your answers and how promptly you reply. A host must either accept or decline a request within 24 hours or take a hit on their response rate.

As far as a price going up, some hosts may do this unethically, because they've had a lot of requests for those dates, and realize they could charge more, sometimes it's just a matter of them not having remembered to update their prices for a holiday or major event period when they can charge more.

A couple of things that may be affecting your attempts. Many hosts are reluctant to accept bookings from guests with no prior reviews. Of course this makes things more difficult for guests new to the platform- someone has to take a chance on you in order for you to get your first booking and review. Many hosts have had terrible experiences with unreviewed guests who leave a mess behind them, sneak in extra people or pets, throw a party and trash the house and aren't willing to take a chance again. I'm sure your family isn't in those categories of bad guests, but hosts may just not accept new to Airbnb guests on principle.

The other thing is that perhaps you have been sending requests to hosts who normally use Instant Book. You can't IB at this point, because those hosts likely have an IB requirement that guests must have gotten a thumbs up from previous hosts, so your attempt to book their place comes through to them as a request from someone who doesn't meet their IB criteria. That may make them wary, even though you've done nothing wrong.

So you might have better luck looking at listings where the host doesn't use the Instant Book option at all and requires all guests to send booking requests. Those hosts are much more accustomed to dialoguing with guests before accepting, answering request and inquiry messages promptly, and have their own criteria for feeling out whether a guest is a good bet to accept, rather than using the standard IB criteria.

I can't see you are doing anything wrong, you just haven't been lucky in selecting listings where the host will respond promptly and professionally and maybe just doesn't want to accept newbie guests.

Also make sure to read the reviews to see if there is any mention of the host not communicating well or promptly.

Keep trying, I'm sure you'll find something.

[Laura4711]

Hi @Sarah977 ,

Thank you for all the helpful information. There is a lot more to this than I realized!

One was a booking request first, another was an inquiry first, and the third was an inquiry and then a booking request within 24 hours. 

I will definitely take a look at Instant Book, although opinion seems to be divided on whether that will help or not.  It's like that old "catch-22" where you need a job to get experience and you need experience to get a job. 

I grew up and also worked in the hospitality industry, so I know just how a few bad guests can ruin it for everyone else.  We're middle aged and hardly the partying type, but I do understand the host's point of view in this; it's leap of faith for both hosts and guests. 

Would it be considered rude to message one of these again once I've updated our profile? The one who never got back to us had an ideal location. Or should I take that as a warning sign and move on?

Thanks again,

Laura

[Sarah977]

@Laura4711 As a host, I wouldn't find it rude, but I guess some hosts might feel bothered. It depends on the tone of the message they sent you in the first place. 

If they just didn't answer at all, I'd not want to book with a host like that- they are likely to be less than responsive if you have specific questions after you book, or during your stay.

If you just think they may not have accepted or pre-approved because of a lack of profile info and reviews, nothing wrong with sending another message saying you understand they may have been wary because you had a blank profile, but you've now updated that, and while you are new and have no reviews yet, you are a middle-aged quiet couple to whom their listing is the most appealing and you'd love to book.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[Emilia42]

@Laura4711 I've had this problem before as well. Waiting around for 24 hours to either be declined because the host was holding out for a better booking or completely ignored. I seek out listings that I can instantly book now. 

[Alexandra199]

Hi Laura

At the moment you need to be quick off the mark if you are looking for summer accommodation. Where are you looking to stay, is it in the UK?

Your request to book may be viewed and preapproved but if another guest then books a stay that covers you dates you will lose that approval because your dates no longer exist.

There are also hosts (like me) who dont accept instant bookings from guests who have no reviews or bad reviews. Those guests have to request to book their stay. In 99% of the time my new to airbnb guests get approved, especially if they write a nice message with their request. If you want to come to the Cotswolds I still have availability in the summer 😚

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Alexandra199 I am not sure why we think @Laura4711 is in the UK but surely Derbyshire is preferable to the Cotswolds. Oh and yes we do have availability!!!

[Laura4711]

Hi Mike and Jane,

I'm sure Derbyshire is just as lovely as the Cotswolds, but our trip is to Philadelphia to visit family. I would love to visit the UK again in the future.

Thanks for the reply,

Laura 

[Laura4711]

Hi Alexandra,

I wish we could visit the UK! But it's just a trip to Philadelphia to visit family. I spent my junior year of college in Nottingham, but I never got to the Cotswolds. Maybe another year? 

Thank you for the reply. 

-Laura 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Laura4711 We had a long discussion with a guest recently about whether it was legal to book for a fortnight. Having concluded it was we then, minutes later, got an instant book reservation from another guest for a 4 day period that lost us the 2 week booking. I suspect this sort of thing happens a lot and, in this case, it was the host losing out on 8 nights!

My only advice, to add to that already given, is that you might like to update your profile to include where you are living. Some hosts are likely to accept you more readily if they see you are from their country as the risk of cancellation is likely to be lower.

[Anonymous]

@Laura4711  I'm not sure what went wrong when you filled out your profile, but it doesn't contain your bio (one sentence will do) or your location. 

I can't quite tell from your post, but it sounds like maybe you're initiating these inquiries by clicking the "Contact Host" button on the listing. Hosts don't like that - we prefer that guests go directly to the Reserve/Book button, enter the correct number of guests and dates, and complete the payment screen to submit a binding request (you won't be charged anything if the host declines). 

If that doesn't work, it might be worth looking for some patterns in the kind of listings you're choosing. There's a huge range of professionalism among hosts, and it sounds like the ones you've contacted are at the low end of the range. It could be that the good places in your destination are already booked up for the season, but it's worth looking into the recent reviews and choosing a listing with consistent turnover and a well-established reputation. Those tend to be less flaky.

[Laura4711]

Hi Andrew,

Thank you for the advice. I didn't see a field for bio or location, but I'll go back and make sure I add those. 

Yes, on one I tried to book first and on another I tried to message first, so it sounds like there is no clear consensus among hosts, which is to be expected. 

I'll admit our budget is not huge, so I am looking at the lower-middle price range, but they all had good ratings. I think most people would try to head OUT of Philadelphia in the summer, but that's the week we have and that's where my in-laws are.  

Now, Germany is definitely on our short list. My husband lived there for a number of years and is fluent in German (well... Bayerische...) and we have friends of his to visit. 

Thank you for your reply,

Laura 

[Anonymous]

@Laura4711  It's probably confusing because Airbnb doesn't guide new users through the optimal process of making a booking - it kind of throws you into the deep end of the pool and assumes you can swim. I think most of the hosts who contribute to this forum are the kind of people who would happily throw you an inner tube and pull you to a safe harbor, but I don't know if this is a representative sample. Without knowing exactly what you're trying to book, I still think the approach that will help you most is to get as close to the confirmation step as possible, rather than send inquiries. But I recognize, on Airbnb it often isn't clear what the difference is, so disappointingly the shortcomings of the site have let you down. I do think that if you persist a bit more, you'll find a good place to enjoy your family vacation - but there's no reason not to check out other booking platforms and see if something else suits you better. Be sure to keep an eye on the cancellation policies, in case maybe we've gotten overoptimistic about how much we'll be able to do in the summer.

Anyway...while right now is no time to cross the Atlantic, I hope you and your husband visit Germany one day soon after all the Corona stuff is over; it's a really nice place to come in the mild seasons!