How do you screen guests before accepting?

[Holly142]

I've been a host for 6 years. My cabin is nothing fancy with a tiny kitchen and bathroom, but it's location which is totally private on a bluff with views really sets it apart. I keep it very clean and maintained . I've always been one of the cheaper cabin rentals in the area, but that has attracted some guests that I'd rather not host again. I went back and forth in my mind for a while about whether I should raise my prices a little and I finally did. I also want to screen better and be more particular about accepting reservations but does that ding you if you decline? What happens if you decline a guest?

How do you screen guests when they request to book? At this point, I'd rather have a few less reservations to weed out some of the others.

[Susan10]

One option is to ask a lot of questions of them by message before hitting the accept/decline button.  I have successfully discouraged a few guests from booking that way, they either withdraw their request or they don't book if it is an inquiry.  Unfortunately, Airbnb has created a class system where hosts who agree to instant bookers get privileges they don't extend to other hosts.  Like, the ability to cancel without penalty.

[Lisa723]

@Holly142 in my experience maintaining relatively high prices is a good way to select desirable guests. We also do not allow last-minute or one-night stays, and have clear and complete rules and a strict cancellation policy, with multiple reminders in listing text and booking messaging to review them carefully. We require that guests verify their ID with Airbnb, but we do not otherwise screen guests, and we do allow instant-booking from guests with verified ID and recommendations from other hosts.

According to Airbnb declining booking requests can have a deleterious effect on search placement. Some hosts here will say it's actually of no consequence. The one thing you do not want to do is fail to either accept or decline. (Inquiries are different; all you need to do with those is respond with some message.)

[Ute42]

.

@Lisa723    

• According to Airbnb declining booking requests can have a
  deleterious effect on search placement

That is correct.

Actually the point is, it doesn't matter if You reject a booking request, if the guest withdraws his or her booking request or if You accept the booking and then the guest cancels within the 48hrs grace period or later. All that moves You back in search results. In other words: Whenever a guest makes an attempt to book Your place and the stay doesn't take place, that moves You down in searchresults.

If You get a reservation request and decline, You get pushed back in searchresults plus Your acceptance rate gets hurt.

If You get a reservation request and persuade the guest to withdraw the request, You still get pushed back but Your accaptence rate does not get hurt..

The deleterious effect of stays that don't come into being doesn't last very long though, maybe 10 or 14 days. Then everything will be overridden by the numbers of clicks onto Your listing.

[Laura2592]

@Holly142 really cute listing!

Yes, raising your prices will help weed out the difficult guests. We started at $50 a night because we had no idea if there was even any market for an ABB in our area. Huge mistake! It took a few years of gradual price increases to get where are are now and we are still planning on raising them even more. The other places that are commensurate with our listing have also raised prices as we have, which really helps the overall host economy. The guests are more respectful overall and there is less complaining. Cheap nightly costs attract guests who want something for nothing. If you don't value your listing, they won't either.

We also recently put an "Easter egg" in our house rules to make sure people read it. When they book, we ask that they submit the phrase to show they explored this section of the listing. If they don't, we ask a lot of questions about their stay and they typically withdraw. 

Remember, you don't have to do anything but respond to an inquiry. If a request to book is not a comfortable fit, decline saying why. 

[Emilia42]

@Holly142 

I use instant book which allows me to "screen" for guests who have uploaded a government ID and guests with previous reviews. If they meet these criteria, they can instantly book. If not, it defaults to a request to book. When I get a request, I tend to think ... what's wrong with these guests? 😊  Like @Lisa723, my calendar prevents last-minute bookings and one-night stays. I jack up my prices on busy event weekends, etc. If guests don't offer much conversation about their travel plans, I consider it their loss (no anniversary sparkling from me) and respect their privacy.

I can already tell your place is priced too cheap.  That view is stunning and people will pay a lot of money for quiet and privacy. A higher price will also help you shrug off those once-in-awhile guests who don't wash their dishes or communicate clearly. 

[Susan10]

What do you mean by them not offering much conversation about their travel plans?  Do you officially decline them?

[Emilia42]

@Susan10 

About 95% of my reservations are instant book. I have a pre-booking message with questions like "What brings you to the area?" and "who are you traveling with?" Some guests write to me with a novel about their plans and relationships. Others say something simple like "Hi, we’ll be checking in around 11:00 PM on Thursday. Looking forward to it." I am okay with either message. I don't need to know every detail. I am the one who will be giving them the details. It's my house.

[Lisa723]

@Susan10 if you want @Emilia42 to see your response you need to tag her.

I think she means that she does not decline them-- they just won't get any special treatment e.g. sparkling wine for an anniversary-- and she will leave them alone.

(oops, simultaneous posts)

[Susan10]

No, she saw it.  Tagging is for including others you want to see your response.

[Emilia42]

Susan, you will get no notification that someone is speaking to you unless you tag them.

[Sarah977]

@Susan10  That isn't true. When you tag someone, they get a notification that there has been a response. Unless it's a currently active thread that the user is checking in on, they might never know that you responded to them.

Not only that, if you don't tag, it is often unclear whose post you are responding to.

[Susan10]

You all are stressing about tagging.....

[Sarah977]

@Susan10  No one is all stressed about it. You made a false statement and it was corrected. But you apparently refuse to tag, so knock yourself out. 

[Emilia42]

@Susan10 No one is stressing. Just informing. How else are we supposed to keep the conversation going if we don't know we are being addressed?