Maximum Occupancy Issues! This home allows a maximum of 3 guests, excluding infants!

[Sarah327]

Hi Fellow Airbnber's - please help!

I have a two-bedroom cottage in which I can only accommodate up to 3 persons including a child or infant; not in addition to. However, Airbnb state infants are excluded from my maximum occupancy at the time of booking!

I am simply not covered on insurance to accept more than 3 persons, my property is not big enough to take more and it would be a serious breach of fire and health and safety to do so!

Some time ago, I received a booking for 2 adults, 1 child and 1 infant. I guess around the time Airbnb changed their booking parameters to exclude infants from the overall number of guests.

I contacted them immediately to advise and was simply told to add 'Maximum Occupancy' to my listing under 'Additional rules'.

I have today had my third booking for 2 adults, 1 child and 1 infant. I responded to the guest straight away to explain the situation i.e. not being covered by insurance etc. BUT they have come back to me with a screenshot of Airbnb's booking 'How many guests?' stating infants are not included.

I will be contacting Airbnb again in the morning but is there a way around this I am not aware of!? Can anyone advise? This is simply crazy!

[Colleen253]

@Sarah327 How immensely frustrating. Not ideal by any means, but for this instance I suppose you could reply to guest with a screenshot of the 'other things to note' since it seems the guest didn't read your entire listing thoroughly. Explain that you can't help the fact that Airbnb doesn't count infants as guests, but your Insurance does, and it's a safety issue. If they had read your listing description they would have known that. Not sure of any other way around this issue, especially if, according to Airbnb itself, the only solution is to put the note in your listing, as you have done.  I'm guessing this was an instant booking? Have you tried adding the info re occupancy limit to your pre booking message? 

[Trevor243]

I would be strict on the maximum occupancy too.

I've just checked the settings on a couple of my listings. Under "Bookings settings > House rules", I have ticked the top 2 boxes for "suitable for children" and "suitable for infants".

Under "Listing details > Property and guests", they have the correct maximum occupancy set.

When I go to the main website to look to book, yes, it says "Infants do not count towards the maximum number of guests"

I've just turned off the "suitable for infants" setting for one property. It hasn't changed anything on the booking site yet. Maybe need to check back tomorrow.

If I get any bookings for more than the maximum occupancy, I would refuse them. Not sure what the process should be, but AirBnB are clearly wrong to allow properties to exceed maximum limits.

[Lisa723]

@Sarah327 yes this is a real problem for us too. The best we have come up with is to put in our house rules that although Airbnb doesn't count infants against maximum guest count, we must, and please don't attempt to book the property for more people than the maximum, including infants. Since adding that we haven't had the problem, but that could be just coincidence.

[Sarah327]

I don't recall when Airbnb changed their booking parameters to exclude infants. I do understand on one hand but why ask hosts to state a maximum number of persons and then allow this to be exceeded?! 

It's also very tricky for us because if I were to amend my listing to two (2) persons only 'excluding infants'. It would significantly impact my business as I often accommodate three adults or two adults and a young child.

I have only had this problem twice before yesterday and, on each occasion, the guests were quite understanding and cancelled with no issue.

Airbnb thankfully has cancelled this reservation without any issue, and I think the guest was more upset at the thought of losing his money than not being able to stay. I have also raised the issue with them again via feedback and Airbnb Support. Let's hope it gets through to the right people and the system is updated to offer an alternative max. occupancy setting i.e. to include infants!

[Mark116]

I thought infants were free but that they counted toward the total number of guests.  

[Sarah327]

If you check the booking form/input, infants are not included in the maximum number of guests!

[Lawrene0]

Same problem here, @Sarah327 . In my case, their cots/carriers are unsafe in the treehouse, blocking the door and burning to a crisp against the woodstove. Usually guests understand, but I did have one get aggressive with "Airbnb states..." and so I needed to phone admin for help. Since I had been clear in the house rules about the dangers, admin cancelled the booking. They did give the guest a credit towards someplace more suitable -- as a reward for carefully looking for loopholes 🙂

Beyond just explaining to guests and having the reasonable ones agree to look for child-friendly listings, I don't know of any way around it.  In the unreasonable guests' defense, the wording in the Help Centre is vague enough to make them think they can do as they like. "Some hosts have specified..." is not followed by "and you need to abide by those rules."

@Mark116 :

[Mark116]

@Lawrene0 @Sarah327   So those two screen shots are contradictory.  The first one says that infants dont' count as guests and the 2nd one says that airbnb doesn't count them but that hosts may count them in which case an additional fee might apply. Very confusing.

@Stephanie  I wonder if you could get any clarification on what the actual policy is regarding infants, since the two screen shots seem in conflict.

[Susan17]

@Mark116 

Since eary 2017 (a year earlier for Italian hosts), guests have been allowed to add up to 5 (yes, five!) free infants per booking, that Airbnb do not count towards the number of guests. If a host wants to charge for an infant, they must add them in to the booking as an older child, and assuming the host has an extra guest fee, the infant will  then be charged for (and counted in the numbers)

Otherwise, the host can submit a money request to the guest for payment for the infant, in which case the infant won't be counted in the guest numbers. It's all just bonkers. 

[Mark116]

@Susan17  So that means my two bedroom apartment that has a max of 4 guests, could really be forced to host NINE people?  4 adults+5 infants?  That is so crazy.  LOL, plus of course I suppose everyone can also have an emotional support animal in my no pets listing. 

I've given up expecting any fairness from airbnb, ever.  Not now, not after their IPO forces some transparency on them.  Not ever.