Reservation requests

[Rachel1842]

Hi, I'm a new host  and wondering how big of an impact an expired reservation request has? Particularly versus a cancelled booking?

I have been messaging back and forth with a potential guest about their booking but the request has now expired. I felt it was the better option rather than possibly needing to cancel the booking. What would you do?

Surely AirBNB should recognise that you have responded to the request with a message?

Thanks!

[Lisa723]

@Rachel1842 Inquiries only require a response but booking requests must be approved or declined. Declining is better than allowing them to expire. In future try to get the guest to withdraw the request if you can’t get to approval within 24 hours, or failing that decline it. Another option is to approve with a note that approval is conditional on whatever conditions you require, but not everyone is comfortable with that approach.

[Sarah977]

@Rachel1842  Cancelling a booking is something you want to avoid at all costs. 

Cancelling carries heavy penalties for hosts- your calendar will be blocked for those dates so you can't rebook them, "Host cancelled this reservation XX days before check-in" appears on your review page (which makes guests wary of booking), you will be fined $50-$100, and if you have Superhost status you will lose it.

The only exceptions to that are if the cancellation would qualify under the EC policy (your plumbing bursts, the house is flooded and uninhabitable) or if it was an Instant Book booking- you are allowed 3 penalty-free cancellations/year if after an IB booking is confirmed, something about the guest's communication or past reviews sends up red flags, or they ignore your messages, never responding. 

[Robin807]

@Rachel1842 @Lisa723 @Sarah977  I am having the same problem.  I had someone send me a request to book yesterday (Not an inquiry but an actual request to book that I have to accept or decline within 24 hours).  I responded within the hour of her request asking for some more information before I accept her reservation.  I have Instant Book turned on, but because she did not meet my requirements to book instantly she had to send me a request.  

Anyway it’s been over 21 hours now since she sent her request and I have tried to get her to either provide the information that I requested or for her to cancel her request to book but I have gotten absolutely no response from her.  I understand that I will have to decline her request soon before the 24 hours is up as I don’t feel comfortable hosting someone who is completely unresponsive.  That said, it is my understanding that I’m only allowed so many times to decline a request to book.  Is this accurate or am I mistaken?

[Lisa723]

@Robin807 there is no specific limit on declines. “Too many” may result in scolding from Airbnb and/or search result placement impact, but an occasional decline is not going to hurt you. Certainly better than failing to decline or accept, and as @Sarah977 said you definitely want to avoid canceling.

[Sarah977]

@Robin807  If you decline quite a few requests, you'll get a "warning" from Airbnb trying to scare you, saying you are in danger of being delisted, but I wouldn't get too worried about that. Haven't really read too many reports, if any, of such a thing happening.

[Robin807]

@Sarah977 @Lisa723  Thank you so much for the information!  That is good to know.  I had tried to get clarification on the issue earlier today by chatting with Airbnb Support and let’s just say that they were less than helpful.

[Sarah977]

@Robin807  Airbnb support is useless these days. Actually worse than useless, they often give out bad advice and erroneous information. 

Don't waste your time with them unless it's only something they can deal with, like a tech glitch or cancelling a problematic guest's booking.

Much better and clearer explanations and advice here on the forum from other hosts.

[Rachel1842]

Thank you everyone for your replies!

[Helen3]

@Rachel1842  Welcome to Airbnb.

do have a look at Airbnb Help Centre  it's good for Q&A's around the basics of running your STR business on Airbnb i