instant book

[Eoin8]

Hi everyone, following the pandemic and thinking to re-open again the airbnb I am concerned about turning on IB as I want to vet people thoroughly. Added to this in Ireland the government is restricting people to 90 days per year in certain towns. 

Is it a big disadvantage turning off instant book? I am worried I may have to decline some reservations and that airbnb will negatively affect my superhost and maybe even block some dates because I declined people.

Has anyone had experience with this? 

[Emiel1]

@Eoin8 

I do not use IB and also decline frequently a reservation request. And as you can see i am still Superhost....

Please note you can lower amount of declines by:

- When it is an inquiry, just answer the question. No obligation to decline.

- When it is a booking request and guest want something not possible: ask the guest to retract the request (it saves you the decline)

Airbnb will not block dates because of a decline, but they will if you cancel a reservation.

[Lisa723]

@Eoin8 your acceptance rate would have to drop very low for Airbnb to block your calendar, but excessive declines could impact your placement in search results.

Acceptance rate is not among the superhost criteria:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/829/how-do-i-become-a-superhost

Response rate is, of course. Don't ever fail to respond.

In your shoes, to minimize the necessity of declining, I would make your guest requirements excruciatingly clear in your listing and pre-booking message, telling people to please not request to book if they don't meet them; and then if someone still requests to book without meeting those requirements ask them to withdraw their request.

Many hosts operate very successfully and comfortably without instant-booking.