Hi how do I answer a booking request

[Philippa3]

Hi I am new at this, and being silly. Please how do I reply to booking enquiry? Have done reply to airbnb e mail, and written response that appears on the page, but don't think , the person gets my reply, thank you xxxxx

[Andrea9]

@Philippa3

Sounds like you went live with your listing without really having made yourself familiar with the website and read the different helpful tutorials? Make sure you spend some time studying such things and how to contact Airbnb, like have them on speed dial when the sh** hits the proverbial fan. Also best study past posts on the community for a quick educational!

To your question - the email is simply a notification, the same as an sms text message from Airbnb in case you don't use the app.

You have to stay logged into your account, and when you get a notification check your account.

Anything you send to your guest only gets through on the booking message thread.

Make sure you also know the difference between booking inquiry and booking request and whether you have left Instant Booking on (usually the default for new listings).

Reading material:

https://www.airbnb-toolkits.com/my_toolkits

https://travel.hostfully.com/airbnb-contact-numbers-805ba9e004d7#.t2el12fum

https://www.airbnb.com.au/help/contact_us

https://globalhostingblogs.com/2015/12/04/dont-be-an-airbnb-baby/comment-page-1/#comment-267

https://globalhostingblogs.com/2015/12/06/ten-guests-you-dont-want/

[Lawrene0]

What a beautiful place you have, @Philippa3! Yes to everything @Andrea9 said, and just so you know, a quick way to tell whether your message has gone out is to take a look at your dashboard. Go to Host at the top of your screen, pick Dashboard from the dropdown there, then Inbox in the grey bar just under Host, Trips, etc. Beside the name of the guest is your conversation with that guest. If your message shows up there, it went out to the guest. They don't always respond, but at least you know you did in fact reply. 

Go back to Dashboard and make sure it is not alerting you to do something - like Accept or Pre-Approve. Follow the prompts for those. Don't leave them to expire. Again, do familiarize yourself with the terms. Take Andrea's excellent advice. All the best with hosting!

[Babs0]

@Andrea9 has some good advice there, @Philippa3! Especially important since you seem to live in the UK but have listings in France. Read as much as you can to educate yourself. Maybe even snooze your listing until you have done so.

Good luck!

[Lizzie]

Hello @Philippa3,

Welcome to the world of hosting! 🙂

Just to add to the helpful comments made here, I thought you might also find it useful to have a read through of these thread here in the Community Center (CC); What Tips Would You Give a New Host? and also this amazing bunch of Community Guides which have been created by hosts here in the CC. There is lots of super information here in the CC, so I would generally have a good explore around of the discussions on the boards and via the search bar. 

As others have mentioned here, you will find it a great asset to read around how Airbnb works and tips on hosting your guests. 

Exciting times and best of luck welcoming your first guests.

Lizzie

[Andrea9]

@Lizzie Thanks for adding the oh-so-helpful help guides - I felt I'd forgotten something!

[Lizzie]

Hehe - no problem @Andrea9 🙂