Confused about all-vacant calendar but a "not availalble on these dates"-reply. What's wrong?

[Esben0]

Hello

My wife and I are first time AirBnB users, and going to Florida with our son, in the beginning of 2017.

At one of our destinations, we found some really attractive and cheap places near the beach, and tried to book them, but got rejected.

One guy just said "sorry currently NA", another guy replied "sorry, you just missd the last dates, check back later to see if anyone cancels etc. etc."

That sounds legit - BUT when I go to my wish list now, 24 hours later, some of these declined rooms are still listed as available on the dates we want to travel - a few even have entire january and february vacant in the calendar.

So now I got courius. Are we rejected because of our lack of renting history, incomplete profiles, or insufficient inquiry messages?

Then I wonder why the hosts tell us that the dates are unavailable, instead of telling us what made them reject us?

And also, is it acceptable behavior to keep showing an all-vacant calendar, 24 after rejecting our request with the reason that the places are unavailable?

Or am I missing something here? We're new to this stuff, so please bear with our questions 🙂

We are driving around to a handfuld of cities, and already booked a couple of "ordinary" inexpensiveAirBnB places to stay here at - with no problems...

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help us clarify this 🙂

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

You'll drive yourself crazy trying to figure out some hosts and listings. Hosts can decline and don't have to give a valid or real reason. I wouldn't take it personally- it could be anything from them not having their calendar uptodate, holding out for a longer booking, holding out for a booking from another site, etc. 

[Marit-Anne0]

@Esben0

I believe it is a case of airbnb not having sufficient filters to find the best match for your group.

Some are reluctant to accept families with small children for various reasons, but we are not able to filter the family friendly properties. US is different to Europe, properties will have to be safe for children or the owner could be liable for incidents - like the pool will have to be fenced or it is not deemed safe for children. Look for superhosts with Instant Book activated.  

[Cynthia-and-Chris1]

It could be any number of reasons why these hosts are doing what they should be doing.  Many hosts in tourist-type towns list on multiple booking sites, so they may have already secured a reservation via one of those sites and just haven't bothered to update their Airbnb calendar.  They may also be using the excuse "Sorry, unavailable" because they feel your family may not be a good fit for their property.  Should they tell you the real reason?  It would be nice, but then you may feel they are discriminating against you. 

It may help if you fill our your profile completely and include a brief message with your request giving some background on your family, what your vacation plans are, and the fact you have booked several other Airbnbs along your travels.

[Esben0]

Thanks a lot for your reply. This is a new world to me, so I just need to understand how things work 🙂

A rejection like "sorry unavailable" seems pretty useless to me, if they don't want me to rent their property. I'd wish that I had a chance to improve my inquiry message and profile informaton, if that's the problem. (Of course I understand that you can't spend all your time explaning the basics to several newbies every day - but a more detailed rejection message could be used..)

And if they have a problem with us staying only 3 days, then why are they mentioning a 2 day minimum stay?

If they have a problem with hosting a family with a small kid, then why is the place listed ad "Family/kid friendly"?

And finally, if the hosts are not updating the calendar, it might waste a lot of time for people like me who read all the details and check out the place, just to be rejected because the calendar was not updated. If the host expect me to read all details from the listing before contacting him, I guess it would be fair to expect that he's got correct and up to date information about the place?

Does that behavior affect the hosts's rating in any way, or is it just a part of the game that the "vacant dates" in the calendar might be occupied?

[Cynthia-and-Chris1]

You're absolutely correct in a lot of what you said.  It gives ALL hosts a bad name when a few of them don't keep their calendars updated, brush off guests requests, etc.  It's a waste of everyone's time, unfortunately.  Also, unfortunately, it doesn not really affect the host's rating as long as he/she is responding to your inquiry in a timely manner.  You can click the little "flag" button in your conversation with the host to alert Airbnb to it then explain how it is a waste of time for them not to keep their calendars updated.  This may or may not do anything - I'm not sure how much attenion Airbnb pays to these flags.

Good luck!

[Marit-Anne0]

@Esben0

Some would reject simply because you have no history, no previous positive reviews from other hosts.  They think that newbies equal trouble although any experienced host would know that this is not the case.  

Too many declines for the wrong reasons and there will be a warning from airbnb and a drop in search results.  

Revealing their real reason for declining, it may be against the discrimination act and again a risk of being suspended from airbnb altogether.

It may be that in high season they are hoping for a stay that exceeds their minimum stay.  

Anything else and it would be pure speculation.  

Do bear in mind that anyone can list on airbnb and not all of them are approaching the job of hosting in a professional manner.

Look for superhosts with plenty of positive reviews - that is a sign of a quality host. It may be that you need to pay a little more, but I think worth it for the gamble of a less experienced host.

[Scott80]

Since you mentioned that you applied to really cheap and attractive places, it could be that they are not actively renting on AirBnB and have not gotten around to deleting or updating pricing and availablity on their listing. 

As others have written the almost sure-fire way to get acceptance is to book with a super-host who allows instant booking. Once you have a confirmed booking with them, it would be very difficult and costly for them to change their mind. But, as with everything if someone has a near-perfect reputation and waives their right to reject prospective guests, they are going to command top-dollar. 

If you really want to pursue getting acceptance from hosts that require approval before booking, here is an article that describes ways to improve your chances: https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/how-to-not-get-rejected-on-airbnb-according-to-airbnb-hosts

[Esben0]

Thanks.

I alrady found that list and updated my profile etc. today.

It looks like the guys I'm talking about are reselling hotel rooms and other vacation rentals.

I don't know how that works? Do they book a cople of rooms for an entire season with a huge discount, and profit on the resale?

Anyway, they both have super ratings and have a listing with hundreds of places around US / the entire world. So I guess they are experienced...

[James1]

Having hundreds of listings all over the world is NOT a good sign on airbnb. As others have said, spend a few more bucks and find a superhost with great reviews.

[links hidden]

[John-and-Heather0]

@Esben0

Wow--if you can tell that a host is taking someone else's property and subletting it, please report the listing to AirBNB.

A primary rule is that the host is supposed to be the real host, and the guest is supposed to be the real guest.

[Esben0]

I did a search on places located right at the beach in fort lauderdale. I got a lot of listings that seems to be hotel rooms or appartments which are subletted to AirBnB users.