Person making reservation is not the guest

[Kathryn141]

Hello All - I am new to hosting.  I have enabled instant booking since it requires a photo id and good references.  My first guest has reserved my house for a week for his family members that are coming to visit him. I informed him of the policy the guest staying in the house is required to make the reservation.  He is asking me more questions.  Should I stick to the policy?   The man does meet requirements for instant booking but I do not think the family does? The reason he is giving me is that he wants to pay for it.  Thank you for any advice.

[Linda108]

He should book a hotel, @Kathryn141, not an Air BNB.  You will not be supported by Air BNB for anything with a third party booking.  If you want to use another booking platform or no platform, i.e., no payment through Air BNB, it is your house and your risk.  Is it worth it to you?  If the guy sounds like a really nice guy, and you want to work with him on a private basis, you could accept private payment and get a security deposit as well.

[Emiel1]

Hi,

One of the adults of the family group has to make the booking, being the main guest and responsible for the reservation.

Third party booking is not allowed by Airbnb terms (unless booker has a buseniss account)

It could also bring you into trouble when things go wrong, also reviewing process is disturbed.

more: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/427/can-i-book-on-behalf-of-a-friend-or-family-member

Best regards,

Emiel

[Kelly149]

@Kathryn141 Have him call CS to work this out. No, you should not take a 3rd party booking. No, you should not be the one to solve this problem. He can get CS to sort this out. They are capable of finding a way to take his money. 

[Troy9]

Realistically/In Practice there can be grey-areas, perhaps at-least he's being honest with it all. You certainly don't want to be surprised with different people upon arrival at your house. 

My only hope is that ABB will come to my aid when something really goes wrong with a guest. 
But when things --in any country-- goes down to 'hear say' comments etc I think you're on your own. 

My humble advice; either cancel and cancel quick, or let it slide and tollerate it. It does not mean they'll be bad guests. 

[Kathryn141]

Thank you for the advice. I think it best not to

make exceptions, especially after hearing the community replies. Again, thank you all. 

[Linda108]

I am glad that you found the community feedback valuable for your issue, @Kathryn141.  Take care and I wish you the success you deserve in this business.