@Suzanne302
Suzanne, I started a thread on this exact topic a month ago and the short answer to your post is, NO, it is not possible to send a past guest a special offer.
When a past guest sends you an enquiry it automatically attaches itself to the past message stream with that guest and, as that previous stay has completed, there is no option to send any sort of offer.
I have had this out with CS because it has been a thorn in my side for some time now, as we do get a few guests who wish to return, and I do like to reward them for their loyalty with a cheaper nightly rate.
I have worked out a solution now in that I get them to book for one night less than their required stay length and give them that additional night for free, block my calendar, it's quick and easy and nobody (except Airbnb) gets caught......they just miss out on a one night service fee!
It did come up again recently because I had a guest who has stayed here before on two occasions and this time wanted his month long booking at a special negotiated nightly rate to go through Airbnb so he could claim the accommodation cost as a work related expense. His employer required an ABN (Australian Business Number) for it to be regarded as a legitimate work expense, and being retired and not 'working' full-time, I no longer have an ABN. Official Airbnb reservation details however would have sufficed for his employer.
The only scenario CS could offer me was to reduce the listing amount on the dates that he wanted to book and hope that nobody else jumped in and grabbed a portion of that month before he completed his booking check-out payment.
Suzanne, I am now in discussions with the development team to try and do something about this. A new enquiry should always be treated as just that........a new enquiry regardless of whether the guest has been before or not!
My pitch to them is, an enquiry should automatically trigger that 'Send Special Offer' box, it doesn't matter if the enquiry does not relate to a stay, but it should be there for the times that it does.
I am hopeful we will get somewhere here because Airbnb hate losing money, and I am afraid this one month booking slipped through their fingers because they simply did not offer a viable solution!
Cheers........Rob