Short-term discounts disabled on my account

[Val4219]

Hey guys need help. I used to be able to Set short-term discounts back when I was a host, last year. I took a hiatus and am a returning host. I found short term discounts disabled for my account. Like I can see my old promotions but not able to offer new promotions. I contacted airbnb and was told only new hosts can do this. I do not think that makes sense. I know as new hosts, we can offer some promotions like once or twice. That is not what I am talking about. I an speaking of  the ongoing ability to set promotions any time for certain dates or months. And if you offer 25%  or more, airbnb send a weekly promotional emails through their mailing lists. And for under 25%, you nightly rate gets a strike line. Know what I am talking about? Please help. This is driving me nuts cause I stopped getting bookings and that promotion used to be magical.

[Wendy1393]

Do you by chance use a PMS?  When they launched the new features it removed this option for us too.  Now it says we can only edit the pricing from our property management software.  The option to add special promotions is gone.  I contacted customer service about this and they said the only way to do it was to create a "rule set."  Unfortunately this doesn't have any of the same benefits (like being featured in emails, strike through pricing, etc).  Our old promotions are still visible, but I can't set up any new ones.  It's super frustrating.  I used that feature all the time too... now the only way is to disconnect our PMS (which we won't do), so we're stuck  We were almost exclusively loyal to Airbnb before this, but bookings are down and now that we can't take advantage of special features that used to help it makes me wonder what the value of being so loyal is...

[Pat271]

@Wendy1393 

I use Pricelabs, and I still have the option. I am using the most recent Airbnb beta.

What country are you in? I see in the article below that certain countries don’t get the Custom Promotion option currently.

[Wendy1393]

We're in Mexico, so it's not on the list in the article.  I use Pricelabs, but it is connected to Lodgify, which then feeds into Airbnb.  Prior to the most recent beta it worked exactly like @Pat271 said.  Now that feature is completely gone for me.  I think it is due to being connected to Lodgify,  because we have a combined listing that isn't connected to Lodgify and the option is still available for that one.  I suspect this is a way to encourage hosts to only use Airbnb rather than channel managers, but we need it to keep everything synced correctly and we are not willing to rely solely on Airbnb for business after some less than stellar recent experiences we had with their host support.  

[Bhumika]

Hi @Wendy1393 , Did you have a chance to go through @Pat271 's suggestion below and try it out?

[Val4219]

Hello guys sorry for the late reply. I read all the responses. I do not have my account connected to a hosting manager or anything like that. I only got one listing.  Does this promotional feature only available when there are 1+ listing?

Once again got a third rep telling me promos are only for new hosts. First 3 reservations only. This thing is driving me nuts.

What am I missing?

[Wendy1393]

Yes, that isn't working for us.  It seems to be related to using a PMS (we use Lodgify).  The listing I have that doesn't sync through Lodgify still has the feature. 

[Bhumika]

Hi @Val4219 @Wendy1393, Did you have a chance to refer to this thread here? 

From your comments, I assume you might like to refer to Question 4 and Question 7 in the post.

I hope it helps to solve the confusion a bit! Do let me know if this was not what you are looking for, and I will make sure to reach out to the technical team to know if there is any technical issue here.

[Val4219]

  

[Val4219]

@Bhumika , thank you for reaching out. I followed the the link.  It is very helpful but it's not helping my situation at all.  Please see screenshot of what I see under calendar  settings. I see pricing tab and availability tab. 

I can see old promos but there is no way to edit or add.

The last time I had bookings before hiatus was 10/23/2022. And it's also near the last time I used promos.

[Val4219]

Support is closing ticket on me. Appears they do not get this at all.

 **[Private conversation removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

 

 

[Vincent1217]

This is still an issue for me. I finally got support to escalate this to engineering. I was told it will be at least 3 days before they respond.

[Pat271 · Accepted solution]

What CS told you was incorrect. Surprise, surprise. 😞

You should be able to add promotions on your calendar.

Go to your calendar on the browser version of Airbnb. Don’t select any dates. On the right-hand side, make sure you are on the Pricing tab. There should be a Promotions section, and then Custom Promotion under that. Select Custom Promotion, and it will prompt you to select the dates for the promotion.

NOTE: If you don’t see the Custom Promotion section, there are certain exceptions in which it will be disabled. Read here:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2720

[Val4219]

None of those listing types apply to me. When they say at least 3 reservations, does that mean new hosts?

I am returning after a few months hiatus. I got one current booking now for 1 month. Then I got 2 upcoming bookings.

Will That feature come up after those 3 bookings have past? Is that what I should understand? @Pat271 

[Pat271]

@Val4219 

I think you’ve had enough bookings judging by the reviews you have, and snoozing for a few months should not have affected the total booking count.

Are you using the Airbnb Beta?

[Val4219]

@Pat271 thank you for being persistent. It helped me be persistent too with airbnb support. Took 3 tickets and a stern final phone call demanding for a supervisor to get the answers I needed.

Essentially airbnb detected that I had an AIRDNA attached to the account and that is why the feature short term promotion feature was disabled.

I last used AIRDNA in 2021 for 1 single month. It didnt interfere with my account for a long time after.  But Somehow their software  activated again when I reactivated my listing.

I contacted them and they deleted my property from their service. 

Bam! The short term custom promotion feature reappeared in my calendar settings. 

Thank you.

[Pat271]

@Val4219 

That’s great - so glad it’s working for you now! 

[Val4219]

Is beta the early access? I am using early access feature.. if that isn't beta, what is the link to beta?

[Val4219]

I thought I was in beta. How do I verify? 

I was a host in the past then converted my old listing in order to keep my reviews. I am no longer renting my home. I am renting the guesthouse. 

I still can't get answers from airbnb.  I don't know if I am in beta mode or not

[Vincent1217]

Do you see try early access on your listing page? I unfortunately did and now I cannot do promotions since I use a channel manager.

[Wendy1393]

Thank you for the reply @Pat271 .  When I go to my calendar this is what appears: 

When I click "pricing and availability" on the right, it redirects to the page below

When I click pricing and availability it redirects to this page automatically

There is not even an option for viewing past promotions on that tab anymore 😞