Airbnb Plus and Accepted Reservation Rate

[Lauren-and-Shawn0]

Good Morning Community!

As proud Airbnb Superhosts we are interested in exploring some of the new Airbnb Opportunities, including Airbnb Plus.

The only requirement we do not meet is our Accepted Reservation Rate, which is around 80%.

The problem is that the only time we decline a reservation is when our space is not a good fit for the guest because they have clearly not read our profile and the rules/details of the space.

Many people will ask about extended stays, which we are not a good fit for due to no kitchen, etc. Or ask about details of the kitchen (again there is not one). They may want to bring far more people than is safe, etc. etc.

For us to accept these bookings would be unfair to the guests and potentially not safe.

How do we continue to welcome the right guests to our space so that they have an excellent stay and not effect our Accepted Reservation Rate?

Thank you for your insights!

Lauren

[Ange2 · Accepted solution]

@Lauren-and-Shawn0   If it is just an enquiry you can write a message and that counts as a response.  I never decline enquiries.

If they have actually booked the place what I have done is explain that my listing is not suitable for their needs and ask them to cancel and I will refund them 100%.  Of course they will need to call Airbnb and haggle over getting the Airbnb fee back. But Airbnb seems to be amenable to that–customer relations, brand etc.– if the reason is valid and the guest not a repeat offender.  On occasion I have called Airbnb and asked them to cancel because of pets, children etc.  And/or write in the opening description – "Be sure to read the whole listing before booking to make sure it meets your needs and expectations".  I can't think of any other way.  It is a pain when guests do not read and the host gets dinged for it.

[Lauren-and-Shawn0]

Thank you so much!

This is the most helpful information we have received so far.

Just to be clear - if someone is sending an enquiry, there is no penalty for not "pre-approving/declining"?

I was of the understanding we needed to give both a written response as well as a "pre-approve" or "decline" within the 24hr window.

We sincerely appreciate your insights.

Lauren and Shawn

[Ange2]

@Lauren-and-Shawn0    I generally go by what I see in Airbnb policy articles - although they change quite often. But, look at this current article:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/430/what-is-response-rate-and-how-is-it-calculated 

it says you can just send a message.  When you send a message you will notice, when you reload the page, the clock has stopped - no 24 hour limit. I never decline inquiries and have not noticed a negative. You will keep getting reminders to respond, but the ball is in the guest's court to respond after my message so I ignore the reminders until, or if, they do respond.

Acceptance rate is something else,  I have no idea how Airbnb calculate it, but less declines will probably help.   I have heard that pre-approvals also help. If a prospective guest sends an inquiry and all is good I hit pre-approve then it's up to the guest to book, and with a pre-approval it is automatically accepted so no buttons to click.  You do get to choose whether to block other guests from booking the same dates or leave as first come first served. Pre-approved guests do not always book so I opt for the latter.

[Lauren-and-Shawn0]

Such awesome tips! Thank you so much for your help.

[Karina162]

The problem with my listing though, is that l almost always receive requests, not inquiries. It seems people doesn’t notice there is the possibility to contact the host first through mailing, without making an actual request. I can tell this is so, since l was making some bookings myself in the last trip, and the first button that l can see in red color is namely “make a request” . If you tap that they make it clear to you in a little pop up window, they will not charge you yet in doing so, so as a guest, you just go on making a request instead an inquiry; as a guest, airbnb makes for you much easier to make a request than an inquiry. So l have to do many declines, due to people who doesn’t read well, among others. My acceptance rate now is 56% quiet appart from the 80% needed, having all the other rates above the required level, which per se is already highly set.

[Lisa-and-Ray0]

I have the same issue-- i get almost entirely requests and not inquiries; and many of them are from guests who i feel are better off when i decline. It's not necessarily good for the guest to accept them, let them stay in your place and be unhappy-- or make the host unhappy and receive a poor review. Better to prevent that up front. But i don't know why i, as a host, should be denigrated for that? Isn't the screening process, and the "community" approach of getting to know your guests, part of the airbnb promise? This rating is infuriating, and inappropriate, IMHO.

[Edward25]

 Think of the the accept/decline options on an inquiry as two of three options you have to responsd to an inquiry: accept, decline or respond.  For instance, here are examples of inquiries I get that I respond to but do not accept or decline: Inquiry: We have a small dog, is that okay? Reponse: Sorry, no pets allowed.  Inquiry:  How far is it to Whitewater?  Response: About 20 minutes?  Inquiry: Will you accept a one night booking on the 25th?  Response: Sorry, there is a two night minumum.  None of those inquiries book because after I answered, they did not respond.  I do nothing else and all is well.  Yes, it would be helpful if Airbnb explained it this way.  But they don't appear to.  I'm trying to find out how to get listed as Plus because, by all accounts, I qualify; however I'm not having much luck.  Someone really needs to be in charge of host communications.  Someone who actually clicks on all the links available to host to see exactly what happens when we try to get information.  Someone who is acutally a host.

[Lisa-and-Ray0]

I'm confused- if i send a message in response to a request, airbnb still shows it as if i have not responded, so i am forced to decline within the 24 hour period. Once, i hit Decline at 24 hours and 1 minute. I contacted airbnb to fix it, but they refused, so i took a hit. Lesson learned. But sending a message does not seem to qualify as a response to a request.

[Greg103]

Hello, I am facing the same discremination with Airbnb Plus Acceptance ratings due to people asking for things outside of my listing specifications or requirements (e.g. additional guests, etc.), and YOU ARE REQUIRED to pre-approve or decline Inquries within 24 hours for a positive response rating, just as you are required to make a decision on Booking Requests. However, what is not clear is whether the Decline of an Inquriy affects you the same way a Deny would for a Booking Request. Airbnb reps have not been one ounce of help and provide misinformation, conflicting information, and articles that do not respond directly to this concern because Airbnb Plus is a new feature - the reps simply read from a script and are not properly trained or prepared, nor are they active users of this service (such an obstacle!). We as hosts need to speak up and advoate to Airbnb leadership and decision makers so they understand these unfair scoring impacts to this new Airbnb Plus concept, and ensure they know they have raised the bar far too high with Acceptance Ratings without taking these examples we speak to mind or consideration. Additionally, when I first started as a host, 25% of my booking requests in early 2017 were scams  (scary!). This was prior to Airbnb raising the bar on verification, photos, etc., so why is their Acceptance Rating bar rasised so high without taking this into consideration either? Airbnb needs to ease in the first year of Airbnb Plus with these considerations in mind and lower their Acceptance rating scoring minimums.

[Eddie69]

I wish I had seen this before. I have instant book on and have never canceled a booking, yet my acceptance rating is not 100%. I have declined people who book less guests on the inquiry then on the message say more people will be staying. I pointed this out to Airbnb support and they pretty much said I need to accept inquires or it will count against my acceptance rating. I asked even if the booking is against Airbnb policies and they just ignored that question.

The only option I see to keep up rating (unless they change their policy) is to not decline or call airbnb to report and cancel the inquiry.

If someone sends an inquiry against Airbnb rules, you are penalized if you accept and penalized if you decline, not fair.

[Melinda74]

Thanks, this might help with my new issue. Since AirBnB brought in a new 'Accepted Reservations' portion under Progress stats, I have noticed I got a low rating because of declining enquiries.

So, to expllain, I have never cancelled a booking, nor have I ever declined a request for a date that is available in my calendar. However, I have Instantbook set (and my calendar is always up to date) and I have set a 3 day notice/preparation period. But I have also ticked the setting that allows guests to make enquiries within that 3 day period, but they can instant book. I have had many guests sending me requests to check in in 2 hours or something. Some I have actually been able to acommodate, however, this is often not possible. If I'm out or otherwise occupied, I have to decline. I always first respond to the message and explain that I can't accommodate them on such short notice. But then I also push the decline button. It seems that this is what I am being penalised for.

My thinking is that, with the settings as I have them, AirBnB should be doing 2 things:

1. Notifying the potential guest that they are making an enquiry within a notice period and they may not be accepted,

2. not counting declined bookings that are within a period that is not even open on the calender because of the notice settings.

However, it seems like this is not the case. So, as it stands, would you suggest that I can respond to requests and decline in writing, but that I just leave the 'decline/accept' buttons alone?

The only other option would be to not allow people to enquire within the notice period, but that seems sad since I have actually been able to help people out last minute on occasion.

[Ken-And-Madelyn0]

That's exactly what's been happening to me.  Mine was at 94%, then I complained to Airbnb and it magically went up 100%.  I then declined a booking because the guest was asking to check in within 90 minutes.  I could not accommodate.  My settings are 24 hours notice.  When I declined, my rating dropped to 93%.  I called and spent 15 infuriating minutes on the phone.  At the very end, the customer service person said they were changing the metric on that and it should be back to 100%.  It makes no sense that a host would be penalized for declining a guest when the setting is a very clear 24 hours notice.

[Lisa-and-Ray0]

I also have a 1 day buffer period set- for cleaning, etc. I once had an inquiry for someone who wanted to arrive within hours. It was late afternoon, and knowing i would not accept, i planned to respond the following morning-- well within the 24 hour period, because i had an important family event that night.  Airbnb-- not the guest, but an airbnb rep-- actually CALLED me in the middle of my family event about this request. i was FURIOUS. His inability to plan in advance is NOT my emergency.  In fact, the expressed urgency alarmed me and made me suspicious of the guest. Don't travel to a place and then say it's urgent, i need a place to stay.  This is the ONLY time i have ever spoken to an airbnb rep-- they were WAY out of line. Hosts need to be respected as much as guests.

[Pete28]

The more interesting question is how long will it take to go from 80% to 95% even if you never refuse anybody. Hopefully it is a yearly avg, not lifetime...