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

[David126]

I approve everything, reason is that whatever the rules are now they can change and as well all know Hosts will likely to be the last to be told.

[Huma0]

It would be interesting to know if the rate is calculated on a yearly or lifetime basis, because for many of us, we'll never be able to reach 95% if it's lifetime. Does anyone know the answer?

@Ange2's advice is very solid, but the problem still remains re accepting/declining booking requests. At the moment, I have a guest requesting that I already feel might be a bad fit, but now I'm conscious of my acceptance rate so don't want to decline. She seems very keen, so I don't think will be put off and withdraw the request herself. In the past, I might have simply declined and not worried about it.

[David126]

@Huma0

I do not know the answer but seems if it was an issue then you could just set up a new account.

[Huma0]

@David126

That's true, but then you would also lose all the 5 star reviews and Superhost status etc. and no longer be eligable for Plus again until you built them up. Add to this the pressure of having to accept difficult guests who are likely to give you a 4 star review!

[David126]

I have thought of Plus and I am working on some additional rooms but not sure I want to make them Plus acceptable, I do have a long term rental not far from you that is an ideal Plus venue but would never list it on ABB for the obvious reasons. Well practical reasons as well.

I have yet to see a correlation between my reviews and my pre stay communication, I think my location, guest profile, length of stay etc may help, probably the Dog gives me an extra star?

Plus strikes me as more for those renting out stand alone units, with kitchens, who do not require a security deposit.

[Huma0]

@David126

If you're not planning on becoming Plus, maybe the acceptance rate doesn't matter then, although I have a feeling it might affect position in search results...?

[David126]

@Huma0

Imprortant to play the system and keep you numbers high, you never know what is coming.

[Carlos409]

According to AIRBNB, it does matter. This is what the little Information button says, beside your Acceptance Rate:

"Targets represent the average level of performance for all hosts on Airbnb. They help us ensure a standard level of quality for every guest stay. Your listing could be removed if you consistently fall below the targets."

So AIRBNB is basically saying, you bring up your % by or above average, or get removed from the platform, regardless if all your reviews are 5 stars.

I have the same situation of severals here, I have perfect scoring in everything else, but only 67% AR. This is obviously because I don't take bookings that I know would be impossible to serve the Guest properly for several reasons, maybe the A/C broke and I need to repair it, so I don't allow bookings without A/C, maybe because it wasn't a good fit considering the guest inquiry.

So I'm getting a low score for considering if my unit is good for the Guest needs. This need to be adjusted somehow by Airbnb. It is wrong to give a negative score to Host for just trying to give a good experience to your Guest.

[Matthew285]

@Huma0 from listening to the AirBnB people who administer these programs, their intent is to have it be based on the most recent 12 months... so on a yearly basis.

That's why the SuperHost and other programs Progress boxes include the evaluation dates at the top.

[Huma0]

@Matthew285

Thanks for clarifying. I am not eligible for Plus at this point (unless I somehow change the bathroom arrangement) so I don't see any boxes for Plus or other programs in the Progress section, just for Superhost status.

[Karina162]

I had the same problem early this year; l did not decline someone who looked like an inconvenient fit  hbeing conscious of the acceptance rate as l am during the last times) and unfortunately l was right; l had to contact airbnb , to the resolution center. Fortunately this time, airbnb was extremely responsive and solved the case in “nu”, great people there, but it was a waste of time and of money, and the apartment was left many days unbooked, since the guests resolved to get out very quickly, which l prefered but left very little time for new people to look and choose the place. Not to say the time l spend exchanging mail and call with my neighbors, who where all complaining about this guest.

[Henriette4]

I have had contact with AirBnB Customer Support on this very issue and what I can clarify is that the Accepted Reservation Rate is only calculated on actual reservation requests, NOT enquiries.  So it should still be safe to decline an enquiry without it affecting your Accepted Reservation Rate.

I have also provided feedback to AirBnB in that I feel they should tell hosts in advance that they are going to introduce such a new measue so we, hosts, have a chance to respond appropriately.

It feels to me that it is going against the spirit of AirBnN as we were always reassured that we could decline any request we were uncomfortable with and now it transpires that we are penalised for this.

Hope this helps!

[Matthew285]

@Henriette4 thank you for getting confirmation on how it is supposed to work,

and thank you especially for taking the time and trouble to come here and share the information!

[Henriette4]

I like to add further information to this topic; after further enquiries and support calls raised with AirBnB it transpires that this measure can go down over time even if there are no enquiries or bookings.

I questioned why my accepted reservation rate had gone down since a week earlier as I had had no bookings or enquiries.  The reply that came back is that: "The reason the acceptance rate has gone down is that another week has passed without any activity"

I think as hosts we need to keep querying this with AirBnB

[Valerie330]

I have been wondering about the exact algorithm ever since this new requirement appeared. I am particularly annoyed at the fact that the reason for declining a request is not taken into account. I can understand why Airbnb would want to penalise hosts that do not keep their calendars up to date or that seem to discriminate but valid reasons for declining due to either guests requesting things that are clearly not available (like one additional bed) or people with no picture/reviews and no message should not be counted. I simply think that Airbnb do not want to take reasons into account for fear savvy hosts will know “which” reasons to use in order not to lose their acceptance rate. I see plenty of advice in the community that recommend to use the system in order to keep the numbers up. However, this is problematic both ways as Airbnb is built on trust and declining non suitable guests is the best way to keep up satisfaction levels for BOTH hosts and guests. I still think there should be a difference between guests that share your home and guests in separate accommodations. To me, this is radically different. One is like booking a hotel, the other is truly being a guest in the host’s home and the mindset is not at all the same. Airbnb as a business model tends to favour the former linked to instant booking but my experience is that in this area it does not compare favourably with other platforms like booking.com. It must know that, so if you look closely, all the communication is about the uniqueness of sharing, building trust, communities etc...which actually refers mostly to the latter...hence I think Airbnb is confused in its message to hosts: it wants to attract good hosts (otherwise people will book on booking.com) but it also wants to make money fast...at one stage it will really have to choose between short and long term goals. To come back to why an acceptance rate can go down with no activity: since it is s 365 day average and one more week has gone by, it is possible that you had one rejection exactly a year ago and no activity in the last week, bringing your average slightly down, especially if you do not have many bookings in a year...hope this helps. Valérie