Availability Setting Error

Diane1138
Level 2
Polk City, IA

Availability Setting Error

I have an issue around the Availability Setting.  I have my availability window set to "6 months in advance".  I had not yet set the prices I wanted for the summer of 2022 and the rates that were in there were very low.  I figured no one could reserve those dates.  I just received an instant booking for July 17-21 of 2022 at the really low rate.  

 

I have called Airbnb and want to know 1) how this happened, and 2) if they will cancel the booking on their end so I don't take the hit for it.  Should I expect a response from them?  Does anyone know what might be going on or how to fix this in the mean time?  I have now gone in and set high rates for the summer months of 2022, just in case anyone else tries to book more than six months out, but there sits the July 17-21 booking at an insanely low rate. And, the calendar is available way farther than six months out.

 

Diane1138_0-1632226962321.pngDiane1138_1-1632227037613.png

Check out the second screen capture.  It shows the booking on July 2022.  Then, while in hosting mode, I highlighted the dates of July 3 to July 9, 2022 (and it is showing as available), over in the right hand column under Availability, it shows an option of "Unavailable until January 5, 2022 Based on your 6-month availability window"  What the hell??  that is about 3 months from now.

5 Replies 5
Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

@Diane1138 

IMO the issue is occurring because you have synced with VRBO.

 

Regarding the second issue: it is technically correct, as those dates in july will be set available after beginning of january (6 months window).

 

Hi Emiel1,  I thought about the second issue and now get it; it is telling me that it would be unavailable to book until January 5th.  Thanks for making me re-think it.

 

On the first issue around having a guest book in July of 2022.  That one is still a confusion for me and I have several calls out to Airbnb.  My VRBO calendar has it blocked after 9 months so I would think that even if it is an issue with syncing with VRBO that July still would not be an option for a guest.  Putting VRBO aside, the booking was through Airbnb and my availability on Airbnb was set to six months.  I have tried resetting it to three months and then back to six months.  Then to always available and then back to six months.  Nothing seems to be working.  Next I will try clearing my cache.

Hi Emiel1,  I thought about the second issue and now get it; it is telling me that it would be unavailable to book until January 5th.  Thanks for making me re-think it.

 

On the first issue around having a guest book in July of 2022.  That one is still a confusion for me and I have several calls out to Airbnb.  My VRBO calendar has it blocked after 9 months so I would think that even if it is an issue with syncing with VRBO that July still would not be an option for a guest.  Putting VRBO aside, the booking was through Airbnb and my availability on Airbnb was set to six months.  I have tried resetting it to three months and then back to six months.  Then to always available and then back to six months.  Nothing seems to be working.  Even cleared my cache

Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Diane1138 Even with smart pricing switched off the base rate is the rate used when your calendar opens up. Setting this rate high enough will negate the risk of a cheap booking coming in.

The location of my condo is in a vacation destination and the rates vary significantly in the summer months vs. the winter months.  Summer is high demand.  I had to reduce the base rate as I move into the winter months.  In the winter, I reduce the rates to basically just enough to cover expenses.  Profit is made in the summer months.  I cannot have the base rate always high or I will never get a booking in the winter months.  

My issue remains that I have my availability window set to six months and I have a guest booking for July of 2022.