HELP

[Irene0]

I am new to hosting with Airbnb and have had a request from a pending guest (via Airbnb message) to view the room I have to offer in my apartment.  She only contacted me yesterday and is coming to see the room tomorrow and if she likes it will move in on Saturday.  How do I organise payment on such short notice?  This person has asked me for my address to view the apartment only.  Should I give it to her?

 Also, another guest was somehow automatically reservered through airbnb without going through the normal booking procedure.  I am finding things a little confusing with the way to advise..keep...book...reserve...pending...message....???  I have given him the dates he requested but in someway felt pressured to answer and confirm reservation.  Now he is asking me what he should do next!  Should I just say that as his reservation is confirmed he should just arrive on the said date and payment has already been taken out of his account.....although I have not as yet received confirmation of payout from Airbnb.

Lots of questions...but I need the answers urgently.   Thank you

Irene

[Jessa0]

Hi Irene,

come over to the Group New Host Forum..

So first off are you a plant? If not we want to see your face if we are to live with you.

Giving out adresses to prospective guests should be avoided, that guest will most likely not want to pay through the system. I can understand the reasoning behind viewing a place if the guest were to stay long term, as in more than 2 months, but this one sounds like a red flag to me. I don't understand your second question but if your guest has a confirmed booking then he is properly booked. If you pre-approve a guest the guest can take the steps to make a booking. Nobody but yourself can pressure yourself into accepting bookings.

Cheers

J

[Marcus0]

People that request viewings before bookings are actually creating two issues.   1.  Airbnb highly recommends you do NOT make personal contact with any potential guests before a confirmed booking is made.  You operate outside of the safety of the airbnb system.  2.  Most likely the person is viewing several apartments and you really end up wasting your time in conducting inspections.  You must be careful which buttons you click on when responding to enquiries.  You can accidently pre-approve them and then they have 24 hours to confirm.

If you have just received a booking confirmation from Airbnb, you will only receive a payout 24 hours after he arrives.  This protects the guest.  You should always make a confirmed time to meet at the address or at least find out an estimation of arrival.  The guest should always contact you should he have delays so you don´t wait around all day.   Good luck.