Hoax?

[Aline283]

I received a request to book my place for almost three months buys it’s. Third party request which I know is not allowed. I asked that they gave his colleagues either create an account to book or use a business account t. Should I be cautious-this will be my first booking. 

“Hi I’m trying to confirm the reservation and it needs a photo. I’m renting this place for two colleagues of mine, so I’m not going to be the actual resident. I can send you a photo of me anyways but I wanted you to know that it won’t be me there personally. Is that okay?”

[Mohammed134]

Hi there, as someone who has a high occupancy rate I get this all the time. It's very common for corporate companies to book for their employees on Airbnb. The best way is to ensure there is ID, Photo associated with the account outside of this if you strongly don't feel comfortable with the booking I would connect with Airbnb Customer Support team to verify the booking or the travellers in question.

[Kaylee18]

@Aline283   I agree and I would have the actual person who would be the guest book on their own account. Make sure they are verified with government ID and photo. Since they want a long term, it's always better to be safe so you don't end up with issues during the stay. 

[Sarah977]

@Aline283  First of all, there is no way that a new host should accept a 3 month booking. If the guests turned out to be horrible, you'd have a big hassle on your hands. New hosts should stick to short bookings, 2 weeks, max or even one week, until you are more experienced with vetting guests and being a host. It's a big learning curve, both dealing with guests as well as Airbnb. And anyone who stays more than a month will fall under landlord/teant laws, and that can get messy.

Next, do not accept 3rd party bookings. Not only are they against Airbnb's TOS, if the guests cause problemes, Airbnb will not back you up. It's very common, also, tht when someone books for others, they don't convey any of your houserules or other things to those they are booking for, which can cause you no end of problems.

There are 3rd party bookings allowed if a host has a business account, but I don't know how you determine if the guest has that type of account.