How do I remove the option of extra people?

[Traci1]

I do not want guests having the option of extra people sleeping on the floor or sofa (we only can accomodate 4 people in 2 beds). How do I remove the option of extra people?

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

@Traci1 Look on your Basics page. You can set the maximum number of people there.

[Traci1]

Hi Ed! I did that however under Price, my listing reads this: Extra people: No Charge

And I don't want the option of extra people. I've searched the Community Center and this seems to be an issue for many. I don't want more people sleeping in the unit that I have beds. Any idea how to change this?

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

@Traci1 You can ignore this...it doesn't mean that guests can book an unlimited number of people, it simply means that you don't charge for additional guests (whether 1, 2, 3 or 4). They will only be able to make a reservation for 4 people max.

[Traci1]

Ah, thanks! That is really unclear on the hosting dashboard.

[Traci1]

As long as I have you... we want to rent only for 7 day increments from Saturday to Saturday (since we'll be doing the cleaning and both work). Is there any way to set this in the listing? I thought I did but someone just requested a Wednesday to Wednesday.

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

@Traci1 Yes you should be able to set this up in the calendar requiring a minimum of 7 days, with check-ins only on Saturdays. If it's not working, contact Airbnb.

[Traci1]

We'll do. Thank you, really appreciate your help!

[Corinna8]

But what happens when they show up with extra people and your listing shows a maximum of 5 (they showed up with 7)!

[Donna15]

@Traci1, there used to be a simple trick to get rid of that Extra Persons box entirely (i.e. enter a very large amount, hit Save, and when the page refreshed, the box would be gone). However, ABB seems to have caught on to the trick recently, and it no longer works. 

All you can do is be very clear - in at least two highly visible places in the description - about the maximum number of guests permitted. Include it in your House Rules, which need to be very, very specific. 

@Corinna8, that's a difficult one to handle. In principle, only the five 'official' guests should be allowed into the house. The remaining two would need to be directed to find other accommodation. Matter of fact, the official guests are already breaking the rules of the contract, especially if the maximum number is included in the House Rules as well. You could state that if anyone shows up that is not one of the official registered guests, AirBnB will be informed and the reservation will be cancelled immediately - for everyone.  

You can reinforce this by reminding guests of this aspect of the House Rules during your communication prior to and/or after the booking has been made. 

I'd also recommend that you require a hefty Security Deposit. 

[Danielle52]

Hi There!

I just read your response and please forgive me for not "getting it" but if you state MAX 4 guests in your rules and have max 4 guests and the "no charge for additional guests" shows right at the top of you listing.. it seems VERY confusing to me.  You're saying to just ignore this??  Is there a way to totally remove this??

Thanks for your help... I'm new at this!

[Elise-and-Frank0]

I find this to be frustrating - I only allow 2 guests maximum, and find this setting to be misleading because Airbnb actually lists "No charge for additional guests" as a benefit of my listing. I do have "Strict 2 guest maximum" in my house rules but based on the questions guests ask, they must not be reading these...ugh:-( I'd really like there to be a drop down option under extra person fee to be "Not Allowed".

[Andrea9]

@Traci1 @Danielle52 @Elise-and-Frank0 @Corinna8 @Ed & Hugh

The explanation given by @Donna15 is the best way to handle this.

The problem with this "Extra guests: no charge" is that hosts know what it means, but for a potential guest not in the know this does sound like a wonderful free-for-all to bring an X amount of additional guests. I did a little test of my own recently and asked different people in my environment who'd never used Airbnb as to how they understood this. Answer was that they more or less ALL said that it was meant that you can bring extra guests for free. 

This misleading point really should be tackled by the tech team.

So at the moment the only way to change this option to not invite free loaders is to  install an extra amount for extra guests after 2 or 3 guests. Admittedly not ideal when renting a whole house for a fixed amount of people i.e. 4., yet it might be the lesser of two evils until Airbnb solves this.

Since guests often don't bother reading the description properly, it's additionally to be recommended to mention the maximum of 4 guests in the description. Also add it in the house rules with the clause to the effect that coming with more than 4 are reason for immediate cancellation.