I've had a look at my calender and I notice that days have been crossed off stating not able to book

[Christine637]

My calender has been crossed off until Monday and i don't know why.  I have not had any confirmed bookings so not sure why it has been crossed out.  Please can you someone help me.  Thanks

[Sue-and-Andrew0]

Hi

The only time I've had "crossed off" days is when I've blocked them.  I had a 2-day advance warning in place for bookings, but that usually appears as greyed-out blocks with a small stopwatch icon.

Do you import calendar availability from any other platforms (eg. Booking.com)?

[Abi010]

@Sue-and-Andrew0 , I  hope you have solved your own issues by now, I have a similar issue,  a guest made an enquiry / trip request,  and my calendar has been blocked off with the red sign by Airbnb.  I have no instant booking on. 

As I am alone female, I usually pre assess guest before I confirm their booking.  My question is does that mean that Airbnb has previously approved this trip and no other guest can book this date. Will I be penalised by Airbnb if I declined,  I have already been sent a warning for  declining too many request.  Please help. Thanks 

[Gwen386]

@Christine637 An inquiry and a request are two different things.

The inquiry is when the guests ask questions about your rental. All you have to do is answer their questions within 24 hours. 

A request, which it sounds like what you have since the dates are marked off on your calendar by airbnb, gives you 24 hours to either pre-approve or decline the request. This allows you time to communicate with the prospective guest via the airbnb platform to assess whether this guest would be the right fit for you. Then you decide whether you want to pre-approve or decline the request. If you decline, there will be a pop-up box asking the reason. I think, but don’t quote me on this, you have 3 free cancellations a year. But the cancellation policy recently changed so I’m not 100% sure. If you decide to pre-approve the prospective guest, then the guest has 24 hours to pay. 

[Helen744]

@Abi10 sometimes if you have clicked the pre approval button the days will appear to you to be booked , but others are still able to book and these are not booked until the guest pays. guests will sometimes simply book somewhere else, this is generally someone who does not comply with your rules for Instant booking . Such as suspect id , or less than optimum id .Or maybe someone who has raised an issue with Airbnb before even booking , maybe because of something that you requested or said , like refusing a pet or asking for photo id . H

[Helen744]

the three free cancellations may require a follow through and need valid reasons and are only for instant book . In a monochrome world , I think red is a problem. H

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Abi010 can you screenshot the red sign? Is it a dot?

[Abi010]

@Mike-And-Jane0 @Christine637 @Helen744   Thank you so much for everyone that took their time to answer my questions.  By the time  I checked back on my listing, the guest has booked.  I think it was a delay by Airbnb not sending the confirmation text that the guest has booked.  Thank you to everyone,  I am still new to this and learning.