Identity

[Aggie1]

Hi, I would prefer to have more than just an email and a phone number of a potential guest before offering someone pre-booking or confirming a booking. How can I do so?

1. Should I ask for ID verification of all guests?

2. Will this reduce the number of people who want to stay?

3. Is it  possible to ask the guest to send me an official ID such as a driver's licence?

4. Will Airbnb confirm that they have received it before the actual booking is made.

Would appreciate guidance in this matter.

Thanks

Aggie

[Hilary-And-Ed0]

Hello @Aggie1,

1.  You can ask for ID when the guest arrives (to confirm that they are the person who booked), but you must state in your house rules that you will be checking.

2.  It might reduce your inquiries if it seems to the guest that it will be a bit of a rigamarole.

3. No guest would send this.  I wouldn't.

4.  Airbnb only confirms that they have made the verifications stated on the person's profile.  These are just methods to check that the person is who they say they are.

I would suggest asking a lot of questions before pre-approving to put your mind at ease.  Ask what brings them to your area, and only approve people whose answers you are comfortable with.

[Aggie1]

Hilary & Ed,

Thank you very much for taking the time and writing your response. It is very helpful.

I think that the basic issue is whether asking that guests be verified offers us more security in the type of guests we accept?

Do we have to finish asking the potential guest questions and pre-approve within 24 hours?

Am I right in thinking there is a stop-watch on us from the point of enquiry until we pre-approve or is that 24 hour time measure only to measure how long it takes us to respond to the first enquiry?

Best,

Aggie

[Hilary-And-Ed0]

Hi @Aggie1,

The stop watch refers to the pre-approval.  So yes, you do need to ask your questions when the enquiry comes in.  I have found most guests want to book, so they are pretty responsive to questions.  If you get someone who does not respond fairly quickly, it might be a good indicator of their communication style in general, so I would likely want to decline someone who does not respond quickly.

I think the company is pretty good at verifying that the people inquiring are actualy the people they say they are.  This is not 100%, but still, the company is pretty good.  What you will find more often, and what is annoying (and against the terms of use) is when someone, say Marge, wants to book for someone else, say her daughter Ann.  You will know that Marge is Marge, but you will have no idea about Ann, who would be the one coming.  Decline these bookings.  You get no protection from the company if you accept someone into your home who did not book.

Sometimes you will get an inquiry, and they might not even tell you that it will be someone else.  This is what the questions are for. Usually that info becomes clear, or at least it becomes clear that something is off while you are communicating.  Again, decline.

You do not get penalized for declining an enquiry unless you decline many in a row.  You do get penalized for booking someone and then cancelling, so definitely communicate first.

[Aggie1]

Hi Hilary and Ed,

It seems that the response that I wrote to you last night did not appear, so I am writing it again.

We very much appreciate your advice. Hosting is a completely new experience for us and it is generous of you to share your experiences.

We now know some of the things we should look out for and will also try to get more information at the initial contact.

Many thanks,

Aggie

[Hilary-And-Ed0]

Anytime!  🙂

[Aogán0]

We've now decided that only poeple that do the Government ID check can book with us, hasn't affected our bookings at all it seems. I'm much happier to have done that, and would personally recommend it.

[Aggie1]

Thank you for your response Aogan.

How do I get a Government ID check? Someone who recently made an enquiry only had a phone number as verifcation on Airbnb. I asked them to send me a Government ID. They then said that they sent their driver's licence to Airbnb, but I did not receive any confirmation or notification if this was true.

By Government ID check do you mean verified?

Regards,

Aggie

[Kiomara1]

Hi Aogan, how do you request Government ID? I'm asking because I'm a new host and learning on the way, and this is a very important issue for me! Thanks in advance!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Aggie1

in some countries like Italy and Croatia your host have to ask you for your photo ID and make a picture of it or write down all your personal info such as your name, last name, citizenship, country of birth, date of birth, gender and your ID number, because host has to register all of his guests ( including new born children) to police and tourist board (online)

But, any host in any country can do the same and I strongly advice to do it. 

If you read Airbnb TOS you will find out that in case anything happens Airbnb will not give you any personal info about your guest even if they have it. They will not give it to the police either. So why bother with veryfied ID on Airbnb at all ? There is no use of it anyway.

Would you give keys of your house to the stranger on the street? No. So, why is it any different?

[Aggie1]

Thank you Branka and Silvia.

If the verified ID on Airbnb is not of any use, how do I get personal information and ID from a guest? 

If I request it when they make the enquiry, Airbnb does not pass on this information.

Regards,

Aggie

[Johnny107]

Why should I that feed Airbnb with money and time be undressed with my indentity, while the gust just have a first name offical.. it insane..

Complicated prosesses with askeing about ID etc..making a bad tone at first connection.

Airbnb you must do someting or else I be out!

[Helen3]

Sorry @Johnny107 

Not quite sure what point you are trying to make.

What complications are you facing in terms of ID?

If you want full names of all guests make that part of your house rules.