References: A Community Help Guide [UPDATE]

[Dave-and-Deb0]

Whether you are new to Airbnb or an experienced host, I recommend getting recommendations from friends, family, colleagues or past guests who might not have booked through Airbnb.  All you need is have your Facebook account attached to your Airbnb account, you can send requests via Facebook.

Here is a "How To" guide for getting references.  It is important to understand that in order to get a reference, the person referring you will need to already have or sign up for an Airbnb account.  When a person provides a reference, you have an opportunity to accept or decline the reference.

To get to your "References" section of your profile, go to "Profile" and then choose "References" from the left hand side menu.

Adding References Using Facebook

When adding Facebook friends, you can add them by selecting "Create Request" which will load a window where you can choose your Facbook friends and type in a message.  Once again, they will then need to sign up for an Airbnb account.  

You will also see a list of friends, and their Facebook profile photo, who already have Airbnb accounts.  For those friends, you just need to choose "Request" under their profile photo and they will receive a request for a reference. 

[Wendy210]

Can a guest send a reference if they have an Airbnb account but not a Facebook account?

[Dave-and-Deb0]

Hi @Wendy210,

There use to be an option to enter an email address but this was removed some time ago so right now the only way is through Facebook.

[Raúl22]

This is not working for me right now. I always get this message: "Unfortunately, we were not able to athorise your account."

[Wendy210]

Hi Raul,

            Im Wendy from Devon in England.

I woud like to try to help you with your probelm.

Have you downloaded the app for Airbnb on to your smart phone or computer?

[Helen328]

Why restrict references to Facebook?

there is a whole world of people out here who use other means to communicate!

[Ange2]

@Helen328   Because to link via FB you have to agree to share all your contacts and who knows what else. Although, I have heard there is a way to nix that by adjusting your privacy preferences in FB, not sure if it works,  I do not have FB.

[Russell50]

Hello

How and where do I find the 'Create Request' button, used for adding Facebook references, as seen in the guide? Is this done through Facebook (if so how/where?) or through Airbnb? I can not see it in either. Thanks 🙂

[Sheree9]

My Heavens! this is unduly cumbersome.  I was unable to leave a review within 14 days and now I cannot leave anything. Honestly, this just does not make any sense and should be changed. I would like to leave a good reference without having to contact my three wonderful hosts and asking them to send me a request. The idea of that is ridiculous. Reviews by mobil phone are not accepted (I tried) and I had no laptop. In the year 2017 this unfriendly and archaic process is truly in need of resolve. 

[Wendy210]

Hi Sheree,

I understand your frustration as the same thing has happened to one of my guests.

I did have a guest that changes her arrival date as a family member was ill and as her original date was months before and the time for her to leave a review had expired  without her having stayed she couldn’t leave a review but she went to google maps where my bed and breakfast is registered and left me a review on that.

Hopefully the host you were staying with has a google map location where you can give them them review the obviously deserve.

I hope this helps,

wendy 🙂

[Charlie112]

I agree!  There should be unlimited time to leave a review.  AirBnB removed the ability to send requests via email.  Facebook requests can't be sent to previous guests that have stayed with you which seems to go against the grain of why you want reviews and requests....come on guys!  Make it easy or someone else will and you will become obsolete.

[Илья2]

Good time of the day, I can not see 'Create Request' button as well, can someone please explain how to deal with it, thank you.

[Allison214]

Again, these are not helpful instructions. There is no way to get to "create request" on any Facebook associated page. A number of people have mentioned this and there has been no response. 

[Linda505]

Apparently, Airbnb do no offer this as a feature anymore - Straight from the horse's mouth

We appreciate you reaching out to us regarding this. This is a feature we no longer offer, we apologize for the inconvenience. If there's anything else you needed, we're happy to help. 

[Philipp147]

Since this feature no longer exists, this should be mentioned on the very top of this article.