Third party bookings

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Charls0
Level 2
Hamburg, Germany

Third party bookings

Hi There,

 

 Are we insured as Host from Airbnb if we accept third-party booking?

 

For example, if a secretary or daughter books a place for their employee or mother.

 

Thanks

 

1 Best Answer
Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

Hello @Charls0 ,

Third-party bookings are only allowed if the booker owns a business account. All other are a violation of Airbnb terms. So do not accept them. If a secretary is booking for employee: she also must use the companies business account, otherwise do not accept and point them to:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1311/who-can-book-trips-on-behalf-of-someone-else

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27 Replies 27
Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

Hello @Charls0 ,

Third-party bookings are only allowed if the booker owns a business account. All other are a violation of Airbnb terms. So do not accept them. If a secretary is booking for employee: she also must use the companies business account, otherwise do not accept and point them to:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1311/who-can-book-trips-on-behalf-of-someone-else

Hi, responses above noted, however..... if reservation is made on an Instant Booking you do not know that this is a third party booking until either the booker admits this, or someone else arrives at your door to claim the booking. Both these instances have happened to us on numerous occasions over the past few months. Do you refuse them entry and request Airbnb to cancel the reservation, with no penalty to host?

 

If you have had the problem with 3rd party IB booking perhaps you need to include in your follow up message to the booking guest that this is a personal reservation, not a third party booking.  If you are faced with a third party booking, cancel immediately even if they are at your door.  Of course you can always decide to go off the Air BNB platform and allow third party bookings through another vehicle.

This just happened to me, and I didn't find out someone besides the Airbnb host/guest was coming to my house until after she was already on the road. I called Airbnb and they told me all I could do was cancel the reservation--that's all. So I would be out several hundred $$$ and the young lady would have no place to stay when she got here. This needs to be fixed! Airbnb guests and hosts MUST have a profile on Airbnb and cannot book for someone else. It turned out okay, but it might not have since I didn't know this person (not even her name), she had no history with Airbnb, and this really should not be allowed to happen!! How have other hosts handled this? Robin

I had this happen to me as well.  An AirBNB approved guest reserved our property on behalf of his brother and family since they are not airbnb members and do not speak English.    I found out that it was a third party booking when I noted that when his family checked in, they did not get the instructions or the house rules.  We got a single star for checking in because they were not aware of the security gate and what info they needed to provide.   I since gave the guest who booked a horrible review, let the community know of their deception and indicated that I would not recommend that anyone host them.  In the absence of any required attestation through AIRBNB that they are not staying for themselves, I started my own house rules.   If it happens again, I will ask AirBNB to penalize them financially for the deception.

Hi Diane,

 

You can report this review to Airbnb along with any proof you had that the guest who booked did not arrive.  A message via airbnb that says "my friend will be there since I can't come" is enough to get the guest review removed. I have had the same issue and its not your fault.

 

Cheers. Good Luck. 

I have had this situation before and am in the same situation again. I also, have h

I was caught up once where an instant book of 2 days almost sent me to my death.  The person had refused to communicate, blatantly refused to follow houserules and managed to access my property as I had left the access code on the checking in instruction. Hard lesson for me so I have removed the code ever since. They will have to call me for it otherwise they can’t access my property.

 

This is the reason why I re-iterate my houserules in the chat with the profile and ask they to confirm their agreement to it. It usually is a wrap where they begin to resist or give their own TOC on my houserules. If they don’t cancel, I escalate to Airbnb agents who let them know the deal. 

Peter1354
Level 6
Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

Emiel,

 

Thank you so much for this information. I am new to Airbnb and recently took a third party reservation. It was not a good fit for our home and in the end no one was happy. I wish I had known this before as I would have cancelled the reservation on the spot. Now I have a less than perfect review written by someone who is not authorized to write reviews, as they are not an account holder with Airbnb. 

 

Thank you,

Peter & Chih

Alon1
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Peter1354 

 

It's not clear to me if the 3rd Party Booking was disclosed to you at the time of the booking?

 

If it wasn't then you can ask Airbnb to DELETE the Review. 

 

If it was disclosed, and you chose to accept it, then the Review will stand so long as it does not infringe Review terms, because it's your responsibility as Host to familiarize yourself with website guidelines and rules.

 

---------

 

ps. If you want to be certain the person you are addressing receives notification, please use @ sign. A drop down list of names who contributed to the post appears and you just click on the profile of that person. Notification is top right hand of the webpage, bell icon.

Peter1354
Level 6
Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

@Alon1,

 

Regardless of any disclosure by the booker Airbnb does have the following policy:

 

Transparency and trust are vital to the Airbnb experience. People rely on information in Airbnb profiles, reviews, and other verifications when deciding whether to host or stay with someone.

 

We require Airbnb reservations booked for personal travel to be booked by the person who's going to stay at the listing.

 

(https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/427/can-i-book-on-behalf-of-a-friend-or-family-member)

 

To say that making a disclosure absolves the booker in this case is not correct.

 

This makes it clear.

 

I only accepted the reservation as I didn't think I had a choice based on: 

 

The penalties for canceling this reservation include not being a Superhost for a year, getting a public review that shows you canceled, paying a cancellation fee, and having the canceled nights blocked on your calendar.

 

In this case I think Airbnb should implement a check box asking confirm they are also the traveler. This one simple test will avoid situations like this where I feel I had little choice but to accept the reservation for people who only had the recommendation of the person making the reservation.

 

It is a learning experience and a mistake I will not make again. It should also point out that the review was 4.9 stars, but it is the fact that my comments and review of the people who stayed with us reflects on someone who did not stay with us. 

 

Regards,

Peter

 

 

Alon1
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Peter1354 

 

Thanks for response.

 

However, it's evident that you did not grasp my initial response to your post.

 

My response was specifically tailored to your response to Emiel, in which you admit you had not familiarized yourself with the Guidelines and T&Cs BEFORE you started hosting! 

 

Therefore, my response was exclusively related to the situation you belatedly found yourself in; and the possible solution, as previously mentioned, that you can request Airbnb delete

the Review. Airbnb will do it depending on the circumstance of disclosure as I described.

 

I speak from considerable experience.

 

 Your second response that you are happy with the 4.9 stars conveys that you have no intention of pursuing this matter. 

  I wouldn't be surprised, and should you wish to spend some considerable time perusing numerous Reviews on both Host & Guest profiles around the world, you will find that it is littered with 3rd Party Bookings, mostly knowlingly so, by and large on behalf of friends & family. -- In other words, you'll discover that this is a gray area, and that Airbnb only intervene when called upon.

 

Finally, re your suggestion: ''I think Airbnb should implement a check box...'

  You are welcome to suggest it to Airbnb via their 'feedback' channel.--

  Only please know that you wouldn't be the first person to suggest 3rd PB rule should be writ in large at the point of booking, not only for Guests but equally Hosts!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yvonne687
Level 2
Chichester, United Kingdom

I agree, there should be no Airbnb penalty for a host who cancels when they discover their guest is a third party booking.

third party booking ends up unhappy for the host, if not a disaster. 
I wish airbnb will notify all guests that 3rd party booking is not allowed and is subject to cancellation. 

For all 3rd party bookings, i had the worst reviews of all times. because the guests who were happy doesnt get to write the review.