Verify ID for all guests?

[Janice68]

How do I request that ALL guests have a verified ID before they are allowed to book? My issue is many times one person does the booking while I have no clue who the additional guest will be. I am uncomfortable  accepting bookings without knowing who the other guest is for safety concerns. I open my home up to Airbnb guests, and offer one bedroom and private bathroom. I remain discreetly in the home for their entire stay. If there is a way to do this through the Airbnb application, I have not found it. On a side note, I find the entire website application to be clunky and sub-par for navigation, but that's another issue entirely.

[Cynthia-and-Chris1]

@Janice68 Airbnb only requires the guest making the reservation have ID verified. You can request full names of additional guests from the reserving guest and check that against their IDs upon arrival. Make sure all guests are aware of this practice, though. 

[Janice68]

@Cynthia-and-Chris1 Thanks for your reply. I have requested additional ID's in the past, and they mainly go unheeded, since Airbnb does not require them. That puts me in the position of making a judgement call, which adds to my consternation. And finally, asking for ID's when the guests are standing in my front door, is very awkward. By the time they arrive at my home, I am hoping we have established a trusted relationship. I would like to see this as an option for bookings... I wonder if any other hosts have the same feelings regarding this issue or am I being overly cautious? 

[Kelly149 · Accepted solution]

@Janice68 my rules state that guests must give me info on every guest (I take up to 8 unrelated guests) and they also say that I may verify that info against IDs at arrival. If this is in your rules (and you are an IB host) then you may have CS cancel the reservation if they do not provide it. If you are not an IB host, then you would want info for all guests before accepting a reservation.

Yes, you may ask and I wonder why more hosts don't

[Janice68]

@Kelly149 Thank you for that advice. I will definately put that into my House Rules and follow up. 

[Galib0]

I had one guest refuse to show his ID and said its agianst airbnb rules. How do I know its him who booked the unit. He called airbnb and they said he doesn't have to show it as airbnb has verified his ID (still how do I know he is the person who booked it. I also take a security deposit at check in (pre authorisation only) and he refused that. He said its against the rules - called airbnb and yes I am not allowed to take a deposit. So now I have this person in my place who could be a scammer and no deposit or ID. How can that make any sense to not verify the person with ID. 

[Janice68]

As I understand it, you can request a security deposit but the guests do not pay this up front. Here is a copy/paste of the settings in your host dashboard:

"Security deposit

If you submit a damage claim within 14 days of checkout, guests will be responsible for damages up to this amount."

I wonder if an admin can clarify this further. Since I have posted a security deposit, I have not had a single booking... so I am wondering if potential guests are turned off by this feature, or if they even see it.

[Victoria483]

Janice I completely agree with you. This should be a simple formality managed by AirBnB and not leave host and guest in an awkward position upon arrival. Very simple to resolve for all parties. 

[Jazmin23]

Maybe a good idea is too send a message a few days prior to arrival mentioning that all guests must have IDs to check in. Otherwise it will be an Extra Fee? 

[Song6]

You may find it awkward to see ID'S when you admit guests but what would be really awkward would be having a problem, contacting the police, your homeowners insurance, and saying something like;

" Hi I rent a room in my home (to complete strangers) and I have a problem, but I don't have any information for  that person." I always get ID's and photo the individuals id info and I take a photo of their car license plate and vehicle. Song

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[Lisa658]

@Janice68 @Kelly149 @Cynthia-and-Chris1

I wish I knew what the name of this officially was as I just keep calling it "Trip Share" which I think may be my own label for it.

https://www.airbnb.com.au/help/article/1175/how-do-i-share-trip-details-with-others

You can add the names of everybody in the reservation and the review goes on all their profiles.

If anybody knows the name of this function can you share it with us!

Lisa

[Janice68]

@Lisa658, Thanks for that tip! This goes to an underlying issue as well (which I mentioned in my opening message)... Airbnb application is not intuitive. I find myself hunting and pecking for functions, searching all over the website for details, etc. 

[Lisa658]

@Janice68

The only thing I could suggest is that you go to the search bar and type in "Newsletters" and go through some of the back issues if you have time as a lot of these features are announced or explained in articles there.

Most of the time when something changes or is being introduced you will find it in the newsletter.

Lisa

[Ange2]

@Lisa658   Thanks. Good to know.  I just had a guest who told me at the last minute that their 'friend' was arriving a day before them, I had no idea who their friend was so I  asked them to add their friend's info to the reservation and it showed up on their booking confirmation with a link to the friends profile. If the friend doesn't have an Airbnb profile it's easy enough to set up.

[Mechelle1]

After some much needed information on verifying "ALL" guests that are staying I found this web page to be most helpful. Go to:

https://www.airbnb.com.au/help/article/1175/how-do-i-share-trip-details-with-others

Copy an paste it in your communication pages. Many of the guests do not take the time to find out "how" to add a guest to their itenaray. It is best to use Airbnb policies then try to explain why it is important for securty reasons and why they follow the rules. You may want to include aribnbs inforamtion.

How do I share trip details with others?

If you want to share your trip plans with the people travelling with you, add them to your reservation, which allows them to see your itinerary.

1. On airbnb.com, go to Your Trips
2. Next to the trip you want to share, click View itinerary
3. Next to Guests, choose Manage Guests
4. Add the name and email address of the person coming with you
5. Click Send Invites
6. An email will be sent to the traveller and they can see your full itinerary by signing in (or signing up) for Airbnb

If you want to share your itinerary with people not going on your trip, you can add their emails in the message that appears after you’ve confirmed a reservation.

Asking for their ID once they arrive does not set well with me, as it automatically asks the question of trustworthiness. We want them to feel comfortable. we want to fell comfortable having them here. 

Thanks Airbnb