help with new bookings and inquiries while I'm away

[Caralee2]

Hi - What's the best way to handle new bookings and inquiries when I won't be accessible for a few days? I understand there's a snooze feature, but I don't want to "hide" my listing. Is there a way to have an auto-reply sent to new bookings? Something like: "thanks for booking! sorry I'm away and can't respond. I'll get back to you as soon as I can" ... so at least my response rate stays in tact and I have some kind of contact with the guest. And/or is it possible to have new bookings and inquiries notices forwarded to somebody who's NOT an Airbnb host? Like, say, a friend managing while I'm gone?

Thanks! Caralee

[Helen427]

Welcome to CC @Caralee2 

Have you used related keywords in the search box here in CC to see if anyone else has been in a similar situation & how they resolved it?

Maybe block off the days you are going away so you don't get bookings for those days.

You could also edit your listing to say that you may take a longer response rate at the moment - they won't know how long it's been like that

I've been guilty of bumping my rate way out of my normal rates when I've had other things on so my listing is still visible - it just aims it to another sector of the market who may know someone who is looking in future..

All the best

All the best

[Ana1136]

@Helen427 but the response time is calculated by Airbnb and they don't care if she has explained anything in the description unfortunately 🙂 @Caralee2 You can give your password and username to your friend and she can handle everything or you can add her as a co host. In my opinion snooze is the way to go, it is only for a few days and unless you are getting 3-4 bookings per day, nothing much is going to happen. 

[Jenny609]

I use an automated messaging tool to send messages to my guests.  You could use it to send a message to your guests after a booking thanking them for the booking and letting them know that you'll be sending more deatials in a few days.  I've tried a lot of the automated messaing tools and they all do about the same thing but my favoirte is https://superhosttools.com because it's easy to use and inexpensive.  I think they offer a free 60 day trial so you wouldn't even have to pay for it.  🙂

[Caralee2]

Thanks for the replies! I've certainly blocked the days that I need to, but I'm thinking ahead to future bookings that might come in while I'm away. @Jenny609 I like the idea of an automated messaging tool, but isn't that a third-party program? Does it work with Airbnb's response rate tracker? That's one of my concerns. Surely there's an auto-messaging feature built in somewhere. If not, there should be!

 @Ana1136 maybe I'll just go with the snooze option for now. 🙂