instant booking

instant booking

Hi, it's been a couple of days since I signed up here. I saw on the calendar there's this option:

 

"For Instant Book hosts: Allow guests to send reservation requests without advance notice."

 

which is deactivated in my case. However, I got an instant booking 2 days ago and I see that I would get a penalty if I cancel it. Does anyone know what I should have done?

41 Replies 41
Carl14
Level 1
Vittorio Veneto, Italy

Hey, Actually, if someone instant booked, then you DO have it activated (or there's a glitch in the AirBNB system.)  AirBnB allows you to cancel 3 times a year without any penalty if someone has Instant Booked and you don't feel good about them after they book.   If you don't have instant book,  penalties are immediate because you have had a chance to review, before accepting the booking or ask question of the prospective host.

 

We tried INSTANT BOOK and I would not recommend it.  50% of the people turned out bad - with UNVERIFIED, NO PREVIOUS AIRBNB EXPERIENCE, NO PROFILES.  We didn't cancel any in advance, but we now only accept bookings upon request.  That way we can control better who rents from us.  I would recommend the same.

 

 

I have had great success with the Instant Booking, its pretty much how I have gotten all my bookings. All my guests communicated with me before hand and they have all turned out to be wonderful guests. The key is even if they instant Book to make sure they understand your location, ammenities, and rules. I had people that have Instant Booked after realizing my location was too far away such as for a Temp Job, they cancelled, and I declined but we communicated about it and neither I as a host or the guest had an issues. Many said they would choose me for a future trip. When you communicate you get a better feel of the person and what they are looking for and it helps a lot. I also have had a couple of guests starting out as first timers who were verified, with no previous booked trips, but I went ahead and accepted because I was new as a host as well and it turned out very well, again the communication is key and we all have to start somewhere. Common sense and sometimes your gut instincts will guide you into the right guests and once will recieve good reviews, most people want to see those and they will feel more comfortable and more apt to book with you. Its not to say that sometimes there may be someone that is not a good fit and you catch a negative vibe, but as in anything you just trust your instincts and do what you feel is right. Sometimes its a little trial and error but you eventually will get the results you need. I am so glad that Airbnb has come out with better tools to match the guests with the hosts. I feel like they are listening and are continutally working to provide a better service for both Hosts and Guests, which is a great thing. Its nice that you do have the choice to have your Instant Book on or off. Also a a very good tool is the community center, its great to be able to discuss with other hosts, issues and solutions, the input is very valuable and we help each other by making our Airbnb businesses better.

Hi Debbie, I'm new to hosting. I've had two guests through requests. But I've just turned instant booking on because i missed one request. Do i still get an email from airbnb to say that someone has booked and the dates if it's through instant booking?? Thanks, Sue

Nina36
Level 2
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Apparently, there are a couple of new hosts whose instant booking were activated automatically by AirBnB and they have no option to change it. An email was copied to one of the post where it says it's now mandatory and that the way for hosts to regulate it is to choose their parameters.

 

Seems like a focus group experiment by AirBnb, if they see that the hosts are not happy with it, then hopefully they won't implement it to all.

Hello,

 

I created my Air BnB account today and noticed a few glitches:

- instant booking is automatically turned on when I never enabled it (had a response from someone else that this was due to Beta testing on the site and 25% of listings are being effected)

- calendar - to avoid instant bookings past the summer (we're testing out Air BnB just for the summer), I selecte a 6 month span in the calendar and then blocked off all dates from Sept - Dec 2016, for some reason Jan 2017 onwards still shows on my listing so people can instant book on it! Not sure how to change this (sorry this a little off topic but looking to get any help possible)

- smart pricing - I enabled this option and when I search for listings, my listing shows as $120 for a specific date range, however when I click the actual listing to proceed with booking as if I were a guest, it defaults to $95 which was my base rate. Someone has already been able to book at this rate because of this glitch! 

 

Does anyone know if there are workarounds for any of these issues? Should I just disable the feature and manually incease prices on the calendar myself?

Maralyn0
Level 2
Johannesburg, South Africa

Wow, Maria, as a new host, these questions are way beyond me!

But there are AMAZING people in this community who will be able to – can anyone help Maria?

 

 

If you are a host in residence then my vote is Go Manual to manage your Airbnb_Doors

"Keep your hands on the wheel, and your eyes upon the e-mail!"

At this stage it sounds as if you are spending as much time trying to adjust things for instant book as just putting the settings the way you want them.

You should not underestimate the wealth of experience you will get from managing communications and guest/host expectations  early and often. 

Getting under the bonnet of your listing website is also the best way to understand how it works.

Happy Hosting,

Let us know how you are going from time to time. Share what you have learnt.

Regards, Christine.

Maralyn0
Level 2
Johannesburg, South Africa

Good advice Christine, but how does one 'Go Manual'?

This is a real bummer. As a brand new host it appears I'm prevented from removing INSTANT BOOKING from either the mobile or website platform. AirBnB told me it was a technical glitch they're going through at the moment, but I couldn't get a certain answer. For now, I'll just open my calendar for two weeks at a time until AirBnB creates this necessary opt-out.

Maralyn0
Level 2
Johannesburg, South Africa

Yes, Sean, that is what I have found out too.  It is a real imposition on us, the new hosts. I think the only way to manage it is through the calendar (blocking off) but it seems to cut down on enquiries. 

Good luck

Regards

Maralyn

I have mislaid my listing number and would like a re issue. I would like to be able to give the listing number to family and friends. Trying to contact "airbnb" is near impossible. Any help would be appreciated. Kamar Goddard

 

Victoria57
Level 10
Strathpeffer, United Kingdom

@Anonymous you've posted your question in the middle of a thread on a different subject. Please try to create a new thread if you have a new question. Your listing number is 12116875 and the direct url is https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/12116875

Andrea9
Level 10
Amsterdam, Netherlands

 

I've seen many community posts by new hosts regarding this issue the last several days.

 

contact Airbnb

 

 

Have a look at this about the new function for select new hosts only getting Instant Book option.

 

New try-out for select new hosts - Instant booking only option