Anybody figured out yet how to help guests book for family members without doing 3rd party booking?

[Monika64]

Hi fellow hosts,

so I had this scenario so many times now that it's just getting more and more irritating to cancel bookings and explain it to guests: someone books for close family members, often time elderly people ... and many times a wedding is involved when they REALLY wanna pay for the booking. So of course I ask Airbnb to cancel these bookings but I feel HORRIBLE because I want the booking and I want to help the couple about to get married. I cannot ask them to create a profile for family members using THEIR OWN credit card but so HOW could this be possible? Anybody figured out a solution for this yet?

I know there are also corporate events when secretaries are asked to book and so they use their personal Airbnb acct only to find out that they cannot book for their bosses.

Any ideas how to fix this problem? Clearly Airbnb still doesn't have a solution for this.

Looking forward to hear from you!

Kind regards,

Monika

[Monika64]

@David126 Even though I'm in the States, I actually host in Asia so unfortunatelly this won't work for me 😞 Would be a great solution though.

[Fred13]

Funny you should mention Asia @Monika64. All the bookings I get from Asia are through some  booking agent. Then they switch it (or try) to the actual guests. Yes, always very awkward. Love to hear if you discover if there is a better way.

[Monika64]

@Fred13 I’ll keep you posted. I’m going to talk to Airbnb CS tomorrow and see if @Kelly149‘s suggestion is a fast and doable one or if they have any other solutions. 

It has to be  a fast one for me because most of my bookings come within 7-10 days of checking in. So I cannot have a 3rd party booking block my days while working out a deal with the guests. 

[Tom-and-Carina0]

I've  had  a few of these too. I feel sorry for them. I've  had them give all account information  to another so they get app too. Thus sharing the account. It at least solved communication  problems on app.  I have also told them to rebook in proper account. That is much easier  to get them to do if they are not already  booked.

[Kelly149]

@Monika64 I read your listing and the way you said no 3rd party booking may be part of what is confusing people. Maybe change it to say something like : "The booking guest must be attending and present for the duration of the reservation". Guests may not understand what 3rd party booking means

[Monika64]

@Kelly149 I have it in the 2nd paragraph of my listing description AND in my house rules (which of course SHOULD be read by people who book!):  “Please note that by AIRBNB RULES you can only book for YOURSELF and for your friends/family, for trips where you will be personally attending.”

I simply had no more characters left for a long description in the first part of my listing but I felt that it was important to mention it in some way. 

But seriously, it’s there TWICE in CAPITAL letter ... don’t like to state what I just said a gazillion times here on the CC: people do not read listings, not even house rules!!!!

[Kelly149]

@Monika64 Yes, you are right. It is there & people don’t read. I was just suggesting that less words might be more helpful. “The one who reserves must be in attendance for the entire trip. “

Leaving out the Friends/Family part since maybe that is contributing to the booking for others. 

[Monika64]

@Kelly149 Ok, thank you!

[Deanna45]

Monika, I have struggled with this issue myself and wanted to add my 2 cents' worth with my latest experience. Just this week when I was following up with a prospective guest the day he was due to arrive, I noticed that the person who anwered my text had a different name from the person who booked. When I wrote back to inquire, the booker said, oh yeah, I'm not actually staying there; I booked the place for my parents. Long story short, I wasn't about to cancel his parents' stay, but I did tell him that I wasn't happy to learn last minute that he wasn't the person staying, explaining that I was now in an awkward position re: posting reviews, not to mention communications (he gave me his dad's cell phone number; I told him that I would not be communicating privately with his dad). I engaged with AirBnB support and was told that there is a policy in place, that hosts can decline or cancel such reservations without affecting their rating, but, honestly, the existence of the policy doesn't really help us hosts, does it? As flexible and caring as I am, I just can't deal with any situation in which the person booking isn't the person staying here. When I get inquiries from people seeking lodgings for someone else, I tell them that I accept bookings only from the people actually staying--it's THEIR job to figure out how to effect reservations for the people they are trying to assist. I don't understand why AirBnB can't do a better job of making this policy clear to prospective guests at the point of reservation. People make reservations for other people all the time in other venues (flights, hotels, etc.). There's always an issue of who's paying and who's using the service. Astute people (especially children of elder parents) know--or should know--to figure out how to do that for the people they are booking for. Bottom line is that it's not the AirBnB host's responsibility to facilitate anything other than booking a stay with the person who will actually stay.

[David126]

If you book a flight, rent a car, it has to be in the name of that person.

[Eileen0]

If you are comfortable with the reasons why a person can't book in their own name, the reasons why they are coming to your town etc and want to go ahead with the booking, I strongly suggest that after the booking goes ahead, you request that the person making the booking gives you the contact email and phone details of the 'real' guest.  Also make sure that the person making the booking promises to write you a review.  

Just be aware that if anything goes wrong, there isn't much backup.

[Taizz0]

Perhaps I’m not understanding something- why is someone attempting to book for someone else a “3rd party booking”??  I’ve been calling it a “2nd party booking” and always decline these because :

1. No accountability- you cannot review the person who actually stayed at your place

2. you have NO idea if the person you are hosting is verified, has read your house rules, etc etc

3. you have no idea if the person who shows up is the correct guest, as you will see no photo.

Recently I’ve had a spate of mothers trying to book for their minor children, or even for children in their 20s or 30s, who turn out to have developmental or mental health issues. Of course I try not to “discriminate” but it is a completely different situation when you are hosting in a house where you live, vs hosting a private apartment where you have no contact with the guest, keyless entry etc. 
I think AirBnb fails to differentiate between these 2 kinds of hosting, and would like us to turn our homes into hotels, basically taking all comers, even if they are not a good fit.