App problems & booking mess

[Jessie71]

I'm new to hosting. A couple days ago I posted on Airbnb for the first time and began getting requests and instant bookings within a day. I noticed that updates I made to the posting and to the booking settings on my laptop weren' reflected in the app. This meant a couple people got REALLY good deals. 

One guest contacted me to inquire about a couple things and to book 2 weeks from June 15 to 29. I preapproved her and because of time zone difference she said she would book the next day. I was under the impression that the days she wanted were blocked off as a result of the preapproval. 

Later that day, a different guest requested dates spanning a month and I approved. I discovered today that the second guests dates overlap with the first guests preapproved booking. 

Im not sure if i missed something when i approved the second guest or if it was an issue with the app.

Which guest gets priority for the dates? What should I do? The first guest is unhappy. I'e messaged the second guest to see if he has any flexibility but I don' think he should be penalized either. 

[Emiel1]

Hello @Jessie71 ,

If you pre-approve you only give a guest, which made an inquiry, permission to book. But the dates are not reserved or blocked for that guest. It's clearly stated here: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/838/what-is-a-pre-approval Also when you pre-approve it is mentioned onscreen.

If you approve a guest, which made a request, the reservation will be confirmed. If it contains dates where the pre-approved guest was also interested in: it is not in any way taken into account, you have to keep an eye on it yourself.

Hope this helps, Emiel

[Letti0]

@Jessie71 AirBnB is a first to book gets it site. This is not something you should have to deal with. They either book it when you send the pre-approval or risk lossing over the time they wait.

[Alexandra316]

@Jessie71Most hosts operate on a first-come, first-served basis: whoever completes their booking first gets the dates. Lots of people who get pre-approved don't complete the booking, so I would just keep the person who finalized the booking and not worry about the pre-approval.