Feature request: Block dates pending special offer

[Lon0]

I have a feature request that seems simple to implement and would vastly improve the utility of the special offer tool.

This feature already exists for pre-approvals. When someone makes an inquiry and I pre-approve, I have the option to block the dates so no one else can book while the person decides whether to book. On the other hand, if I send a special offer to someone, I don't have that option. So, there is the risk that someone else can come in and book those days despite the fact I've made an offer to the first person. (If this happened, I would have to refuse or cancel that booking which hurts my rating, and is rude to the person who booked.) If I block the days, then the person with the special offer is not able to book. (I believe this is what is happening, right?) It would be great to have the option when sending a special offer to block the days except for the person receiving the offer. Any chance of that being added?

When I call AirBnB help they don't seem to understand the problem and just refer me to documentation on how special offers work now. Thanks. 

[Suzanne302]

I do exactly what Susan does and it works great!

[Greg378]

Just ran into this problem myself. Went to disable instant book and realized I had not re-enabled it after the last guest was in this situation, so I have been running without instant book benefits for weeks without realizing it! Frustrating!

[Alexandra164]

I just had this problem for the freakin' 50th time! I have a guest who comes every week and I turn off dates for him. But when he's ready to book and pay I unlock the dates, it requires too much time as I have to be sure he's ready to accept it for me turn it off.  I just turned off dates and within the 10 mins I had the calendar open for the guest to book, someone else came and Instant Booked! I'm so frustrated this feature isn't in place already...

[Jiw0]

I think this is a sure-fire way to achieve this. 

I just sent a special offer for 13 days to a guest.  But then applied a 'special rule set' to those same days, which I defined as: 

 * 400% price increase

 * 13 day minimum stay period

If you only do the price increase then it's still possible that someone would make a booking where only one day overlaps with your special offer date range, and then the total may still be acceptable to the guest and book it.   (e.g. 7 days at a regular $75 and 1 day that was part of your price increase at $400 for a total of $925 for an 8 day stay which may very well still be an acceptable price to the other guest. 

But to require a 13 day period at a really high price makes it exceptionally unlikely to get booked by someone else, and you don't need to disable instant book for all other dates. 

[Susan1188]

If the guest is taking too much time to respond to the special offer, and you have another IB coming in at your asking price, why would you want to block the dates for the discount-seeker?

If they didn't click, they don't get to reserve, if somebody else was quicker... 

Having said that, it would be nice to be able to block IB for certain dates when for example you are on holiday or have a work deadline or know you are not available to welcome people for arrival (but you could have people staying if they arrive another day).

[Uriel422]

It’s 2019. I am experiencing this exact same dilemma and I think your wording is spot on to what I need and many other host. I hope they implement this. Can’t be too hard. 

[Philippe1511]

Hi,
we are in 2022 and this is not implemented. I also think it would be a nice and easy to use feature (and probably easy to implemente feature)

There is a real need to be able to reserve date for a potentiel traveller.