Guest is booking for someone else

[Ernesto67]

So a guest has booked my apartment and she disclosed from the start that she was booking on behalf of someone else.  I agreed on condition that I get copies of all the guests IDs, which they have provided. After doing my due diligence on those IDs I didn't find anything untoward about the guests but I would like to know the views of the community. The booking was done yesterday for an end of January check-in, so I still have time to cancel if I wish. What's your views? Thanks!

[Clare0 · Accepted solution]

@Ernesto67 Airbnb requires that booking guests also be the guest that will staying at the listing.  If you accept a 3rd party booking then you won't have direct communication with the guests staying at your place and you won't be able to write them a review.  All the contact information will be with the user who actually booked. 

If you decide to keep the reservation, be sure to get phone numbers for the guests who will actually be staying as Airbnb cannot provide this to you. 

If you are an Instant Book host you can cancel penalty free if you are not comfortable with the situation.  

Here is Airbnb's policy on 3rd party reservations: 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/427/can-i-book-on-behalf-of-a-friend-or-family-member

[Ernesto67]

Thank you very much, Clare. It does make sense to keep the Airbnb checks and balances in place so everybody in the community can benefit. I'm going to cancel and ask for the actual guests to make the reservation. I turned instant booking after the booking was done, so I don't know if I'm going to be penalty-free. Thanks again for your answer.

[Clare0]

@Ernesto67 If the guest did not book instantly, best to contact Airbnb before cancelling.  Look at the "Get Support" section to get the details on how to contact Airbnb. 

[Edwin57]

Safety first thank for sharing 

[Emiel1]

Hi,

It is not allowed to book for someone else (unless booker owns a business account), so the booker is violating Airbnb rules.

And you should have declined such a booking.

Please note also the liablility issues when there will be trouble like damages etc...

added: I just read you are going to cancel. Good !

Best, emiel

[Clare0]

@Emiel1. I'm not sure that liability issues exist with a 3rd party booking, but I might be wrong.  Do you know of an Airbnb article that describes this?

I know a host who had a 3rd party booking (guest booking for employees, not an Airbnb for Business account) and the employees caused major damage.  The booking guest paid for the damage. 

Always looking to expand my knowledge base!

Thanks!

[Dee96]

Hi,

How are you?  I hope all is well.  I tend not to accept 3rd party bookings for you do not have a record of conversation through the Airbnb app with the guest directly.  There has been countless times this Airbnb app have buffered potential crazy situations.  It is your call,but I require that whoever is booking my listing, must be on the reservations at all times.  Just food for thought...

Dana

[Dara-And-Don0]

I forwarded a link to a AirBnB listing to a girlfriend to check out.  She liked it and followed the link to book the trip and it showed up as if I had booked the trip myself.  I was totally unaware of this until she mentioned that she didn't leave a review.  

[Wenona0]

I had the same issue except the booker didn’t even tell me that she was booking for a 3rd party. I only worked that out whenthe guests arrived and they had no clue about the apartment booking.

At that point, I really didn’t feel like I could cancel on them. I messaged the booker other theychecked in and she never replied. 

What would other hosts do if you were in the same situation? Really curious to know.

[Clare0]

@Wenona0 This is kind of a bummer.  Airbnb requires that the booking guest also be a guest that will be staying.  This is in Airbnb's Terms of Service under Prohibited Activities, section 14: 

• unless Airbnb explicitly permits otherwise, book any Listing if you will not actually be using the Host Services yourself;

If you are not comfortable with this, contact Airbnb.  Likely they will ask you if you want to proceed with the reservation. 

If you do, then be sure to indicate in your review that the booking guest booked on behalf of others.  I would certainly give the user a "Thumbs Down" so as to protect Instant Book hosts from receiving an instant booking from this person if they are habitually booking on behalf of others. 

Oftentimes it is an innocent booking. Family members often book for other family members, especially children for their parents, not realizing that Airbnb just doesn't work this way. 

Since you asked what other hosts would do, I would contact Airbnb to see what info they had on the booking guests.  If the reason for booking was an innocent booking for family members, I might let it go, but otherwise I would consider cancelling.  Also, it would depend on when the reservation was due to start.  If it were quite a ways away, I would ask the booking the guest to cancel while offering a refund and then ask that the guests that would actually be staying book themselves. 

For future reference, please see this link: 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/427/can-i-book-on-behalf-of-a-friend-or-family-member

I hope this helps!

[Tom-Lester0]

Had the same experience. I did not have any problem. The decision is still yours 🙂

[Andre43]

Hi Guys,

I have the same problem today. Ive read the thread and I know I should report this to Airbnb. One question though. If Airbnb cancels the booking will they get the refund? Im not inclined to give them anything because they misled us and we lost the opportunity of other guest booking our home on the same dates.

Thank you,

Andre

[Beth422]

I just had a nightmare doing this - the woman who they booked for didnt like the flat so they checked out after 2 hours - I believe she was thinking, as an elderly first time airbnb person that it was a hotel which at £28/night, it clearly isnt - I have now put a caveat in my description it must be booked by the person staying. Hope this helps!

[Daniel6978]

So I just had a guest leave 1 Star for each category for her review and I found out that she didn’t even stay at my property.  She booked it for someone else and AirBnB will not remove the review.  How is that even possible?