How should I manage early arrivals?

[Al19]

Hi all,

I need some opinions or other hosts' experiencies about the correct way of approching early arrivals. The guests fly accross the ocean, I cannot ask them to come later, on the other hand they made no mention to any extra pay for 5-hour earlier arrival.

[Jacqueline58]

After hosting over 200 guests, and allowing folks to arrive early whenever possible, here's what I experienced:

1.  many want an early checkin but leave you waiting and don't check in until later anyway

2.  not one guest that I have accomodated with an early checkin thanked me or mentioned it in their review.

3.  Guests asking for early checkin that get denied, easily make other arrangements -- leaving later, having lunch, etc.

4.  Guests taking a flight that arrives in the middle of the night or early am often choose that flight because it saves them money so paying for an additional night is just the price of a cheap flight.

[Amy38]

@Al19  I have just come across this and my only reaction is how mercenary are you?..."11 hour flight, 2 hrs and 40 minutes to arrive from airport"...and you are worried about charging them for a room or apt that is ready and waiting?

Just raise your price a bit for the night and then you can accomodate anyone.

If you were buried in reservations, a few hours matters, but you dont seem to be.

[Al19]

Dear Amy,

If we see “mercenary” as the opposite to “volunteer”, I am 100% mercenary. If I decided to volunteer, I would do it for paraplegic children or an orphanage, as my sister does, not for tourists.

"11 hour flight, 2 hrs and 40 minutes to arrive from airport" – is this to help in the Ebola campaign, to assist the earthquake victims or something like that?

“…Charging them for a room or apt that is ready and waiting” – the room is there, but I am not (I hope you read the previous comments before writing yours) and I am not ready to jump at any request. On the other hand, the hotel rooms are always “ready and waiting”, yet the hotels charge for early arrivals, that is how the business works. Being buried in reservations or not does not change the issue.

I started this topic to find out what the common practice is in Airbnb, since I have been here for less than a year, and looking for practical advice, not for moral guidance. Your advice of raising the price does not seem very practical to me. Moreover, my perception is that you are trying to shame me for being “mercenary”. The word “greedy” was mentioned above as well.

If I would be ashamed, it would be for putting myself at someone else’s service in such an “unitellectual” trade. Me, a person with two University degrees and a translator with published books. However, once I decided to do so, it would be a shame not to get the most of it.

[Jill159]

@Al19

hosting situations are all different 

what I would say is that it requires 

a lot of thought intelligence and social skills to get it right

To say it is not intellectual is irrelevant 

and rather an unnecessary  a put down 

1 am a retired medical doctor- I’m not sure whether that counts as intellectual or not but that past career is not relevant now 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

I haven't had this happen yet, but considering most of my inquiries and guests are international I'm pretty sure I will face a similar situation sooner or later.

I have been on the guest's side of the equation - arriving at 9~10am on an international flight for a 3pm check-in. In my case, the host allowed me (and my group) to drop our luggage off at the house - which was very very appreciated!!!  (The host said the guests before us had checked out early but he was planning to come by later for clean up so the place might be messy.) We just left our luggage lined up along the wall near the entrance, happy that we didn't have to pay for storage at the station - and went to get a bite to eat or look around the neighborhood till check-in time. 

If I were to have a guest ask about an early arrival, I'd be more than willing to let the guest drop off their luggage and I'd point them towards a nearby Starbucks where they can wait comfortably until check-in time, and if the situation allows, I would try to accomodate an early check-in at no additional cost - which is possible because in my case the listing is a guest room in my home and I tend to have long-term guests, so I try to schedule at least a full day or two between guests. But for short-term guests, I would definitely request a fee for early check-in. 

[Linda108]

I would differentiate between guests that were in control of their arrival and those who are not, @Jessica-and-Henry0.  I have local guests who drive and international guests who fly in.  I am much more relaxed with the international guests than the local ones.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Linda108 Sounds like a good approach! I don't accept local bookings, so my usual way of doing things tends to be a bit tailored for international guests staying with me for at least a month 🙂 But considering I may have to adjust for different guests sooner or later, your way of differentiating is very good advice. Thank you!