Instant Book guest requirements

[Willene1]

Are guests who are eligible to use Instant Book not required to have a 5 star rating and recommendation from other hosts???
Our current guest used IB with a less than stellar rating or review. Red flags everywhere from poor communication, 3 hour later arrival to agreed on time, so many questions to bend the rules to not confirming he read and agreed to the house rules.  

I was very uncomfortable from the get go but too scared to go with my gut instinct and cancel. That horrible fear of cancelling.  Right now just watching and hoping all goes well. I have turned Instant Book off as I feel it’s best to have communication with guests prior to accepting.  
Thx for helping to clarify the IB requirements. 

[Lawrene0]

You set your IB requirements, @Willene1 . Go to Listings then Policies and Rules then scroll down to Instant Book Guest Requirements. Look to see whether you have "Host recommendation required" ticked. 

[Willene1]

@Lawrene0  Yes, I have that checked.  That’s why I was surprised and disappointed. Actually the host review is what alerted me. Was simply “everything went as planned” which I took as a subtle warning. That and the Overall 4.5 and cleanliness 4 and observance of house rules 4

[Sarah977]

@Willene1  As far as I'm aware, no, a guest doesn't have to have 5* ratings to IB. That's not the same thing as "recommended by other hosts".

I've never used IB and never would, although I know it works well for many hosts.

[Willene1]

@Sarah977   Thank you Sarah. That was an assumption on my part. The benefit of IB is that you get to see the previous hosts rating of the guest. I have no problems booking up solid without IB on so the higher level does not matter to me. I think I prefer getting to know the guest myself thru friendly communication instead. I will stick to that from now on.  So far this guest seems okay. Couple more days, then I can stop worrying. Only this one made me nervous.   Thank you.  You are always so helpful. 

[Colleen253]

@Willene1 "Everything went as planned" is cryptic and a little weird, but it doesn't read as a warning to me. The guest behavior so far doesn't sound good though. Hope all goes well, and do leave a clear and easy to understand review!

[John6858]

I haven’t used it yet, but I see we also have an instant book option allowing us to ask questions. I’m considering trying it and if they say no, they don’t have a four or higher hoping that means they can’t instant book if they say no to any of my questions.. Does anyone know if that’s how that works?

really excited to be a host and give guest an outstanding experience, but I don’t want to be slack in protecting our home and in having everything in good condition for the next guests. I’m not so much worried about them leaving the place really clean because we’re going to clean anyway but I worry about them causing damage that can’t be repaired in time for the next guest.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@John6858 I think you are mis-reading the IB options. Once it is on you only get the option of good track record and/or asking for a booking message. You don't get to start a discussion with the guest before they book. What IB does give you is 3 free cancellations a year if you are uncomfortable with a booking. When a guest books we get there reviews and star ratings to allow us to cancel if we wish. This is more than hosts get under 'request to book' so feels safer to me.

[Kelly149]

@Willene1 I was once told that a guest with CONSISTENT 1* reviews would not be allowed to IB. CS said all else were good to go. 

[Kia272]

@Kelly149 I've been operating under the assumption that if a guest had gotten a "no" to "would not host again" that would prevent them from instant booking. So yes, they could book without perfect ratings, but not if a previous host had checked the "no" box for hosting again. 

I could be wrong, but that seems logical. You never know with AirBnB though. And you know what they say about assumptions....

[Sarah977]

@Kia272  The Airbnb wording on that, like much of their wording, seems open to interpretation. That checkbox for IB says guests have to be recommended by other hosts. So if you mark that you wouldn't host them again, but two other hosts said they would, are they "recommended"? Are they considered not recommended if only one host has marked them as such? Are they considered recommended if only one host out of 10 has said they would host them again? 

These are the kind of things that Airbnb seems unwilling to make clear and when hosts ask, the answers are not consistent, or avoided.

[Kia272]

@Sarah977  I know. Making assumptions seems as good an option as any other, because the policies are so unclear. Ultimately, if we expect to get shot down by customer service, then it doesn't really matter. We'd all like to avoid problem guests, and AirBnB certainly doesn't make that easy. 

[Sarah977]

@Willene1  The thing is, for me, star ratings tell me nothing, because they're entirely subjective and give no info. There are hosts who rate all guests 5*s as long as they didn't burn the place down. Conversely, there are fusspot, micromanaging hosts who'll give low stars because the guest left sand in the shower stall at a beach rental.

There's a thread currently running where the guest who IBed had 14 5* reviews, but started sending the host such nasty, entitled messages, the host cancelled the booking.

I much prefer to vet guests by reading the written reviews and by communicating with them, than relying on IB settings and star ratings.

Even if it results in a few less bookings, unless you are desperate for the money, I'd rather have 50% occupancy with nice, respectful, low maintenance guests, than 90% with guests who stress you out or leave a mess behind them.

[Willene1]

Totally agree @Sarah977 

[Kelly149]

@Willene1  Look up what reviews the guest GAVE, this often tells more than what the host wrote. Good luck.