Is Work Collection Worth It??

[Kita-and-Earle0]

I'm interested in hearing from hosts who are featured in the work collection on AirBnB. I'd like to know if you saw a noticeable increase in business travelers after your listing was featured. I'm trying to decide if being featured is worth revising our cancellation and other requirements. Let me know your thoughts...

[Matthew285]

@Kita-and-Earle0 is it a lot of trouble to add other requirements?

We have received a number of business travelers, but I am unsure how many are due to being in the "Work Collection".

My theory for promoting a listing is this: more is better, but don't sacrifice what is important to you.

For example: having Instant Book is a big boost, but many hosts strongly prefer to communicate with their guests first. Those hosts should not activate Instant Book, because it would sacrifice something important to them.

How important is having Strict Cancellation for you? If it is something that means a lot to you, then Work Collection might not be worth the sacrifice.

Also: are you well situated for business travel? I know a lot of business happens in Atlanta; is your location well-suited for the business traveler?

[Kelly149]

@Kita-and-Earle0 I've found no difference. I don't know that I can count on ABB to enforce a strict cancellation policy so going to Moderate hasn't been a big deal. We are much more of a weekend listing, and then also geography specific.

I have 2 listings (same space). One was written with the business requirements in mind. The guests who book that listing (as opposed to the other one) aren't necessarily even here on business, so I'm not sure the filter matters much. But since it requires 24 hour self-checkin, that listing is set to require positive reviews & govt ID.

[Louise231]

I'm in the work collection but as mentioned i think location does matter a bit more than some of the other requirments airbnb wants

I used to get a fair few business people anyway, but it it's nice to get the boost for weekday bookings (which are quieter than the weekend where i know i'd book) There's not a whole lot of work listings in my city that are central and just for a room, most of them are whole apartments so i seam to pick up quite a few guests because i'm alot cheaper than whole apartment. Even tho i'm more expensive than some other private room bookings.

The stays are predominantly 1 night stays though, for a lot of people i know that's a pain.

But the guests tend to be VERY minimal fuss. Which for me tends to make up for the short stay. 1 guest arrives between 5 and 9, sits quietly on the laptop all evening, sleeps,  has a shower then leaves at 8.30am. Which is WAY better than 2 guests who want to check in early, drop luggage, go out and come back at 11am with pizza, leave 1 min befor the check out time the next day and the room bin stuffed with shopping rubbish they didn't want to put in their suitcase, and make up on the bed sheets.

I guess if you can do the bit's needed for work listing why not? if it's something you just can't make fit, then stay with where you're comfortable with.

As an extra i know when i was thinking about it i was worried about having to do self checkin, but i've put self check in with door person, (which is me!) and not once has anyone ever asked why the keys arn't in a drop box, or why isn't there a concierge. Also for moderate cancellations, i've never had a business person cancel, it's only ever been leisure guests. Business people tend to book later (within 2 weeks of the date) but i've never had one cancel.

[Inna22]

@Kita-and-Earle0 I took a dive about a week ago and so far not a single business reso

[ChuckandCarole0]

I am curious if having our listing being designated Work and/or Family, keeps us out of a more general search if the searcher does not hit one of those two options?

could have imagined it, but it seems as soon as i was in the Work collection, my bookings fell off. 

[Matthew285]

@ChuckandCarole0

If you are in the Work Collection your listing still appears in the more general search.

(Source: I have a listing in both the Work Collection and Family Collection.)

[ChuckandCarole0]

@Matthew285 Thanks so much Matthew.....i was hoping that might be an explanation though, for why i wasn't coming up in some searches.....and after i got out of the work collection, it seemed to coincide with getting 3 or 4 bookings in 12 hours....so wanted to check....

[Sue737]

Wondering if you can limit your listing to just work collection?  We are not interested in booking week end partyers anymore.

[Alina127]

Sorry to hear that.  The way to prevent hosting to partiers and identify business travelers is to demand that guests answer the following questions and watch for clues.  Filling out a Questionnaire works guys, and so far i've had no problems and been able to weed out poor guests.  If they are not serious about booking your Airbnb they won't answer your questions.  

1. Name (so you can look them up on facebook or linkedin)

2. Work Occupation/Profession (your business travelers obviously will answer this one).  Tourists will also mention their job or say they are retired.  

3. Have they used Airbnb before? (yes or no..if yes they may have recently switched to airbnb and not have gotten reviews yet).  No reviews isn't necessarily a red flag if they answered all your other questions.  

4. Reason for being in the area? Good answers: here for job training, contract work at So and So company, attending a conference/business meeting.  Bad answer is no answer or "Hanging out" or "winging it"

5. Why are you interested in this accomadation?  The answer they should not give right off the bat is the cost, that is a red flag. 

More bad answers: "I'm trying to figure out a place to live" if they did not mention job transfer as their reason for Question 4. OR  "Airbnb is cheaper than motel". 

Legit business travelers will say something like the check in times are great, or that your Airbnb is close to the job site, their work conference, or airport.