Pre-approval/Decline Question

[Elisa147]

Hello, 

I have an enquiry from potential guests. The content of their message is a question. Therefore, I cannot yet neither approve nor decline, I simply answered their questions and am waiting for them to get back to me. 

Meanwhile, I receive many emails from Airbnb telling me to approve or decline, this surely affects my scores. What should I do? 

Thank you for your help. 

Elisa 

[Maria-Lurdes0]

Hi @Elisa147  You don't have to approve or decline, but you do have to respond.   It's your response rate that is considered.  I don't pre-approve every inquiry, and I decline very few, but I do answer every single inquiry as quickly as I can.

It's up to you if you want to pre-approve.   All that a pre-approval means is that you have locked in the price for that booking for that guest, for 24 hours. Once you have pre-approved a guest,  they can book directly without further conversation with you.    

Your calendar is still open, you can still take other inquiries, and you can pre-approve more than one guest for the same period.   First come, first served.

Unless you think the guest will be a problem, it's really no big deal to pre-approve, but again, it's not necessary.  If you don't pre-approve, and they want to book, they will simply submit a reservation request.    If you get an actual reservation request, then you must be careful, as now a decline WILL hurt you.    So to be clear, a pre-approval is completely different than a reservation request, and the consequences of your actions are different as well.

Good luck to you.

[Tod5]

Every other request I have received, has given me the opportunity to pre-approve or decline. Today, I received a booking confirmation with no prior inquiry or notice. As it turns out, it is not a problem and I would have pre-approved anyhow, but what if I had wanted to decline?

[Sandra126]

You have Instant Booking, I guess. That is what will happen unless you disable IB.

[Mary-Joy0]

hello! i badly need your help ASAP! i dont know how to change from Decline to Approve. can i still change it? how?

[Lynn392]

What if a guest asks if they can bring pets and I reply, no, we don't accept pet. And nothing else is said. If I pre-approve them can they now bring pets?

[Ana1136]

@Lynn392 if it is an inquiry you dont have to do anything, a simple written response is enough. If it is a request you do have to respond, I alwas let them know that if they don't cancel the requests in a couple of hours I will accept it and they have to follow my rules. They always remove it and I never have to decline them. 

[Ann489]

@Lynn392   does your listing clearly state "no pets"?   If so, you should follow up with the guests and clarify that.  If your guest does not respond/ insists on bringing a pet, you can contact Airbnb support and ask them to cancel the reservation.

[Lynn392]

Yes, it clearly says no pets. Nevertheless, the potential guest inquiring about pets either didn't read that part or thinks I will make an exception if they promise their pet is well behaved....