Preliminary booking

[Jonathan47]

By November 2015, I basically had all the the summer months of 2016 booked. I had to refuse some returning guests who did not try to book until later. These are the most attractive guests to have as they get a personal attachment to the house, but they cannot always decide so far in advance when their next holiday is. I would like the option of accepting preliminary bookings.  The calender would be blocked for the dates they wish, but they would not have to pay anything. Say three months before their expected arrival they would have to make a definite commitment and pay. If they change their minds, it would not be difficult to find others to take their dates. Can Airbnb arrange this please?

[Clare0]

@Jonathan47 Your previous guests will have to make the reservation and pay just like anyone else.  This protects them and you and the policy has to be the same for all users.  You really don't want to "provisionally" accept reservations...What if your calendar is then blocked and they decide not to come?  Your cancellation policy is out the window and you may or may not be able to replace the reservation.  

What you can do is contact previous guests whenever you have a cancellation so they can book if they want to.  

To guarantee reservations, Airbnb collects the payment up front.  That protects you and the guest. 

[Jonathan47]

If people decide not to come after making a preliminary booking, they would
have to say so at the latest three months in advance. I would still have
plenty of time in which to get somebody to take their place.  I can easily get somebody else in time. And if by some chance, I do
not, that is a risk I should have the choice of taking. I think people who
have stayed at the place and behaved well must be trusted more than people
who just drop in off the streets.
Another point is: why should my guests lend Airbnb a lot of money for a
year? Surely Airbnb should function as a booking service, not a bank. Both
guests and hosts pay a service fee for booking. If Airbnb wants to be a
bank, they should pay interest. Some forms of protection one is better left
without.

[Clare0]

@Jonathan47 Well, you can do a work around with your calendar.  If you know when a returning guest might want to stay with you, you can block your calendar for them and give them your deadline in which to actually book (obviously you would have to unblock your calendar).  You and you alone take whatever risks are involved. You know your customers best, after all.  That said, I would not recommend other hosts at large do this as, what may work out for you , might not be a good solution for a hostwho is juggling many reservation requests.

Also, if you don't like the idea of Airbnb having the float from credit card payments so far in advance, shorten the availabiity of your calendar.  I only allow reservations 4 months in advance.  If you want people to be able to book months  advance (I don't know how far in advance you allow people to book) and want to be guaranteed payment, then you have to allow Airbnb to hold the payment in escrow for you. 

You can do this special "concierge" service for returning guests and I'm sure they would greatly appreciate it.  It just takes a bit more management and time to keep track of everyone. 

[Jonathan47]

Thanks Clare, that could be an option. Alternatively I could book them through an independent system. There are free apps for that and I could reduce the price for my guests. This is unfortunate. I would prefer to have everything collected in one place, but the Airbnb business model seems to be based on charging quite high fees for people to either use it to attract one's first guests or larger volume instant bookings. It is not really for people like me that want to establish long term relationships with people who appreciate what I have to offer.