Request to Book for Another Person

[Gerald0]

How do you deal with the situation where a guest wants to make a booking for someone else, such as a relative or friend?

[Di0]

Gerald,

Always refuse, politely.  AirBnB is built on personal trust and personal verifications.  YOu need to know the person who you will be welcoming into your home and know exactly who to blame/hold to account if things go wrong.

Di

[Sarah7]

In hindsight I would have to agree to decline. I ended up accepting one reservation similar to this and the person who booked was very nice and pleasant but the folks who stayed were loud, filthy, and rude to our helper. We also got complaints from our neighbour about them. So it is a tough one but either decline or really get a lot of details on who is coming and make sure the person who books is willing to stand responsible for their actions. 

[Jennifer--And-My-Brother0]

I was comfortable with a different guest but didn't know that I was breaking the rules by accepting.  I  think it was an instant booked and then the details slowly emerged but I was unaware until now that I should have declined immediately. 

I feel terrible about this but I had to cancel them and incur the $50 fee.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/427/can-i-book-on-behalf-of-a-friend-or-family-member

and now I will have another bad review.  😞

[Peter0]

I'm less strict on this though generally I agree "no".   

I have a number of bookings as surprise gifts to friends or arrangements for parents (I am near to many foreign university students). OK, there is a small risk of an argument if there is damage but it is one I am prepared to take.  

The one I really don't like is secretaries booking for bosses.  I invite them if they must to so to create an account in the boss's name and if they need then they can write the review too for the boss.  

And I'll let you in to a secret.  Sometimes the senior guys in Airbnb Head Office get their staff to do their bookings!

[Raymond-and-Elaine0]

@Gerald0 Hi Gerald, you need to change your profile picture. Airbnb requires a photo of oneself not an actor. Their new policy is strict and as hosts we can't expect our guests to provide a recognisable face image if we hosts don't. If it's you on photo 2 keep that but delete the photos of Robert Young.

[Keith1]

I'm with @Peter on this one.  

I've had a lot of admin assistants book on behalf of their company people.

Although 3rd party bookings are currently against airbnb policy, it's ultimately up to the host to accept. 
There *may* be liability issues with this depending on your insurance coverage, and I'm unclear what will happen if you apply for protection under the host guarantee or airbnb's provided liability policy if the person you let in isn't on the booking.

So the wise solution would be to disallow this, but if it's a corporate type booking, this may cost you business--until airbnb has a way for admins/agents to book on behalf of others.

Keith

[Andrea9]

Hi!

Here a story that I had this summer that's absolutely not meant to be a suggestion.

But sometimes following your gut isn't a bad thing.

I  got a booking request for the room I rent out in my home from a Brazilian father for his daughter who on arrival day was still officially 17; turned 18 the next day (so she couldn't have made a profile before that date anyway, and if she had and had sent the inquiry I probably wouldn't have been happy to accept such a young person). 

All of the usual alarm bells went off in my brain, but seeing his extremely positive reviews of trips he'd made himself or with the family  and his very polite inquiry gave me a good gut feeling, esp. since it felt like having a sort of family backup.

I also immediately phoned in to Airbnb helpdesk abt this, but the person was new and needed to sort it out with someone first, so her reply came a day or two after the 24h window time to react. And of course, even in the case of family, 3rd person reservation not permitted.

Decided to follow my gut feeling, and kept all pre-visit informative correspondance by email to both father and daughter.

She turned out to me one of my absolutely sweetest and politest guests ever!

Her father and I 'conspired' in the preparation of a morning birthday surprise that was huge fun - probably more for me in preparation than her since I love organizing!!

Thankful emails from both father and mother.

And when I submitted my expenses to the father, he rounded it all up generously to a generous sum.

[Lizzie]

@Andrea9 this is such a lovely story, thanks so much for sharing. 🙂

[Jennifer--And-My-Brother0]

I only just now cancelled a 79 year old museum lover who was instant booked by her friend.   I didn't know it was against the rules and thought I would be penalized if I didn't cancel.

Does this mean I could have kept her?  I feel terrible about this. 

I offered her a discount if she rebooks under her own account. 

[Martyna7]

Hello, I have a similar question. I want to book for my boyfriend's birthday, obviously through my account but I want to add him as he is an AirBnB user as well, but I do not want him to get notified. Is that possible? For my bday he added me, and there was no surprise - I got everything on my e-mail. 😄