Revolving Reservation

[Sara71]

I have a request for 3 days a week (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday) for 6 months. Is there a way the person can set up a reservation for these dates all at once? I s there something I could do to make it easier? I still want to be able to rent out on weekends during this time (ie., I don't want the whole 6 months blocked off). Would they need to make separate reservations?

Please help!

[Allison2]

I'd suggest setting up a duplicate "long-term" listing for this guest to reserve through. From your current listing you can send a special offer that covers the full 6-mos, total cost, and stipulate that it's just for the certain weeknights (so there's no issue with them trying to stay on a weekend) - just change the dropdown box from your "regular listing" to the "long-term" listing before sending.

This will give you the protection of the long-term rental policy that you wouldn't have with a series of small stays and your guest won't have to complete a multitude of transactions.

[Dede0]

@Allison2 and @Sara71, If I'm reading the suggestion right, I think that will cause all days to be irrevocably blocked for the entire 6 months. So while the mid-week guest could come and go, no one else could book any other other days. I'd be careful  and find some other way to accomplish this. Perhaps contact AirBnB and work it out specially through them.

[Sara71]

Thanks @Dede0. I believe you are right. Going through the long-term option would effectively block off the 6 months which is not something I want to do. I will contact ABNB and see what they suggest. Thanks everyone! This is the second time I have received this type of request, it would be useful if an option to repeat the same stay was available when booking. 

[Elise13]

I have a similar situation and would love to know what you find out. 

[Dede0]

@Sara71 Please follow up here with what you learn from AirBnB. Thanks!

[Sara71]

I contacted ABNB and unfortunately, all reservations must be continuous. The only option is to have the guest make multiple reservations (not ideal) or to block off the time or a time you are comfortable with and provide a special offer. I did ask if this was something ABNB was looking into and I was told that this is a request they often get, so my feedback was sent up the chain for further review. I would suggest contacting ABNB directly if you also have these types of requests so they can monitor, and hopefully one day, it will be become a bit more flexible! 

[Dede0]

@Sara71, Thanks for the followup information! Useful.

[Allison2]

I still think you're best off creating a second listing!

My suggestion would book all 6 months *on the long-term listing*, which would only be booked by her long-term guest. @Sara71 would keep her original listing, just manually blocking off the mid-week stays & allowing other guests to book the weekends.

The problem with having the long-term guest book a number of short stays is that those will fall under your flexible cancellation policy,  and could be cancelled at any point with little ramification to the guest. That's a significant risk when you could be turning away months of longer (non-weekend only) stays.

Going the single, long-term reserservation route, you're much more protected by the strict long-term cancellation policy, the guest only needs to make a single reservation, and you're still able to book weekends for other guests.

[Allison2]

I don't think you interpreted my suggestion correctly. I'm suggesting she create a SECOND listing, only to be used for the single long-term reservation. On her original listing she can block the mid-week stays and allow others to book the weekends.

[Dede0]

@Allison2 You're right; I misinterpreted your suggestion. The second-listing idea is nicely craeative and might work out, but it might also somehow be in conflict with AirBnB's TOS. I doubt it because I know there are hosts who create multiple listings for a single property, each listing offering different numbers of bedrooms.

If I were @Sara71, I'd probably try that.