Stuck in the middle with you - one night booking blocks a five night booking.

David969
Level 2
Charlotte, NC

Stuck in the middle with you - one night booking blocks a five night booking.

Guests ask questions and you build some rapport, and they decide to make the booking you have been helping them with.  Unfortunately these dates are no longer available.  Someone else booked a single night in the middle of that five night booking.

 

What do you do?  Is there anything you can do?

 

In this instance I didn't warn the guest to book quickly as the stay was only a few days away.  Weekends are very busy and people book all the time, but I try not to rush guests into booking.  The problem is I want the multi-day booking, but I don't want to block the dates in the event the guest doesn't actually book it.

 

If you are not aware, the preapprove is terrible, it can give you a non-revenue (unpaid) blocking of inventory and cost you bookings.  You also can't rescind a preapprove, but the guest offered it can decline and get you out of the non-revenue blocking state.

 

In this instance the guest didn't understand why they couldn't book and wanted me to 'fix' this problem.  My response was to offer to list a usually unlisted separate space nearby to cover the one night already booked and allow the guests to book the previous reservation less that one night.  I don't think they understand this fairly complex accomodation.

 

Thoughts?

8 Replies 8

@David969  Pre-approving emphatically does NOT block dates on your calendar. You can pre-approve any number of inquiries for overlapping dates. It does not cost you any potential bookings. And you can, in fact, retract a pre-approval if you decide you don't want the guest to complete the booking.

 

Also, you can respond to an inquiry without pre-approving or declining. The only time when you have to either Accept or Decline is when you get a Reservation Request. It's important to understand the difference.

 

What do you do? Change your settings, obviously. You can set a Minimum Stay requirement, either for your whole calendar or for a specified date range. You can choose not to use Instant Book, and decline a single-night request when you'd prefer a different booking. 

 

But the problem you're encountering now is the consequence of having made different choices, so this one's just going to have to be a lesson.

Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

From the guest's point of view, I don't think it is complex at at . .  there is only one room left and they didn't confirm it. Someone else got it it first, credit card in hand. It stinks that you didn't get the 5 night booking (financially speaking) but I don't think you "owe" this guest anything, by any means.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Anonymous  I know that preapproving doesn't block dates, but do you happen to know at what point the dates would be blocked if the pre-approved guest went on to book? As soon as they hit the "book" button, or after their payment clears?

@Sarah977  I remember from one time recently I was in a similar situation - when the guest hits Book, the dates are locked. But if payment fails to go through, you get an alert that allows you to choose to cancel the booking penalty-free.

Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

@David969  This situation can & does happen to all of us! I understand you chose not to block the 5 days your prospective guests were discussing - I do the same. It's always a gamble - you block, but the guests you block for don't book, so you end up losing both them & any one else who might have booked at the same time.... You don't block, & someone stops a 5 day booking by booking a shorter period within it. Short of a crystal ball, there's nothing any of us can do, it's a gamble of pluses & minuses.  Yes, you could stop this happening again, by setting a minimum stay, but losing the one nighters could result in no bed nights at all. There's NOTHING you can do, short of cancelling the one nighter, & that would cost you more in penalties than it's worth, to say nothing of alienating your guest! It's not just an Airbnb thing, however someone lets rooms, someone could book one solitary night stopping others booking for longer. That's life!

As for how you explain to the inquirer who has lost his/her 5 day booking - That's easy! You just tell them someone else booked the middle day whilst they were making their minds up!

Pete69
Level 10
Los Angeles, CA

Set it so that you accept nothing less than 2 night stays.

I purposely jack up my week day rates higher than going market rate because I don't want someone checking out on a Friday. I like to leave one day in between stays. More time to clean and I can also better air out the room if needed.

Paul154
Level 10
Seattle, WA

You snooze. You lose.

It's a lesson all guests must learn

 

If the 5 days are so tantalizing, I would upgrade the one-day person to another room/listing.

I have complimentarily upgraded people to my master bedroom with private bath.

 

Or you can offer the person $$ to move to an equivalent or worse listing.

Kath9
Level 10
Albany, Australia

@David969, so frustrating when this happens. It probably happens way more than we think as we're not always in conversation with people. Imagine how many people scroll through listings trying to decide and then come back to yours only to find their dates have been booked. Sliding doors...

 

I've had your exact situation and have done what you're doing - put them up in another room just for the one night (which was a hassle but better than losing a 5- night booking). I don't know what's so difficult to understand about that (for your guest). Just make sure they do fully understand it before they arrive  or you might be looking at a bad review.

 

Anyway, the only way to avoid the problem you've just described in future is to turn off Instant Book. That way, at least if someone sends through a request, you can decline it in favour of the more desirable booking (although too many declines will eventually cost you).