Why can't a host hold dates as part of a special offer like we can with pre-approvals?

[Steven598]

Why can't hosts hold dates for a guest when making special offer the way we can for a pre-approval and who do I contact to make a change?

Someone put in a request for a discount on a reservation which was over a month long and during the slow season (a.k.a. a dream request). I agreed to the price they offered and made the special offer. However, the Airbnb system doesn't allow you to hold dates for a guest like you can with a pre-approval. This is a problem for anyone using instant booking. I allow instant booking for users who've verified their identities in the Airbnb system. The majority of my reservations are made that way and I use that feature as part of my search criteria when I'm a guest.

So besides turning off instant booking for the entire listing (which would potentially cost me other reservations), the only other way to prevent another a guest from ruining a special offer seems to be blocking the dates entirely and then coordinating a "reservation meeting" at an agreed upon time for the host to re-open the dates and then send the special offer at an agreed upon time so the guest can immediately make payment instead of simply allowing the guest to accept the special offer and pay at their leisure like they already can with a pre-approval. (Yes, with a pre-approval the guest only has 24 hours to book but Airbnb goes so far as to text you when a pre-approval has expired so you can offer it again - even when you haven't blocked the dates for a guest.)

Does that seem counter-productive or counter-intuitive to anyone? This isn't just about long reservations - if a host has decided to send a special offer for any reason, the guest and host shouldn't have to bend over backwards to allow it to happen. Why is Airbnb not providing time for a guest to accept a special offer and make payment, just like they have 24 hours to do so with a pre-approval? 

This used to be allowed. I'm sure it was an option because last year, I granted a request for a special offer on a different long reservation and then clicked on an option to hold the dates like I would with a pre-approval. But then there was some sort of system error and another guest made a reservation for a few days smack dab in the middle of that period, ruining my potential for an extended-rental. An Airbnb customer service representative acknoledged that this glitch  happens sometimes and was willing to cancel the shorter reservation without penalty to my Superhost status. In the end, the long reservation didn't pan out so the other reservation worked out fine but that scenario confirms 1. it was an option in the past and 2. the Airbnb system experienced glitches with holding dates for a special request.

So has the Airbnb technical team given up on a feature because it was too difficult for their system to handle or is this just a typical UX flaw because the site and app designers don't use Airbnb as hosts or guests? I can't imagine a policy reason why Airbnb wouldn't allow this. Who can I contact to lobby for a change?

[Emiel1]

@Steven598 

Pre-approve (an option when an Inquiry is received)  does NOT hold the dates. It only gives a guest (ore more guests) the option to book within the time-limit.

A special offer does NOT hold the the dates and i never saw an option to make this happen.

A special offer has a time limit for acceptance (booking). You can block the dates manually, if you do not want an Instant Booking to interfere.

Optional:

The guest makes a normal reservation (By request or Instant Book) and after confirmation you change it to the special offer agreed. So the dates are allways immediatelly reserved for the specific guest.

Best regards,

Emiel

[Steven598]

Thanks for this reply - I missed it until now.

A year later (almost) and we still don't have this common sense option. Again, if I'm making a special offer - it just makes sense that hosts should have the option to block those dates for 24 hours the same way we can when a guest sends a request. Don't you agree?

It's a good suggestion that a guest can make the reservation at the normal rate and then the host can send a special offer for a discount BUT this option would arguably make most guests uncomfortable (that's a lot of trust) and it doesn't help if a guest is making a long reservation where they would need to put up a few thousand dollars. 

[Ramona170]

I am also lucky enough to have several returning guests and like you said, it is ridiculously difficult to schedule so they can book the days they want. It seems like we should be able to select a block of days and send them an offer to book without having to unblock the calendar and hope nobody else books them. 

Also, since I put a note on the days I've blocked for them it would be great if I could see them on the calendar so that when I go to open up the month I am able to select multiple days instead of having to edit each day individually to make sure I'm not unblocking their requested days. 

It seems like a no brainer, but wouldn't it be super convenient if we could have some way to contact our past guests as a group? I would love to be able to send them special offers or give them first dibs when I open up my calendar. 

Super frustrating and time consuming trying to figure out how to do something that should not be this difficult!

[Sarah977]

@Ramona170  I exchange email addresses with all of my guests if they are open to that, which all have been, as well as keeping their phone numbers. 

I'm more of a pen and paper gal than a techie, so I have  a little notebook with this info. 

I have never done it, but I could mass email past guests this way. Of course with the email BC option, to protect everyone's privacy.