Why do guests request to book When I have instant

[Penelope9]

Why do guests request to book? I have instant booking on and don’t understand why they have to request - and after I approve, they then say what next and I say

i don’t know, I thought  you could book instantly.

i feel stupid and give bad customer service as I don’t understand the process or platform 

[Miloud0]

Salute @Penelope9, 

If it is possible for you, in spite of a host has instant booking, some guests prefer to ask, to see if a place is suitable for them or not according their needs, before reservation 

Thanks, 

Miloud

[Allison2]

There are a few reasons someone might do a RTB rather than IB.

* If one of their search criteria breaks your house rules. e.g. My place is "not suitable for children" and the guest has a child or infant in their guest count.

* If your booking settings require positive reviews from other hosts. Guests with a review ❤️ stars (or maybe thumbs down in the review) can't IB and need to RTB

* If your booking settings require Verified ID, guests w/o verification can still RTB.

Basically, IB allows anyone with all your criteria to IB. If they're missing a thing, they can still request and you can override your settings by accepting them.

[Alexandra316]

@Penelope9It sounds like your guests are sending you an inquiry, rather than a request to book. If it was a request, your acceptance would mean that the booking would be finalized and no other action would be needed.. 

If it's just an inquiry and you're sending a pre-approval, there is a button the guest can click to accept the pre-approval. Airbnb make it extremely obvious, because they want the guest to book. They just have to click that button and complete the reservation. 

[Sarah977]

@Penelope9  I don't use IB, never have, so I only get inquiries and booking requests. As I only host one guest at a time in a private room, and am a female host, I tend to get a lot of solo female travelers. Many of them have told me that they would never Instant Book, even if that is available and they have the verifications and reviews to do so. They prefer to exchange a message or two with the host to get a sense of whether they feel safe with the host and the accommodation. That's but one of the reasons a guest may send an inquiry or request rather than IB.

Airbnb tries to make hosts think that all guests prefer the IB option, because the faster guests book, the faster the $ rolls in for the company, but that prodding is not necesssarily based on fact.