pre approval on same day

[Stuart32]

HELP!

Hi there, I'm relatively new to this. I have pre-approved someone earlier today after her asking to stay for two nights, starting from the the same day as the pre-approval. e.g. she asked to book this morning for the same day, I needed to know the time of check-in before i said yes. She then messaged me at 3pm saying she wanted to confirm the booking and will arrive around 7pm (same day). Thing is i clicked on pre-approval (not really knowing this meant it wasnt a cofirmed request from her) So, my questions are these: with a pre-approval, does the guest receive information with my address and contact details, and how do i know she's a) going to turn up and b) its going to be paid for via Air Bnb? 

[Helen3]

If your guests hasn't confirmed the booking - then she hasn't paid and won't be provided with your contact details.

You need to call her now. Tell her if she hasn't already confirmed the booking, she needs to go in and do it now , so you can prepare for her arrival tonight.

If you don't want to come then withdraw the pre-approval, block your calendar for tonight and let her know it is too short notice.

While the pre-approval is live she can book at any time today.

Next time you get a last minute booking, don't preapprove.  If  they have sent an inquiry if you want to accept the booking then send them a message to say you are happy to accept a booking and that they need to send you a booking request. If they send a booking request you can accept or decline.

You might want to snooze your listing and read carefully the host information BNB provides on their site so you understand how it works before making your listing go live.

[Sharon114]

Hi Stuart, a pre-approval is not a firm booking.  Even if you had accepted the request, rather than pre-approving, it is not confirmed until you receive notification from airbnb. This is the point at which the guest has been verified and has paid.  Your contact details and address is not given to the guest until they have paid and the reservation has been confirmed by airbnb.

Unless you hear to the contrary, this guest has not booked and paid so will not be arriving at your listing.  You could try to contact them and remind them that they have to pay before their booking is confirmed.

[Stuart32]

Thank you so much for your replies. You have confirmed what I thought. The reason i got confused was because she said she wanted to confirm the booking, but then there was only an option to pre-approve. I have read the information, thanks for the suggestion- there's quite a lot of conflicting stuff- for example pre-approval the guest has 24 hours to respond, but if the pre-approved booking is within that 24 hours where does that leave the host? Do i prepare the room or not? Do I wait around for check-in or not?  (If you don't hear back from the guest after messaging?) 

Thank you so much!

[James1]

I never take same day bookings. Guests may get your full booking info (address, keycode, etc) as soon as they click 'confirm' but airbnb will still take 24 hours to try processing their payment. This has become a scam. Criminal guests create a new 'burner' airbnb account, submit payment to airbnb with a phoney credit card, get into your place to party, steal, other mischief. 

After five years hosting on airbnb, I personally check-in every guest. Make it clear in your listing that there will be a live human to do the check-in. This alone eliminates the vast majority of scammers, the one night party/steal, the 'extra' guests they did not pay for, and the "this place was a filthy mess, I demand a full refund".  If you are not local make sure a close friend or family or reputable professional property manager does the check-ins and can keep an eye on the place. 

These scams represent a tiny fraction of airbnb guests but it only takes one to really ruin your day.