received booking outside of 3 month window

[BandT0]

I just got notified of an instant booking outside the three month window. We are in New Orleans and this reservation is for two nights only right in the middle of Mardi Gras...we normally require a four night minimum during this holiday! If I cancel the reservation I get all sorts of penalties. Why did I get a reservation outside the three month window?!? Today is Oct 2 and the reservation is for Feb 24-26! This really puts me in a bad spot with the guest. What does the three month reservation window mean if it still allows people to book 4 months in advance?!?

[David126]

Looks like you take bookings 5 months in advance.

[BandT0]

Clearly. Figured out what happened and now I am even more aggravated.

[Tim-and-Holly0]

When you go to your calendar page in your admin panel and you click on availability settings in the charcoal colored bar then drop down to "How far in advance can guests book?" what does it say there?

Also, underneath that line are the boxes where you can set your minimum and maximum stay, but underneath those two boxes is a link that says, "Add a requirement for seasons or weekends" Click that link and you could set the minimum days for specified dates on your calendar. Your choices are to set the dates by month or you can choose specific dates. That may solve your problem in the future.

[BandT0]

Yeah...thats my point. It said three months and I got an instant book 5 months out in the middle of Mardi Gras. Sucks big time.

[Helen3]

Give BNB a call I understand they allow you to cancel up to three times with IB. Explain what has happened and see if they will cancel for you.

[BandT0]

So I figured out what happened...and it is BS. 

Although my reservation window was set to 3 months, because I had previously modified the rental information for these dates, that overrides the 3 month reservation window option. This is true despite the fact that I selected the 3 month window option AFTER making special arrangements for those dates. So there is an order of priority for the rental policies that you put in place...and that order is not mentioned anywhere. 

Moral of the story: if you have a three month window set, and your area has a special occasion that falls outside that window that you do not want to book until you are within three months, then you have to wait until the day the three month window hits that vacation and change your rental requirements immediately. Every minute you are late is an opportunity for someone to "instant book" your place for terms that you do not want. 

Very stupid so I canceled instant book altogether so that I don't get forced into terms that I do not want.

[Connie0]

Aha! Thank you for clarifying this - I changed our daily rate for the summer season and have been getting booking requests beyond our 3 month requirement ever since!

So now....I guess I need to block my calendar manually 3 months out , then unblock as it comes along?

Or perhaps just change the rate to all seasons and leave it?

Gosh thank you so much for finding this - I've been struggling to figure it out since my settings on the site reflect the parameters I've chosen, yet I continue to get requests beyond them.

Grateful,

Connie

[Ashlee13]

I had the same problem.  Check out the answer at the bottom of this thread:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/booking-window/td-p/270373

Where Shelly says "I think I found the solution to the Booking window delimma. Go to your calendar, select a couple of months worth of days that are just beyond 6 months out (or whatever booking window you have selected). The pop up box will show and your choices are Available, Blocked or Unavailable Until such and such Date Based upon your 6 month Booking Window. Select the Unavailable option. The dates will no longer show a $, nor will they have a line trough them (ie blocked).  If you select a block of days inside you booking window, you will not get this Unavailable option. Good luck!!"

You will see availabiity options for each date past your booking window of:

1 - Available

2 - Blocked

3 - Unavailable until [DATE] Based on your X-month booking window.

Select option 3 to get back to using your normal automatic window of availability for whatever future dates you want to obey the window policy you've set.

[Evelyn115]

Thank you all for this suggestion. I think the problem that Airbnb doesn't see is a possible app interface issue. The last choice #3 doesn't appear to be a choice but it does seem to be a way to override a sliding window. Dangerous possibly if one doesn't know that #3 is a choice. Careful when editing the pricing and window or it might open dates in the future without host knowledge that the dates are open beyond the sliding window.