Can I make multiple guest booking reservations for the same dates?

[Jon41]

Hi:

I have submitted a reservation request, but I'm traveling within a few days and worried about wasting time time finding another place if my first request is declined.  Must I wait up to 24 hours (if the host doesn't respond earlier) before I can submit another request for the same dates?

Thanks!

Jon

[Billy110]

> the host able to pick the guest booking the most days for example, or with the best reviews, or favoring a group of four over a single guest

What's wrong with that? Why would that be unworkable? Shouldn't hosts be able to decide what guests work best for them?

> first-come-first-served

I don't see why this is a reasonable policy when dealing with mutually exclusive resources. This isn't a coffee shop where all the coffee is the same. This is a marketplace where every property is different.

> The guest knows the host can't be shopping the property to other people while the transaction is still pending

I very much doubt that most guests know that. Until this conversation I assumed that was exactly what hosts could be doing. I don't see any reason to disallow hosts from doing that. Just as guests can continue to shop after they make an inquiry (or even a request).

> the host knows they have to evaluate each request on its merits, one at a time. 

Again, you're not making it clear what the benefit of that is. As far as I see it, that's a negative for hosts, and its not really a positive for guests. Guests can still be rejected - they aren't afforded any assurances of having their request accepted.

>  if sending reservation requests isn't fast enough, there's instant book,

The fact that instant book exists is completely irrelevant to this conversation. The whole point of the conversation is how to handle cases where instant book is not made available. 

[Sarah977]

@Billy110  Well, talk to Airbnb about that. They block calendars for a pending request. Even if the host accepts the request, if the guest doesn't have their credit card info or verification info uploaded yet, the host then sits there for up to 24 hours with a blocked calendar that no one else can book, and sometimes the guest's payment falls through. So then the host has missed potential bookings. 

What you have to understand is that Airbnb's main interest is to drive bookings, the faster and more furiously possible. 

So I might get an Inquiry message, where the guest is quite serious about booking, and they sound like a guest I'd like to have, they just have some questions and we might need time to message back and forth about something. But if a request comes in during that time, I am now pressured to either accept that request, shafting my Inquirer, or declining the request (which will lower my Airbnb Acceptance stats, not to mention Airbnb threatens hosts with suspension if they decline too much).

Instant Book (which I have never used) enters the picture when talking about inquiries and requests because the first-come first-served thing and Airbnb's focus on bookings rather than good "fits" is at play. If an Instant Book comes in when a host is negotiating things with a guest who has sent an inquiry or request, the instant book is confirmed and the inquirer or requester is out of luck. Those dates are now booked.

Airbnb would work a lot better, with more understanding between hosts and guests, if we were all more aware of how things work on the other person's end.

For instance, Airbnb tells guests that a 4* rating means "Good". Okay, nothing wrong with good, right? But Airbnb then turns around and warns hosts to pull up their socks if their rating falls below 4.7. Few guests are aware of this.

If Airbnb acknowleged that a good fit between host, guest, and accommodation is key to a good experience for all, and changed their policies to account for that, instead of just giving lip service to it being some kind of loving, trusting platform, while actually only being concerned about collecting their service fees, we'd all be a lot happier, both hosts and guests.

[Erick690]

Sounds nice in theory, But if I have a trip coming up unexpectedly and need a room quickly it is maddening to request an airbnb day by day when the request is automatically denied. I run a small shipping business, I get inquires all the time, I treat each one very seriously, when they don't result in a sale I move on with my life

[Steven1481]

I'm booking rooms for my grooms men and bridal party for my wedding. Now it seems weird that I can book two places, but have to go another route to do so