Instant book issues

[Jack2177]

I've recently had a dilemma where multiple inquiries with either the same dates or dates that would otherwise lapse each other force me to manually choose between potential guests. I use instant booking and offer to those who meet the higher criteria for guest with more solid reviews. However I still receive inquiries every so often, and usually because the particular guest in question doesn't have any reviews or has a bad review. The problem is that sometimes I get an inquiry, and the guest has great reviews, but I'm left to wonder why they weren't able to instant book. It seems unfair to those who would have otherwise been a great potential guest to not be served first and immediately. It gets worse when there's multiple guests who want the same dates, and you have to manually decide between them, or wait too long and risk lowering your response rate. If I wasn't paying close enough attention, I might have not noticed that one of the potential guest did not have any reviews, while the other had great reviews. If I have instant book on, Id like to think I'm making the safer choice overall with who I welcome into my home. At the same time by having instant book on, I shouldn't have to flip a coin metaphorically. It give me anxiety to see a inquiry without a follow up question because I know I'll either have to accept or decline quickly, even though I'm given no exact explanation sometimes as to why they couldn't instant book. I'd really appreciate any feedback I can get about this issue.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jack2177 firstly I think you need to make sure you understand the difference between an inquiry and a request. The former is likely to be used by any potential guest seeking information. Airbnb encourages hosts to accept or decline inquiries but only a response is needed. 

[Jack2177]

If I'm understanding you correctly, my response rate is unaffected so long as I reply within 24 hours? I've never had the chance to book an air BNB, but I do occasionally use traveling mode so I can see how my listing competes with others. I could only imagine that a potential guest taps the button for inquiry, when there's a button right next to it that says request? Sometimes I manually approve a guest and instantly after it says booked, other times it happens later on when the guest eventually( or changes their mind). The latter always comes with a question about the listing.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jack2177 I think we still need to work on  understanding the Airbnb system.

If a guest requests to book then as soon as you approve them the booking is made. 

If a guest makes an inquiry then if you pre-approve them (which you don't need to do - you just need to respond) then it is up to the guest if they then want to book your place.

[Joelle43]

Hello @Jack2177 

My take on this is that some guests just like to contact the host first to make sure they are legit or if they have a particular question even if they have great reviews and even if they could IB. There are so many stories out there of fake listings, fake reviews that by contacting the host first, you can get a pretty good idea of who you're dealing with.

However, the Airbnb system is such that if you receive an instant booking for any of those dates, then the IB will automatically get accepted over and above the booking enquiry.

[Jack2177]

Woah I didn't even think about fake listings, but that could definitely be a huge part of it. However I did manually choose with the guest who had reviews( no bad ones as far as I saw, and I scrolled through all of them to my understanding). Before hitting accept, I kindly asked if they could confirm their ability to IB, which they were unable to. From reading other replies having a child or pet can set the algorithm off and disable the ability to IB. Good to know in the future, I believe that was the culprit in this particular time. 

[Helen3]

I sometimes send an inquiry where there is instant book if there is something I want to check with a host before booking @Jack2177 

[Helen744]

@Jack2177 sometimes guests do not give over ID or credit card details quickly enough  but are also 'not booked' . If they must make enquiries about 'children or pets ' etcetera' . If another guest can then go ahead and book this same spot before these issues are complete then that is that.Any cancellation after this will need to attract a fee. This is pretty rare and is usually overcome by processing manually as you know. If you are using instant book for overnighters then maybe drop IB all together and only accept verified guests or increase your stay times... H

[Fred13]

An 'inquiry' is normally a question send by a potential guest before deciding whether to book or not.

"If I have instant book on, Id like to think I'm making the safer choice overall with who I welcome into my home. " Actually it is a computer accepting the bookings according to the parameters you preselected. You no longer have to flip a coin, the computer is doing it for you.

An inquiry without a question and telling you how great a guest they are is usually accompanied with asking for a discount, otherwise why else send it. 😎

[Jack2177]

Thankyou all for replying so quickly, I didn't expect the replies so soon!