Middle of the night arrivals

[Karen816]

Hi fellow hosts. OUr check in time is 3 pm but we try to be flexible. However the next group will arrive at 2 am on Saturday and they have not booked the Friday night. I didn't realize it until now, days before they are to arrive. It doesn't seem right for them to not pay for the Friday. If it were a hotel, I am sure they would pay for the Friday night.

How should I handle this?

[Patricia2526]

Hi @Karen816 

I get this kind of bookings and inquiries often since my listings are  just across the international airport. If guest arrival is more than 3 hours earlier I ask them to book another night since I need to block off the earlier date to accommodate their early check in.  Best is to communicate this option to your guest. 

[Cathie19 · Accepted solution]

@Karen816 , they must pay for the night before. They would not normally have access before the 3pm of that day. So no, they don’t get access from 3am on the same day.

I quite regularly have what we call “red eye” flights coming in and I’ve learnt to always mention day, dates and times in my hello and thanks for booking message. This miscalculation then can get picked up early from the conversation.

If they appear to be flying in I Always Check, because we’ve had to change the booking on a few occasions.

Can you send them a message stating as they are arriving during the night of what would be the day before their accommodation booking, then to have access, they have to book the night before. 

As time is short, I’d

1) send them an Airbnb message board message marked URGENT explaining the issue.

**( Always communicate on the platform. If they go off platform or you have an urgent need, always screen shot and send and repeat message in the Airbnb message board)

2) Go into the guests booking details and scroll down past financial info to the ”reservation (change dates)” and save - Airbnb will automatically send it.

3) send a second message stating they need to accept the new reservation with the earlier new arrival date to have access during the night. That without accepting it, their reservation does not meet their needs and you are sure they want a bed for the night, not having to hang around at the airport till the afternoon.   Always be nice, be obliging, be fair but firm.   😊🌻

4) IF none of this works, text the message to their mobile number. Take a screen shot and place that exact image on the Airbnb message board for documentation. State this image is for documentation so Airbnb can see what is happening.

5) Most guests just make this mistake without thinking. I’ve never had anyone do it on purpose.

6) Still nothing, ring Airbnb to contact the guest to alter or cancel.

Hope this helps! 🌻

[Karen816]

Thanks so much Cathie19. That really helps.

[Nur785]

@Karen816 

@Cathie19 is correct. You need to alter their reservation to book Friday night. I got a couple of international guests checking in 6am which made me lose reservations because I had to block that day to accommodate them before I learned to do that. It's really not fair to you! 

[Fred13]

Allowing guests that instead of arriving no earlier than 3pm, in turn arrive 13 hours earlier at 2am is not being 'flexible', it is more like incredibly abusive - to you.

[Sharon683]

Definitely charge for  the Friday night.  I sometime have guest arriving at 8am in the morning and they want to check-in as soon as they land.  I politely inform them of my check-in time, but in addition,  my visit guest has to check out first (10am) then the rooms need to be cleaned.  I never allow early check-in. On occasion I have allowed 2pm.  My check-in is 3pm. 

Good luck. 

[Jenny]

Hi @Karen816 

Welcome to the Community Center!

Did you find the advice from @Cathie19, @Nur785, @Fred13  and @Sharon683 to be helpful?  Feel free to come back and let us know.

Thanks to everyone that's weighed in on this discussion so far!

Jenny

[Till-and-Jutta0]

This is the way, how we handle it:

Our regular check-in time is between noon and 22pm, and a check-out is possible until noon, so we have enough time to prepare the room for the next guests. However, for a small surcharge of 19 EUR each, we also try to allow deviating times: check-in from 7am or after 10pm at night or later departure until 5pm. Booking an additional night results in even more flexibility. Please let us know in time so that we can check availability.