leave days between bookings is broken

Terence55
Level 3
Burbank, CA

leave days between bookings is broken

We have "2 nights before and after each reservation" selected under "preparation time". That has always left us with an unbooked day between reservations to get things cleaned and prepped.

We just had 2 auto bookings happen with checkins on the same day as a checkouts. Not sure what changed in the code, but this now means we only have a few hours to get everything handled between guests, and we aren't set up for that.

I've reported it, and sure hope this gets fixed soon. In the mean time, I am blocking out my calendar.

29 Replies 29

@Terence55 

Sounds like you were using using Instant Book? 

 

You would need to set 1 night prep time and 2 days advance notice, and I believe that would have prevented this from happening.

 

Also, I believe doing this you won't lose 2 nights between bookings if you only need 1 day between for cleaning.

 

Joan2709_0-1753218261051.png

 

That is what we have had set for years. Since the Covid days. It literally just started going south today.

@Terence55 

 

Can you clarify? 

 

Your original post said you had 2 nights before/after prep time, but didn't mention advance notice? 

 

You would need to add 2 days advance notice to prevent a same day turn if using instant book. You probably just had a perfect storm scenario where two bookings conflicted (booked around the same time on Instant Book) would be my guess. 

 

To prevent losing 2 days between bookings, yet still give yourself a full day to clean - If using Instant Book:

Set 2 days advance notice

1 Day prep before/after

 

If you don't, you could have 2 bookings on Instant book that could override the 2days prep time. Besides, you are losing a booking day when you don't need to.

The bookings weren't same day, they were in the future. One overlapped a checkout/checkin day, The next one filled a 2 day gap between bookings a few weeks from now which should be impossible. Look at August 1st on the image. Also notice I have 2 nights before and after selected.

One thing, I think I used to see the day before and after a booking blocked out on my calendar. Now I don't. blocking out issueblocking out issue

Maybe the old Airbnb "intelligent machine" isn't so intelligent. 

@Terence55 

Yup...from your screen shots something is definitely wrong for sure. What is weird is my calendar is working correctly with 1 Day Prep before and after:

 

Joan2709_1-1753238503574.png

Joan2709_2-1753238551775.png

 

Joan2709_3-1753238896265.png

 

Did you opt in early to the Summer release? 

 

Are you using Professional Hosting Tools and Rule Sets?

 

Did the guest book these stays on the same day or were the bookings made on different days?

 

Was Instant Book on when these trips were booked?

 

What are your Advance Notice Settings? Was the optional setting slider ON?

 

Joan2709_6-1753239255667.png

 

 

 

 

 

Instant book on with requirements for good reviews.

I don't remember if I opted in for the early release. I have done that in the past. but this problem just popped up today.

The two weird bookings both happened today.

Not using Professional Hosting Tools and Rule Sets.

@Terence55 

 Ok...so the bookings both happened on the same day (today). This was what I was referring to as the "perfect storm" with Instant Book on. You had two guests both booking on the same day (doesn't matter that the stay dates are in the future).

 

Did the bookings come through almost simultaneously?

 

What are your Advance Notice Settings currently on the calendar?

2 Day advance notice.

We had the one booking. I got online with support in India. He could see the issue, and offered to cancel the booking. We said we could handle it, but how do we prevent it going forward. He said the settings were alright and it would be fine. About 5 minutes later, we got the booking in a 2 day hole. That should be impossible with the 2 nights before an after.

@Terence55 

Welll....I don't think it's alright despite what CS is saying...

 

Can you post a screen shot of your current advance notice settings? Have you changed those in anyway since this happened? Do you have the slider option ON?

 

Joan2709_1-1753241395343.png

 

 

 

I haven't changed anything in a long time. Here's the screenshot.

 

Screenshot 2025-07-22 at 9.16.15 PM.jpg

@Terence55 

Ok...I can't think of anything else that could have caused this. Is it possible that someone (Co Host) accidentally unblocked one your prep dates?

 

You could try looking at your activity log and see if one of your settings was changed and who did it. It doesn't always reflect everything that is changed on the listing though:

 

Joan2709_0-1753245278368.png

 

I the mean time, I wouldn't keep your calendar blocked (unavailable by default) as you will lose out on bookings. Just keep Instant Book OFF and you'll be able to manually block dates before and after each booking as they come in until this gets corrected.

Thanks for your help on this. I really appreciate it.

Shelley159
Top Contributor
Stellenbosch, South Africa

Hi @Terence55 

The bookings in question are obviously a (serious) problem, but the most important thing is to check whether it's working correctly when there aren't exceptions such as what happened here.

 

If your calendar is showing future bookings with two dates blocked either side, the issue was a once-off.

We can't help you check the blocks, as your blocked and booked dates look the same to us. You'll be able to see on your calendar whether there are 2 correctly blocked days either side of your remaining "healthy" bookings. 

 

I don't know whether you also get direct bookings and bookings from other websites, but if you do, for those you may always have to manually block the extra dates even if the calendars are connected (depending on whether the site that took the booking has a prep-time feature).

 

Was the booking that was cancelled (the one that you phoned Airbnb about), processed as a host cancellation? If so, it puts you in a bad position with Superhost stats and ranking if you cancel more bookings, so do keep that in mind when you decide what to do about the remaining booking that you didn't want. Check your Superhost progress (under Insights) to see whether a host cancellation was recorded.

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