My Instant Book Experiment

[Huma0]

I have always been one of those hosts that has a deep fear of Instant Booking. I am a single woman and host in my own home (although I do currenty have a male housemate). I also have a busy work schedule and travel frequently for work, so managing my calendar can be an issue. More importantly, I'm just worried about the can of worms it might open given that, in my experience, most guests do not read the listing nor the house rules properly and often don't even really know what they are booking (e.g. think they are getting the whole house and not just a room, assume they will have an en suite, are highly allergic to cats and I have three...)

When I first listed a room on Airbnb, I DEFINITELY deselected Instant Booking. Imagine my surprise then when I found out the next morning that people had instant booked my room and at half the price Airbnb told me I was going to get! One of the guests had only booked for one night so I honoured that booking and got my first review. The other guest wanted to book for two people for two months and it worked out to around £15 a night. Please tell me what you can find for £15 a night for two people in London. Certainly not this, which is the room that was on offer!

However, after a year and a half of hosting and being almost fully booked every month, my views and bookings have all but ground to a halt. What's going on? I have tried EVERYTHING to try to push my listings up in the search results, but it is just not happening. So, I am biting the bullet and have put one of my listings on IB. I will keep you updated on how it goes. I only did it today and then received one enquiry with a question. I answered the question within minutes and then, silence...

Would love to hear from other "IB fearful" hosts who have tried it and what your experiences were.

[Huma0]

@Oomesh-Kumarsingh0

Yes, a host can cancel IB bookings an unlimited amount of times, BUT, after the first three in one year, it has to be approved by Airbnb. You cannot simply do it yourself without penalty, but have to convince the CS rep that you have valid reasons to feel uncomfortable with the guest. There are other threads on here where hosts have said the rep did not agree with them and they were not allowed to cancel penalty free.

Unless this has changed in the last couple of weeks? If so, do please share the link that provides the new policy on it. The previous information given was very vague, but I called Airbnb to ask about it and they confirmed what I have said above.

[Clara116]

@Huma0@Oomesh-Kumarsingh0Hello, I've been following this thread for a good while. I don't do IB. but I am pretty certain that cancelling any guest because you are uncomfortable or think they might break a rule - YOU MUST HAVE PROOF- like video, photos, etc.  So just thinking oh I feel weird with them as a person will not fly. And so we all know Airbnb hates cancelling any reservation and they want everyone to be happy. Imagine the guest calls them and says I'm uncomfortable here - without proof WHY - they too do not get to cancel. So if you guys have links or such that show something different I would love to read it. Thanks and happy hosting, Clara

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@Huma0@Clara116 Please have a look at this link https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2022/how-do-penalty-free-cancellations-work-for-instant-book-hos...

Happy hosting!!!

[Clara116]

@Oomesh-Kumarsingh0 thanks...........AND when you read it all the VERY specific stuff is really important. Appreciate you taking time to post this. Best Happy Hosting, Clara

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@Clara116 The pleasure is all mine!!!

[Huma0]

Thanks @Oomesh-Kumarsingh0 but I don't think this is new information. It's the same as what they were saying before, they just conveniently forget to mention that after the third time, you need to get Airbnb approval for it to be penalty free. It is very misleading for Airbnb not to include this information.

When I asked the CS rep to confirm this she did. She also went and double checked the policy and with her manager, so it seems pretty certain that it's not totally up to the host after the third cancellation. She simply said they would always be supportive if there was a genuine reason for cancellation, but in reality, it totally depends on the rep you happen to get on the phone.

It's the same with guests. They can cancel within the grace period penalty free, i.e. get their Airbnb fees back as well, but they can only do this three times a year.

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@Huma0 If what you are saying is right then i think it's high time for Airbnb to be more precise and give all inofrmation instead of hiding them.I have personally never cancel any reservations and i hope i will never have to do it.

[Huma0]

@Oomesh-Kumarsingh0

Let's hope you never need to!

I have only cancelled once, recently, and that was when I asked the Airbnb rep to clarify what they meant by 'unlimited' penalty free cancellations for IB.

Yes, they should specify this in the information you highlighted above. It's very misleading otherwise.

[Huma0]

Another thing I've noticed since I started using IB is that several guests IB without even realising that's what they've done, i.e. they message me asking to reserve the room and are really surprised when I tell them they have already booked!

I wonder how clear it is from the guest side? 

As a guest, I personally wouldn't choose to IB. I would want at least a little communication with the host first to make sure they were friendly, helpful and responsive.

[Zolly0]

Another tip is to check your settings regularly. As you know ABB can muck around with your settings without your knowing anything about it. E.g. they drop your listing down if you don't join IB (as we have all discovered). Anyhow I recently went to delete my "1 day advance notice" as a guest wanted to rebook. But, get this: when you go to edit it, you will see a new  box - - which has been ticked ! -- which says "For Instant Book hosts: Allow guests to send reservation requests without advance notice." If you do not go to EDIT this setting, you will NEVER see it. So you get an IB guest arriving in a few hours when you are away for the day... Well, that is, you could. Lucky for me I saw it. I have no idea when it got added.