Wishlists are limited to 50 entries and AirBNB is too embarrassed to document it.

[Sheryl197]

This evening AirBNB support confirmed that a) Wishlists are limited to 50 entries. b) This limitation is not documented anywhere because it is an embarrassment. c)  There is no warning or error message when you save the 51st entry.  d) All entries beyond number 50 are just tossed... they are gone for good and cannot be retrieved.   

Learning that AirBNB's design and documentation standards are so poor has me questioning whether I'll use AirBNB in the future.  If they can't manage a simple list beyond 50 entries or at least provide a notification that you've reached the maximum then how loose is their control over my personal information?   Very concerning.  

[Fred13]

Perhaps limiting bandwidth is at the core of their 'embarrassing' decision? Now I am praying my place is not selected beyond the first 50 in anyone's wish list. I do not want to disappear.

[Jenny]

Hi @Sheryl197 

Thanks for taking the time to leave us some feedback about the limitations on the Wishlist function.

We're going to check this out with the team that handle the Wishlist product.  

If you want to contact the team with feedback you can also do that here.

You can find Airbnb's Privacy Policy here.

As someone who uses Wishlists for the destinations I want to visit, I'm super impressed that you would like to add more than 50 at a time, it sounds like you must be an intrepid traveler.  We'd love to know more about your experiences.

If I hear anything back about the enquiries I've made, I'll be in touch.

Jenny

[Sheryl197]

Maybe it was confusing that I said 50 "entries"...  what I am trying to convey is that each individual wishlist is limited to 50 properties.  This is not documented anywhere and AirBNB refuses to answer the question when asked online.   Not only that, but your 51st selected (loved, hearted) property is just thrown away for good with no notification or indication whatsoever.

[Kia272]

I think we are all confused by your struggle with this. But also sincerely sorry that your 51st loved and hearted property has disappeared. 

[Jenny]

Hi @Sheryl197 

Thanks for your reply.

Just confirming that I understood what you meant but perhaps didn't convey that very clearly in my reply to you!  

I still think that 50 destinations per wishlist is impressive and would love to hear more about your travels at some point.

The feedback is with the right people, I can't promise anything, but we hear you.

Jenny 😊

[Sheryl197]

My job often requires extensive and unpredictable travel within a country for months on end.  I prefer to stay in AirBNB's vs. hotels to get a little more immersed in the local area.  Before I leave, I add properties that meet my needs to a wishlist so that I don't have to search for properties at my "next" location on the fly.  Italy, being a large country, resulted in far more than 50 wishlist properties and I learned the hard way that hours of my work was simply discarded by AirBNB.  Yes, I could create multiple wishlists (and I would have if AirBNB had disclosed that it was discarding my work), but please understand that when I am on the road from client to client I really don't want to have to figure out which wish list I should be looking in.  I simply want to see ALL of the properties that I wishlisted that are within range of my client, and available on the dates I need them.  If the client happens to be near the junction of 3 regions I don't want to have to search 3 wishlists.    Have you ever worked for hours on a spreadsheet or other document and then the power goes off and you otherwise lose your work?   It's a terrible feeling and that is exactly what AirBNB is doing to users who encounter this.

[Sarah5192]

So what is the reasoning behind wishlist being delete? 

[Helen3]

I can't imagine a situation where I would want to have more than 50 wish lists @Sheryl197 

I am a frequent traveller (about 6- 8 times a year) and have never had more than 5 or 6 wish lists at a time. 

[Sheryl197]

I can't either.  I didn't say anything about 50 wish lists.  What I said is:

1.  that each wishlist is limited to 50 properties

2. that if you add properties beyond 50 AirBNB just throws them away without even notifying you

3. that none of this is documented even though thousands have posted this question (with no answer from AirBNB because it is a system limitation they don't want to reveal)

Imagine this.  You will be traveling in Italy on business for several months.    You don't know when or how long you will be in each region but you want to pre-identify properties that meet your needs, so you throw them into a wishlist called "Italy".  You spent hours identifying 10-15 properties per region across 12 regions.  You go back into the wishlist and only 50 are there.   The last thing I want is to have to create 12 different wishlists... At a later date, I just want to be able to identify properties that are near the sites where I will be working.... thus one wishlist that covers entire country.  

[Jenny]

Hello everyone!

I noticed that this discussion started getting a little bit personal, so I've had to do some tidying up, as this isn't the place for insults or name calling.

It's important that we're respectful towards each other, even when our opinions differ.  Everyone matters here.

I'm going to leave the Community Center Guidelines here just in case anyone wants a refresh.

Appreciate everyone's on-topic input.

Thanks! 😊

Jenny

[Kia272]

@Jenny  I noticed that you removed several of my comments, which were were neither insulting nor name-calling. That's straight up censorship, which I don't appreciate. I should be allowed to share my opinion as long as I haven't broken any CC guidelines. That's dangerous territory right there....Kia

[Helen3]

Sorry you mentioned entries so wasn't clear @Sheryl197 

If I was doing a business trip to Italy to various regions  I would just create a wish list for each region. I rarely shortlist more than 5 properties per wish list.

sorry I really can't see what the issue is or why anyone would want to 'shortlist ' a huge number of properties ie more than 50 in any area . 

you state that this is a major issue with many posting about it. I've been hosting for six years and have never seen anyone post about it. 

[Sheryl197]

Before insinuating that the problem doesn't exist, I would have appreciated if you performed a Google Search on various permutations of "does airbnb limit number of properties in wish list".  You will immediately turn up a list, for example, of Reddit postings on this topic.  If you then search Reddit (or any of the other 100+ message boards mentioning AirBNB) you will quickly see that this is an issue people run into every day.  I feel bad for your hosts, in particular, because they get screwed when theirs is the 51st property or beyond added to a wish list because you simply discard it without warning the user.  You will also see there is all sorts of misinformation out there, some of it perpetuated directly by AirBNB (for example, "delete your cookies and the problem will go away") which isn't true.      

Then, I would suggest reading "Managing wishlists - Airbnb Help Center" which provides guidance for guests on adding properties to a wishlist but neglects to mention that their efforts beyond 50 properties will be wasted. 

You will also notice that the ONLY mention on the internet of the 50 property limit is the one I've now posted broadly.  It comes up first in most searches on this topic.  I've already received over 200 responses in less than 24 hours THANKING me for solving this mystery.  

Finally, I'm sorry you can't see what the issue is and I'm sorry that you feel I should conform to AirBNB's ideal of creating a dozen wishlists.  I'm happy to explain it one more time...  When I am on the road from client to client I really don't want to have to figure out which wish list I should be looking in.  I simply want to see ALL of the properties that I wishlisted that are near my client, and available on the dates I need them.  If the client happens to be near the junction of 3 regions I don't want to have to search 3 wishlists.    Have you ever worked for hours on a spreadsheet or other document and then the power goes off and you lose your work?   It's a terrible feeling and that is exactly what AirBNB is doing to users who encounter this.

[Helen3]

I haven't seen 200 responses on here thanking you for raising this issue - they must have messaged you directly 😁 @Sheryl197