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Post by High Priestess on Apr 26, 2016 15:31:26 GMT
So apparently Airbnb has a new feature -- if you as the host don't either accept or decline a guests' reservation request within 24 hrs, the correponding dates will stay blocked in your calendar. I am hearing that you can manually unblock them but I have not yet tested this myself.
I am hearing that this same thing may happen with inquiries -- that if you don't either preapprove or decline a guest who inquires, within 24 hrs, the dates can end up blocked on your calendar and you would have to manually unblock them. I have not yet been able to test on my account to see if this actually happens.
I think that whereas this makes sense to do on reservation requests, sort of as a wake-up call to hosts who aren't responsive, it does not make sense to do on inquiries, because often the host needs to engage in dialogue with the guest before they determine whether to do a preapproval or decline.
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Post by patricia on Apr 26, 2016 22:00:29 GMT
Thanks for the heads up, Deborah, that's really good to know! Two days ago I had an inquiry and after a few emails the guest decided not to book our room (she was asking for a mosquito net over the bed, which we don't provide since we have fly screens in all the windows). I left it at that, since it was an inquiry and not a request. After reading your post, I checked the calendar and the dates were available and it also states so in the message history: Still, to be on the safe side I decided to decline the guests booking inquiry and then the confirmation came up as declined reservation request. I find the wording a bit confusing, since it never was a reservation request in the first place and I also find it a bit annoying the way ABnB is pointing the finger at me and tells me to make sure our listing reflects house rules and requirements.
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Post by trafalgar on Apr 30, 2016 0:13:11 GMT
I never decline even an enquiry if possible, because I assume that the search algorithms favour pre-approvals more.
For example, I pre-approve guests who ask for dates which aren't available.
I've also learnt, by accident, that if you pre-approve, then subsequently remove the pre-approval, it still seems to count...because you don't get pestered to pre-approve or decline afterwards.
For the enquiries I really really don't want to book, I send a special offer at a hugely inflated rate.
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Post by High Priestess on Apr 30, 2016 0:30:56 GMT
I've taken a similar approach, but I don't send a preapproval to everyone -- such as someone who is wanting to do a third party booking. For instance today I got an inquiry from someone who wants her friend to stay at my house. Well, I didn't want to send a preapproval, because even though I explained that she could not book for her friend, I worry that she might try to if I preapprove her inquiry.
I've done that too vis a vis sending a special offer at a hugely inflated rate, but feel a little dopey doing that so I don't do it very often.
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Post by patricia on Apr 30, 2016 2:22:18 GMT
I never decline even an enquiry if possible, because I assume that the search algorithms favour pre-approvals more. Yeah, that's what I fear as well but on the other hand I had a third party booking like Deborah that I didn't want to pre-approve because I wanted the guests to book through their own profile (which they did in the end).For example, I pre-approve guests who ask for dates which aren't available. How does that work? I would've thought that a guest can't send an inquiry for dates which are blocked or booked? Or do they only mention the dates in their message?I've also learnt, by accident, that if you pre-approve, then subsequently remove the pre-approval, it still seems to count...because you don't get pestered to pre-approve or decline afterwards. What happens if they book before you remove the pre-approval? Or do you remove it right away?For the enquiries I really really don't want to book, I send a special offer at a hugely inflated rate. LOL, like that idea :-)
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Post by High Priestess on Apr 30, 2016 2:38:33 GMT
HI Patricia Since I use some of the same strategies as Trafalgar (though I have not kept up with it...I used to do this more, and have gotten lazy about it...) I will explain some of it in terms of how I do it. I never decline even an enquiry if possible, because I assume that the search algorithms favour pre-approvals more. Yeah, that's what I fear as well but on the other hand I had a third party booking like Deborah that I didn't want to pre-approve because I wanted the guests to book through their own profile (which they did in the end).So, there is a way to do preapprovals even for third party bookings...though it seems dorky, and can lead the third party guest to wonder what the heck is going on with you ....and this is to send them a special offer that they are not interested in booking. I have pretty much stopped doing that because it seems too much of a non sequitur. A third party requests the dates June 20 to 26 2016, and you send them a special offer for October 9 to 12 2016. WEll, they aren't likely to book that as a third party, are they? No, but throwing them for such a loop might well lead them to think you are missing a few marbles, and then scoot them over to book with someone else. For example, I I pre-approve guests who ask for dates which aren't available. How does that work? I would've thought that a guest can't send an inquiry for dates which are blocked or booked? Or do they only mention the dates in their message?What Trafalgar means, I believe, is that when the guest submits an inquiry, their inquiry includes "fake" dates that are not the ones they are actually interested in booking. So for instance, a guest fills out their inquiry with the dates August 12 to 17 2016,but then within the message itself, tells you that the dates they REALLY want are May 15 to 24, 2016 -- and you dont' have those May dates available. So you can go ahead and preapprove them for their inquiry, which preapproves them for the August dates that they dont' actually want. THis accomplishes two things. First it shows the guest that it is pointless for them to inquire with you about dates that aren't available, and that they will only be invited to book for dates which ARE available but which they dont' want. SEcondly it benefits you when you do the preapproval even if it is a pointless exercise. I've also learnt, by accident, that if you pre-approve, then subsequently remove the pre-approval, it still seems to count...because you don't get pestered to pre-approve or decline afterwards. What happens if they book before you remove the pre-approval? Or do you remove it right away?Yes, you can remove the preapproval immediately -- as in, 10 seconds after you issue it. If you think that the guest is sitting by their computer eager to boook a few seconds after receiving a preapproval, do it at an hour of the day when in their part of the world they aren't up yet, or better still, don't send them a preapproval, send them a special offer, and make it for dates or for a price they don't want. But again, this can lead a guest to think you are nutty or playing games with them, so it may not send a great signal. Which is why removing the preapproval/special offer right away makes sense. For the enquiries I really really don't want to book, I send a special offer at a hugely inflated rate. LOL, like that idea :-)yes, I have done that one!!
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Post by trafalgar on Apr 30, 2016 13:39:06 GMT
I've taken a similar approach, but I don't send a preapproval to everyone -- such as someone who is wanting to do a third party booking. For instance today I got an inquiry from someone who wants her friend to stay at my house. Well, I didn't want to send a preapproval, because even though I explained that she could not book for her friend, I worry that she might try to if I preapprove her inquiry. I've done that too vis a vis sending a special offer at a hugely inflated rate, but feel a little dopey doing that so I don't do it very often. The case of the third party enquiry seems the ideal scenario to pre-approve then remove the pre-approval. Regardless of anything, if the guest tries to confirm a removed pre-approval and queries why they can't (which has only happened to me once where the pre-approval had in fact expired after 24 hrs), it'd be easy to pass it off as an error or mysterious site glitch. Alternatively, with fake-date or other enquiries where I'd be happy to host them on a future occasion, I actually explain why I've sent a pre-approval (because Airbnb will otherwise bombard me with email reminders) and just to ignore it. I might have done this in Patricia's shoes with the third party enquiry (and then removed the pre-approval just in case). I've also once or twice temporarily blocked calendar dates to prevent an unwanted but persistent guest, and told them somebody else had booked meanwhile. I only do the hugely-inflated-rate thing with the more annoying non-genuine enquiries such as people trying to sell you a service etc.
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Post by patricia on May 1, 2016 0:36:34 GMT
Thank you Deborah and trafalgar for your explanations. I might try your approach for future inquiries. Not many people live in our time zone so the pre-approval and subsequent removal of it should be fairly safe. andrew, that was exactly my experience so far. I'd respond to an inquiry and unless I really didn't want them to book I wouldn't decline and my calendar never got blocked. I was especially reluctant to decline if it was the guests choice not to book, like in my case the lady with the mosquito netting. But then Deborah's post left me wondering if ABnB had changed something without me being aware of it.
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Post by High Priestess on May 2, 2016 3:02:20 GMT
It occurs to me today....Sometimes one wants to make a point with a special offer that doesn't fit the guest's needs...
Bear in mind that I specify that my rooms are single occupancy only.
Today I got an inquiry asking to have two guests stay in my single occupancy room for 6 months total.
I sent a special offer. THe total price for the 6 months she requested was about $5090. I sent a special offer for 2 nights for $5090. (I also sent a polite message stating that I cannot have two guests in one room because that would result in me not being able to offer the kind of tranquil environment that I want to offer. )
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Post by jamiestrayer on May 11, 2016 3:46:15 GMT
Thank you for sharing this insight.
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