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Post by dajana on Jul 29, 2016 0:00:10 GMT
Hello fellow Airbnbers. I have an issue I cannot resolve through Reservation Change feature on Airbnb. I have two rooms for rent. My guests checked in Room 1 yesterday and asked to move to Room 2 which is a bit more expensive. I have had other guests there untill today so we agreed on moving them in the Room 2 tomorrow after their check out. They guests from Room 1 accept the additional costs of the Room 2. So, I cannot alter the reservation to other room with today's dates. When I try to change the room, the system says the room is not available (today is the check out day for the Room 2). When I try to change the dates, I cannot because the check in date for the guests from Room 1 was yesterday and system doesn't allow that kind of alteration since the reservation has started. Is there a way to do it so I can clear the calendar for the Room 1? I hope I have provided a clear description of the situation.
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Post by High Priestess on Jul 29, 2016 0:24:54 GMT
It's not always straightforward to change a reservation to another room --- often the kind of issues arise that you mention.
Basically the short answer is -- you wont' be able to do the reservation change that you want to do. As you discovered, you can't change one person's reservation to another room if any of their dates overlap someone else's stay in that 2nd room. And you can't change a guests' arrival date if they have already arrived.
There are two options for you on how to handle this.
(1) Move the guest to room 2 and do a reservation change for an increased price-- that is, leave everything the same on the reservation, but just increase the total price. SO the guest will appear to have stayed in room 1 but will have paid for room 2. When they write a review they can clarify that they stayed in room 2. Also, if you get any reservation requests for room 2 while the other guest is in there, just clarify to those inquiring that the room that's actually available is room 1. Leave the room 2 calendar unblocked for this reason.
(2) Create a new listing to assist you in this reservation change. I actually recommend that all hosts have at least one "spare listing" on hand that they can use for this purpose, just because of these kinds of problems -- it helps solve them. You'd keep the listing unlisted or snoozed except for when you need it. The listing in this case would be for room 2, with room 2's name and photos (you could just keep it simple and use only a couple photos) and room 2's price. I will refer to this spare listing as "Room 2 Duplicate listing" -- you can give it any name you want. Then, do a reservation change to change room 1 guest to Room 2 duplicate listing. THe calendar on room 2 duplicate is wide open since no guest has booked any of the days yet. Make sure the price is correct then do the reservation change. If you have trouble doing this get Airbnb help. THis will then open up room 1 for another guest. As soon as the guest accepts the reservation change, make sure to unlist or snooze the room 2 duplicate listing again so no one books on it, and block the calendar of room 2 regular listing for the dates the guest is now in there. The only disadvantge of using a "Spare" listing is that when they guest does their review, it will go on that listing instead of on your active one. Review still shows up on your profile, but won't show on your active listings.
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Post by dajana on Jul 29, 2016 0:31:55 GMT
Wow, Deborah, thank you so much for your fast and elaborate answer! I think I will go with #2 proposal since I have IB on and to avoid possible disappointment of potential guests wanting to book a better room. Thank you very much.
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Post by High Priestess on Jul 29, 2016 0:49:40 GMT
Alternatively, if there is any problem doing the reservation alteration for the room 1 guest to the room 2 duplicate listing -- then there is this option:
(3) Do a reservation change for room 1 guest to pay the room 2 total and move them to room 2. Then, block the dates in room 2 regular listing showing that guest from room 1 is in there. Then snooze or unlist the current room 1 listing, which room 1 guest's reservation is still on. NOw create a new duplicate listing, but for room 1. Now any new guest can see room 1 duplicate listing which you can also set on IB and they can book that. Then when guest from room 1 leaves, you can snooze the duplicate listing and open the original room 1 listing again.
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Post by dajana on Jul 29, 2016 9:05:29 GMT
Thank you so much for your help! Of course, I asked the Airbnb help to intervene but you were much faster. It would be nice to have the possibility to alter the reservation while it lasts,though,if the host has several listings.
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Post by dajana on Jul 29, 2016 10:18:55 GMT
Airbnb offered another solution, which can be done if you believe your guest or go through the alternation with him. They suggested I can alter the original reservation and change the check-out date to today. My guest will then need to complete a new reservation for the correct listing.
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