plu·toc·ra·cy
noun
government by the wealthy.
a country or society governed by the wealthy.
plural noun: plutocracies
an elite or ruling class of people whose power derives from their wealth.
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Huh? Is this a reply to me?
If you don’t have their full name and their profile pic is not used in other places on the internet…how are you finding their social media accounts beforehand? I have found some people who have maybe an odd first name and they have listed the college they went to, etc. Or if they drop enough clues in the message.
I also have a guest book when they arrive where they must sign in and give their home address, cell phone and email address plus car licence if they are driving. We need to know who is staying with us and where they come from.
The fact that others make different choices than you do only means that they have different views, not that they are “hungry for money”.
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When they contact me I ask them for their full names and what social media they are on. This is one way you find out if in fact they are booking themselves or someone else who is not on airbnb. If they don’t want to give you this info then that should be a red flag. If you are having them in your own home you should have a right to feel comfortable and to know who is coming. Airbnb is not meant to be a hotel away from home, it is meant to be a home away from home. At least that is my understanding of it. So both I and my guest should feel at home in my home.
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I wondered the same thing. Many of my guests have common names so unless I want to spend a lot of time sifting through the internet, I won’t find their social media accounts.
For the record…I was not in any way, shape, or form knocking you for wanting to know who is going to be staying in your home with you. I was only curious to know how you were looking up people’s social media accounts based solely on an inquiry.
Thanks for answering the question though, and I see you ask them to provide that information before accepting the booking.
Yes. If someone doesn’t want you to know their full name one should be very leary. That’s a huge red flag. I find everyone just gives it and tells me right where I can find them. It takes just seconds to do and then I approve them as long as they look like their airbnb pic and seem like a reasonable human lol.
I am well aware that many people on this system are helping to pay their rent or mortgage through this method. I am fortunate that I am not. I am semi-retired and do it for the joy of meeting new people. So that’s why I don’t do quicky stays. So many folks are much hungrier for money than I would be and I understand that. But safety should always be our prime concern not money. Just sayin.
I think there’s a good balance in safety and money. I have a detached apartment above my garage, and I show a picture of myself and my husband and say clearly in several places I’m an on-site host. I have felt safe 100% of the time in the 60 or so stays we’ve had. If I was hosting inside my home I’d have different standards though regarding checking on people, and asking to see their social media account is a good idea, though I would be afraid of deciding to cancel and then get a discrimination charge brought against me via Air.
The Swede sitting next to me LOATHEs Swedish HC and so do most of out family in stockholm. It took my MIL 8 months to see a neuoligist to diagose a brain tumor, then 6 more months to operate.
The grass is always greener!!
As someone with major medical issues, we pay for private insurance with a higher monthly and lower deductible. Its also through the Swede’s employeer so we are lucky.
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Well I think that would be a challenge if you are doing instant book. My concern is not about colour or race, it is do they look the same as the person on their airbnb photo, are they in fact booking for themselves not someone else. On my profile I clearly say that they must look like the person on the airbnb profile when they come to my door or I will not admit them to my home. Do they appear to have friends and be every day sort of folk…. Just their willingness to give you their name and point you to their correct social media profile tells you they are sincere. I don’t think those things will get you a discrimination charge. It has nothing to do with gay or not gay, black or white… it is about personal safety and comfort. If I am to be charged for protecting those things then I don’t want to work with airbnb. So the key may be not to do instant book…. Then there should be no issue. Depends how bad you want bookings. As yours is outside of your house and you have a husband it matters a good deal less. Totally different set of circumstances
We have a separate apartment too and I can’t imagine a situation where I wouldn’t feel ‘safe’. I suppose that the only problem would be if guests were doing something illegal enough for me to call the cops.
I would never dream of checking out guests and I use IB.
I’ll probably get lots of people disagreeing with me and I’ve rattled on about this here before, but when I had a traditional B & B there was no way to check out guests. There was no internet and certainly no social media in those days. And these were guests who were staying under my own roof.
And during those years, I never had a troublesome guest. During my time with Airbnb (to date) there has only been one group of guests that I had to ask to leave.
So I guess that what I’m saying is that as an ‘old-timer’ I think that today’s Airbnb hosts are very lucky in that they can read a potential guest’s reviews, check them out on social media, ask a ton of questions and have a decline button!
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It’s not for me to judge so tell me to shut up but from a financial perspective these are often deliberate traps, you are far better to have very low excess and pay more as you WILL need healthcare, I have mine at zero excess. I absorb the higher premiums each week and you adjust but when you get a big excess bill it usually goes on a credit card and your much worse off. I’d really think about changing this when you’ve got time to think it through.
And I’m not saying this as a ‘rich person’ telling you to suck eggs. I’ve had my top cover private health insurance, which is optional in Australia since I was 20, and I sure had no money then! I’ve used it heaps and it’s one less thing to stress about knowing if I get sick I’ll be very well looked after.you can’t put a price on that.
My son made several donations to Bernie buying Bernie stickers from America for our car lol, not much good in Aus but he tried 
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Interesting you wouldn’t find me on social media because of my privacy settings, so wouldn’t accept me as a guest even though I have verified photo (passport) ID uploaded on Airbnb 
and lots of reviews as well as being a well established host.
Speaking of sick…I heard a ‘smart’ economist on the radio yesterday staying ‘investors’ are on the edge of their seats hoping Trumps repeal of Obamacare is successful (some vote pending? Not sure as I’m in Aus) simply to prove he can get legislation through and be ‘good for business’ or their stocks might gown down a bit 
I mean Wow, lets hope some people lose their healthcare and get cancer and die so I can make more money on the stock market. It made me sick and reminded me why I left a good job in finance where people talked BS like this all day to become a social worker. That of course involved More BS, but at least meaning BS.
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You are contradicting yourself quite a bit in your posts. 
You’re questioning why someone would do one night stays, it’s not profitable enough blah blah and then say you don’t even need the money at all- so you don’t actually know why other hosts choose to do things differently so why judge them when their needs are so different and then make out they are greedy (‘hungry’)?
2ndly I don’t believe 99% of the people on here who make judgments about other hosts needs and motivations and follow it up with their ‘unlike all of you plebs, I don’t need the money’ comments. BS there are a million other ways to ‘meet people’ like tennis, trips, coffee and dinner clubs that don’t involve the arduous tasks of hosting and cleaning up others crap. I’m sorry, I just don’t buy it.
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If I see someone is well established, is also a host and has many reviews I probably would accept. The problem is I have had a number of attempts to book from people who have just joined it would appear like 5 minutes before. They don’t have a proper profile, they have no reviews. They even try to get my street address with house number before booking. Would you want to book those people? In fact this past 3 months that is all I have had during the deep cold. Once you say no they quickly change their picture or totally remove their account. My rules are not engraved in stone. I read. I am not stupid nor hard hearted. I am simply protecting myself. Again as I have repeated now on this thread 3 or 4 times I am a single woman living alone in a house. I have a right to protect myself and to know something about people who want to stay in my home. I totally defend my right to do that. I use common sense and I am practical.I am tired of being attacked on this thread for using my head. Does an airbnb host have to get murdered by a guest before people start thinking? I have had wonderful guests. Some of which are still in touch with me on FB or text me. But I have also had people who are clearly up to no good claiming they want a booking and want to come to my house without a booking. What for? It’s not to stay overnight. I won’t be responding to any more comments on this thread for protecting my own but.
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Blah,blah,blah,blah. Take your mean spirited attack somewhere else. You are not inside my head.