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Last night I got a reservation request from a young lady. I asked her to verify government ID and got an answer from her - " Unfortunately, Airbnb will not let me verify my account because I am 17. My traveling companion is 18 so I could cancel the reservation request under my name and he can create a verified account and place the reservation under his name if you are comfortable with that."
Dear host community, what do you think? Why Airbnb let her to make an account at the first place. On my concern about her and her boyfriend’s age she wrote: " we are very responsible/reserved type young people, not the rowdy/party type at all and my parents are aware and are fine with me traveling. That being said, I understand your concerns and want you to be comfortable with sharing your home with us."
It depends on your local laws but it could be illegal for her to travel with her bf if she’s underage. I would avoid this and not accept the reservation, possible liability.
Maggieroni, thank you!
For sure I will decline, even I do not want to take a look what is our PA law.
Can you give an advise, please, how to decline nicely and not discriminating her age?
If her parents are aware and fine with their daughter travelling with her boyfriend, perhaps they should create an account, get verification etc and make the reservation on her behalf. At least they will know if it’s legal or not!
Just state the facts that she couldn’t verify her account. You must be 18 or older to have an Airbnb account. From Airbnb’s TOS:
Eligibility, Using the Airbnb Platform, Member Verification
2.1 You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into legally binding contracts to access and use the Airbnb Platform or register an Airbnb Account. By accessing or using the Airbnb Platform you represent and warrant that you are 18 or older and have the legal capacity and authority to enter into a contract.
You are wise. Parents can’t override the law. She is a minor in PA.
“Anyone who has reached the age of majority is liable for most of his or her actions, whereas a “minor” is the legal responsibility of parents or legal guardians. The age of majority in Pennsylvania is 18.”
Age of consent in PA is 16 as long as the partner is not more than 4 years older. This isn’t illegal, and yes, if you turn down the traveling companion, you will be discriminating based on age.
I declined, of cause
Looks like they need a motel.
It is a weekend, I want to relax and having no headache.
Thank you everyone for participating my topic!
you know, this was only the thing I liked about her - she communicated very well.
Oh… Just my feelings are okay, but my head thinking and remembering myself in that age - NO
Here is her first letter - Hi, I’m XXX, my boyfriend XXX and I are looking forward to a relaxing weekend away before classes start for the fall. We live in Southern Delaware so your location is the perfect distance away and is just what we are looking for. We would like to do some hiking on nearby trails, visit Longwood Gardens and Indiana Echo Caverns and maybe see the musical playing in Lancaster this weekend.
Bless her heart. No good deed goes unpunished. At least she learned to have her boyfriend open an account and they can lie about it to get their next reservation.
(this is not a judgment about your decision @Marina, just a comment on unintended consequences)
Probably. In TX, age of consent is 17. That is also the age at which you are an adult in the criminal justice system. It’s better for her if she just learns to not be so honest and forthcoming. LOL.
But I think the issue is that Air’s TOS require the guest to be 18. So the guest should not be enquiring anyway.
I’ve had awful problems with young women booking to stay with their BFs. Several. Just over it!!
I had a guest who was 17 years old and had an Airbnb account. He was very much not mature enough to be traveling alone. I called Airbnb to ask them to revoke his account until he turned 18. As one of the documents he used to verify his identity was his passport; I asked how it could have happened that he was able to create an account. The customer service representative told me that if you fold your passport a certain way the date of birth is invisible. This explanation, of course, is ridiculous. My best guess is that whoever accepted his account thought he was 18 because of the U.S. dates - Month/Day/Year vs. everyone else’s dates Day/Month/Year.
