AirBnb allows guest to submit early check in?

1

I am on IB. Yesterday, a guest booked, and just below her message describing her group; there was a box that stated her check in time was between noon and two pm.
Our listing check in is after 2 pm.
So i messaged her saying, no check in before 2. She was not allowed on the property until 2. I then called air support. They basically said that the platform allows the guest to specify any time for check in. Even if it conflicts with the host perimeters. It is up to the host to notice it, and message the guest, “To come to a compromise.” What!!!

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Really? That makes a mockery of the whole guest check in window :cry:
I am flexible regarding check in within reason and when it works for me but guests being allowed to choose any check in time they want is just silly! What if they choose 9 in the morning? Or when you already have guests staying and have to clean and prepare the rooms?

It’s interesting that I have had an unusual number of guests recently saying ‘we will be arriving at x o’clock’ rather than at my stated 3 o’clock check in; not asking permission, just stating this as a fact. And they were all great guests, very appreciative, polite, not entitled or rude. If Airbnb is asking guests to choose their preferred time of arrival then this would make sense :see_no_evil:

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Although I haven’t noticed any such box on my messages yet …
I am also on instant book.

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4

I’ve been getting it sporadically since about December. I simply apologise to guests, with the point that Air are doing one of their usual tweeks to the system that’s nonsensical; please note my check-in window is xxxxxx.

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5

I’ve seen that “what time do you want to check in” as a guest for close to six months. I’ve had one incidence as a host where the guest told me they were going to check in at X time. I told them “Airbnb does not own my listing, they simply advertise it for me. My house, my rules; our check-in time is Y to Z inclusive.”

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6

Thanks for the heads up. I just put in my House Rules that check-in is 3 p.m.or later. I’ve never had a reason to let someone come sooner so might as well put it in there.

7

I have also seen words something like…
“Want to check in earlier? Ask your host!”
“Want to check out later? Ask your host!”
as you are finalizing your request as a guest.
It is annoying since I have my times set, and they are encouraging guests to ask you to go outside your set times.

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8

I submitted this to Host Voice (aka “Screaming into the Void”) last year and although it received support, they archived the issue which means they don’t care to fix it.

It’s annoying when we work so hard to set reasonable expectations only for our “business partner” to misinform and sell them the moon.

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9

I’ve been ‘told’ plenty of times by guests what time they will be checking in and I’ve told them that they can’t and exactly what time the rental will be ready for them. It’s never been a problem.

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10

I agree with Jaquo that you must tell guests when they can check in. If it needs to be hard and fast for you and you are unwilling or unable to compromise, then don’t host them. Put it in your rules so it can be enforced. When someone “tells you” an early check in that you can’t accomodate message the as soon as they book and get it straightened out. If they won’t reply or insist they need to come sooner, ask them to cancel their reservation. If they refuse or won’t reply you can cancel if they are going to violate your rules.

You will probably find that most people have no problem checking in later. I just stayed at a hotel where we could say we were coming at 1 pm but when we got there we were told check in was at 3, as we expected. It wasn’t a problem at all.

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