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AirBnB is rolling out a new feature; according to what I’ve read on the AirBnB host subreddit, they are anonymizing host and guest phone numbers and limiting the time frame during which the guest and host have access to the numbers.
What are your thoughts on this?
Horrible. Disastrous. Most of my guests and I use whatsapp to communicate, this will make that impossible. Many of my guests do not have phone service when they are here in Mexico, just data. They whatsapp me to let me know when they arrive at the bus station, so I can go pick them up.
For my Canadian guests, the Canadian phone providers they use will charge them $15/day to make a call when they are in Mexico, even if they only make one call.
I am going to send them some strong feedback about this, and I hope everyone else does, too.
Plus, it’s just one more thing for Airbnb’s glitchy tech to screw up. I can just imagine my guests sitting at the bus station, having phoned me using the “temporary number”, only to have it not ring on my end.
Im so sorry, I messed up…I believe it’s only in US so far. I don’t know if they are intending to expand it across the entire platform.
Some people are claiming it’s for host and guest safety. Frankly, I think it’s to make it harder for returning guests to direct book, as much as anything.
Precisely. It is to stop untrackable communication (aka direct bookings) outside of Airbnb control. I have all my contact details displayed inside the property so guests can contact me easily after they have checked in but obviously that is of no help prior to or whilst they are en route. To be fair, I have rarely needed to use the phone numbers, but guests do contact me and I routinely ignore random numbers as they tend to be scams…
In France (and many other countries) hosts are legally required to collect foreign guests’ details upon/before check-in, which includes information on their ID AND often phone numbers and email addresses as well.
We communicate this in our listing description and automated messages. Airbnb doesn’t stand above the law. They can play in their sandbox as they please but I play in ours the way the local law dictates.
For most of our guests it is the exact opposite. SIM/phone service is somewhat more accessible as data and I can’t believe we’re having these kinds of issues in the year 2025. 
The technology is there, the carriers just make it complicated and rip off customers for no reason whatsoever.
Airbnb chat is very limited and it is impossible to send PDF forms or videos to provide additional information but THAT is apparently less important than trying everyone to “force-communicate” via their platform.
Outages can happen - both on Airbnb and WhatsApp (or other messaging services) but these option help hosts (and guests) to be more flexible (and able) to reach out to the other party if necessary.
Since we’re in the passenger seat, Airbnb will do things as they see fit, whatever. We do what we have to do…
Yes, it says it’s only in the US for now, but usually they roll out their “brilliant” ideas in the US first and then expand them to the whole platform, so I wouldn’t say you “messed up”.
Unless it only has to do with US privacy laws they’ve been challenged on, rather than limiting guest/host communication to what Airbnb can monitor.
And what does “in the US” mean? If the listing is in the US? If the host lives in the US? If the guest does?
Gotta love how they say it’s currently “available” in the US, as if they are giving people a choice. I don’t see anything in there about being able to opt out.
I don’t see an upside to this. I’m a home share host; I could easily just walk over to the guest across the hall and ask them for their phone number or post mine on the entrance wall. And I guess anybody who has an Airbnb could do the same.
Actually, I do see one upside which is a bit of work for me, but I could certainly assign a ringtone to whatever new number shows up so that I know which of my three rooms guests are calling me? But come to think of it it’s never mattered and I’ve never answered the phone when they do lol.
I will certainly start asking guests for their actual phone number, and I doubt they will balk at that, since it’s necessary for their benefit so they can Whatsapp me for a pick-up from the bus station.
We always leave a business card on the desk in our Airbnb. That contains both a phone number and an email address. While we exclusively use Airbnb for communication during the stay, more than one guest has contacted us directly at a later date. I suspect Airbnb doesn’t appreciate that.
I use the last 4 numbers on the phone to key the locks and while the guest will see this number too, it’s just one more thing that they will lose or not understand.
I understand why they are doing it but for me, I’m going to just assign a random number and change.
Yeah, I know why they are doing this but it’s still frustrating.
Airbnb needs to realise that they aren’t the only player in the game. If anonymous contact details are forced upon us, then that’s a very good reason for me to stop advertising on the Airbnb platfrom.
Hosts managed just fine before Airbnb came along and we will again.
99% of the time I have the guests’ real phone numbers and most of the time I have their email address.
It’s not in a guests’ interest to use such a service anyway. When I’m a guest I want my host’s genuine number in case of emergencies and not some temporary number that will inevitably be glitchy.
And utlimately who is going to pay for the implementation of this technology? The guests? The hosts? Both? Fees will increase.
Exactly! Clear as mud, isn’t it?
You will still be able to do this with their real last four. ABB has said that the last four of their real phone number will still show up on the subscribed icalendar entry.
This sucks. As soon as I get the rtb booking, I print it out and put the guest # into my phone. I text them info about foods we supply and try to get their arrival time. My guests do not get here unless I can text them, because I need their up to the minute arrival time so I don’t wait around for them to guide them up here where gps does not work. I’m learning but it clumsy and a hassle for me to use the app. Most guests appreciate the personal arrival service.
I have medical probs and our niece is staying in the trailer.
Old reservation, not arrived yet, the guest # is still available. Is this crappy policy noticed on new reservations?
I screenshot looks like a calendar (ie: google, ical). How do you import the data so it shows up on the calendar or do you pay for a service?
This will be interesting because I require for insurance purposes, the guests full name, address, age, and phone number and disclose this in my requirements to book. It will be interesting if my account gets flagged. I too save this info and booking details in a folder with the guests reservation dates.
Now that anyone and everyone who are used Airbnb or knows about it will now know that the first thing to try on a locked door at an Airbnb will be the last four digits of the guests phone number, which makes it much easier for scammers and thieves.
How would the scammers and thieves know the guests’ phone numbers? I think that the chances of the pizza delivery guy they gave their phone number to coming back to rob the place is pretty slim.
I hope everyone here opposed to Airbnb withholding guests’ phone numbers sends them feedback.
I have all apple products and so this was a screenshot of my iCal subscribed calendar entry.
This is a feature available on Airbnb and other booking platforms. If you list your property on multiple platforms, you need to sync your calendars to avoid double bookings. And the same goes if you want your Airbnb calendar to show up on your iCal.
To do this on Airbnb:
Go to your calendar settings and find the link to your Airbnb calendar.
For iPhone users:
Copy the Airbnb calendar link and paste it into a subscribed calendar in your iPhone’s Calendar app (using iCal format).
If you’d like, I can update this post with screenshots a little later for instruction. Or I can send it to you in a message.
