Do you have self check-in? I’m just wondering even if I were to get id how would I know that is the same person that checked in?
I suspect that it’s human nature to ‘put our best foot forward’ when uploading photographs of ourselves. You only have to think of realtors - their photographs are almost always out of date, in some cases by thirty years or more!
Unless guests are arriving at a daft hour, I meet and greet and it’s really quite rare for guests to look like their Airbnb photograph.
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Yes self check in, with cameras so I can see who comes and goes. I really do not care though as long as the number of people match the reservation and they do not try and sneak in extra guest or dogs. Whole house rental a block from my house so I can be there in 2 minutes if needed. I almost never interact with my guest in person.
RR
Hey I resemble that remark! Lol I am a real estate broker but I do not put my picture on my cards, website photos are recent though!
Lol
RR
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Oops! Apologies 
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My listings are whole house rentals; so no. I have self check in and rarely actually meet any of the guests. I have had a few 3rd party bookings that I’m aware of, they were Admins booking business trips for their team. Worked out fine.
I could see it being more of an issue for a shared space.
Ha! I saw a bench ad recently for the agent who sold me my house 29 years ago in Dec and I thought “she must be a lot younger than I thought.”
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Someone booking with someones elses (stolen) card=charge back.
“i did not stay at the property”, as they indeed only booked with a card for someone else scammer = charge back.
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I have two young daughters and our guests stay in our home with us. One of the reasons we liked Airbnb from the beginning was because it required a profile photo and, supposedly, used that to match social media, as well as verification of gov’t ID. With no profile photo, how does the rest happen? How are we supposed to be able to confirm they are who they say they are? We have had nothing but lovely people stay with us so far, but that’s because we had to inquire and ask for social media info when there was no profile photo.
If Airbnb would make this so-called “requirement” an actual requirement, then we wouldn’t have to interrogate guests who don’t have profile photos before allowing them to book.
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How about you get a copy of the guest ID? I get it every time, the county requires it.
RR
I used to think the guest profile picture, or lack of was not an issue for me, that I rarely took much notice of them. And after all, I had previously rented my rooms without Airbnb and just emails inquiries for 18 years, so of course it didn’t bother me.
And then the day came when I had a booking request from a man whose profile picture was just his head shot. He was wearing a full face neoprene mask, it had a slit for the mouth, and the eyes were covered with goggles. No, no, no! It was like something out of Criminal Minds, and it still gives me shivers to think of him wanting to stay in my home now.
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Not a good idea for a profile pic. Maybe he was just a skiier or motorcyclist? I would have had a conversation with him, not someone I would decline out of hand.
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Profile picture is nice when a guests wears a T-shirt in the profile picture that says “problem guest” . Makes it easy to decline them. Not sure what airbnb is thinking with this change.
They are thinking that hosts will quit declining guests based on their looks.
Which means that they are taking another positive step to combat discrimination from hosts when deciding whether to approve guests. This will be a good thing for all hosts as Airbnb still has the lingering stigma that some hosts are discriminatory.
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I received a booking from someone with not only a mask with holes for eyes and mouth but also army camouflage and an assault rifle but he wasn’t a soldier. I made a judgement just like any sane human being but he turned out to be the most mild-mannered IT geek you can imagine, wouldn’t say boo to a slice of wet lettuce (just to mix some metaphors). No idea why he chose such a scary looking photo. I have spent the last couple of years trying to decide whether guests are likely to be good or bad from their photos but I’ve failed miserably and have concluded that it is random whether they are good guests or not. My worst guest had a good photo.
I do think you can get a good idea from a few sentences of messaging, those that start trying to haggle a discount or bend rules during their first communication generally have been the worst guests.
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How about Airbnb would hide property pictures from the guests and leave them with the description to figure out what they would book.
Any picture is better than no picture at all
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LOL. Funny. Corporations are people. Property is people.
I’ve never gotten a copy of the guests ID. Do you get that when they check in or ask them for it online when they book?