Do any of you tack on a charge of, say, $50 for same-day instant booking? These seem to be the most troublesome guests.
No, we’re just happy to get a booking last minute rather than having a vacancy… and so far haven’t had any problems with those guests. However, we do require them to send a request to book if less than 24 hours, so they can’t IB last minute. That give us flexibility to decide whether to accept or not.
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How do you do that on the platform? I thought if IB was on, it was on for all reservations.
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Yes, I’d like to know too.
I love these bookings because they fill up orphan nights, they are usually gone early in the morning and I get my cleaning fee.
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In Reservation preferences > Advance notice select “At least 1 day’s notice”. Then check the box “For Instant Book hosts: Allow guests to send reservation requests without advance notice.” They can still request, simply can’t IB.
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That doesn’t mean you can make an extra charge for last minute bookings unless of course this is clearly stated in your house rules. Is it?
No I don’t charge extra. I’ve had hundreds of same day IB and only one very minor problem guest. I love them, if anything I’d give them a discount, i.e., I occasionally lower my price a little on the morning of an unbooked day, say a dollar or two, as much as anything to show my account as active.
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Brilliant! Thanks!
20 characters…
I’m not quite sure why it’s a good idea to have a surcharge for same day bookings? I suppose it deters some same day bookers but not all. We’re usually booked up well in advance but from time to time we’ve had same day one nighters who have been fine. I’m surprised that others find them troublesome.
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I don’t have any trouble with these guests. Usually road trippers or business people. They often fill the one night vacancies here and there so I’m happy to have the extra income.
I have a rare Spring weekend with no bookings and so I put the price down Thursday night and the close off time from midday to 5pm as the forecast said it would be a sunny weekend and sometimes people leave it to the last minute. I am on IB so always a bit suspicious when people send an enquiry that’s not really an enquiry ie can we book your place?
Them (2pm enquiry): hope it is not to late to book your beautiful place!
Me: no too late and it looks like a beautiful weekend as well. You can just Instant Book. Do you know when you might arrive?
Them (still not booking). Oh that is great, it looks lovely. We probably won’t make it till 8-9pm hope that is okay? Oh, by the way, since it was a late Friday booking do you think we could get a discount?
Me: I hate scroungers who try to get a discount on my lovely and very reasonably price place. I hope you find somewhere cheap to stay for the weekend but it won’t be my place. Sorry.
Them: okay, thanks for your time!
The sort of people who make half a dozen enquiries and then pick the cheapest. I am just trying to train them that not all hosts will join them in the race to the bottom. Also they are the sort of guests who act entitled to a Marriot 5 star experience at Motel 8 prices.
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How do you guys handle sheets for one night bookings that sure is a lot of laundry and cleaning! Seems most people just charge 30 dollars for cleaning that’s at a loss when you have to wash and iron 2 beds of sheets, no?
I dont think many prople iron sheets.wash, dry back on the bed its still better than no reservation! Out of 19 days in january I only had 8 one night stays and the rest empty so I’ll take whatever
We iron the pillow cases and the bit of the sheet that folds over the doona/comforter - whatever you call it in your country…I get confused.
For us same day bookings fill in the gaps. We also heavily discount as it is better than no booking, and it helps us keep our value rating up as those guests think they have found a bargain.
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I don’t charge a $50 surcharge for same day IB but every night I go in and add $10 to same and next day prices and $5 to day after that. By doing this every day there does end up being a $25 higher price for the day of, a $15 higher price for day after and $5 day after that. (There is another thread going now about this where I had only done it as $10 day of and $5 day after last year, so totaling $15 for day of.)
I am always in IB and the less time I have to prepare the more of an inconvenience it is for me so I require a little more $ for my trouble/time.
As a side but similar note, I also do this for the “shoulder nights” of a booking. I don’t require any time between bookings but I will get more money for back to back bookings as it forces me to turn over the places at a certain time instead of when convenient for me. So technically, someone could end up paying $35 more for a same day booking if it is the night before or after another booking.
@Militaryhorsegal that would never work in our over-saturated market in the slow season. In the summer I can raise the prices on last minute bookers, but this time of year I generally have to slowly lower prices.
I have a lot of back to back one nighters. So far in the 19 days this month I’ve hosted 9 different people and blocked three days.
I like them as it fits my lifestyle. I have no cleaning fee and a fairly low rate. However, my airbnb is not an investment or sole source of income. It’s an otherwise unused guest room attached to my house. I make FAR more money than I could with a roommate and don’t have someone in my house all the time so it’s a great deal for me. The daily turnovers and Airbnb management and even reading and posting here help keep me busy, my mind stimulated and my body moving. Since I’m “paying myself” the math works for me. This gives me a big advantage over someone who has to pay a cleaner or who has a day job and can’t do back to back turnovers. According to this source, laundry averages less than $2 a load if you are doing it at home. 9 Simple Ways to Save Money on Laundry Costs
As for the laundry, a typical stay is one load of laundry. When I have more or less I can save it for another load another day because I have multiples of everything. Some days I have to do two or three loads with blankets, duvet covers, etc., but that would happen without one night stays. I don’t iron the sheets. Ideally I get the out of the dryer or off the clothesline while damp and stretch them tightly over the bed. After they finish drying I finish making the bed. (I live in an arid climate).
I am also not looking for maximum occupancy. I am just looking to get paid for my time/trouble. This is not my sole source of income. I also have several listings, one of which is a private bedroom and private bathroom in my home and the others of which are in another home I own (lived in before this one) 20 minutes away.
This certainly doesn’t work for everyone but works for me. And I get the added benefit of always having “active” listings by the Airbnb algorithm that something is changing on each listing daily.