We had a guest stay with us last year who was visiting a neighbor who did not have a spare room so she referred guest to stay with us. This had nothing to do with airbnb.
Guest paid on arrival and no problems.
This year we had an airbnb booking from that same guest despite the fact that had direct contact info. After booking they were not happy with the extra fees charged by airbnb so decided to cancel and book directly, We have not accepted their booking as Airbnb would probably think that having given phone numbers out that we were cheating as blocking our calendar for the same dates especially in offseason would look suspicious.
Am I overreacting by telling guest to wait until the week before which is two months away, and if it is still available I will accept her private booking and block calendar at that time so as to avoid any redflags. Or should I insist she rebooks thru Airbnb as she made that choice which puts me into this dilemma.
To me, repeat guests want to book again for several reasons that have little or nothing to do with Airbnb - the property, the location, the service provided, the host etc.
So my personal feeling is that it is me and the property that have created that repeat business, not Airbnb.
Certainly Airbnb provided the introduction but that’s all. In your case, Airbnb didn’t even do that, your neighbour did.
And I’m not sure how Airbnb would know anyway?
I believe you are overthinking it. Accept the direct booking – you are a tiny cog in a big wheel…they will not get “suspicious” if the same dates are booked/closed off by you…it’s none of their damn business why at that point – you could just realized with the inquiry that you can’t host them for other reasons. Seriously how would Airbnb know the difference?
Did the guests state in their Airbnb message that they were going to call you and book directly? That’s the only way repercussions from Airbnb would come into play.
I would accept the private booking but if it makes you feel better block the day before or after so if anyone (Airbnb) is monitoring your calendar (which I doubt) it will differ from the previously booked days.
It makes sense to have a policy to encourage as many direct bookings as possible as Airbnb has a reputation to suspend hosts without good reason or for things not their fault or within their control.
My policy is that if someone books or inquires through Airbnb they are an Airbnb customer and it is unethical to encourage them to cancel their Airbnb booking and book direct. However once they have stayed and really like our accommodation, then this is business and they are fair game for me to try and convert them to be my loyal customer rather than a loyal Airbnb customer and nex time go to our website first. We run a loyalty program so they can not only save 15% on Airbnb commissions and charges but get a 10% loyalty return visit if returning in less than a year. They can pass the discount to all their friends and it can be used multiple times by multiple people within the time frame.
Occasionally prospective guests inquiring through Airbnb have questions where the answer is very detailed, or involves photos or diagrams that it is not practical to reply through the Airbnb messenger but the information is on our website. Then we try to direct them to our website for the answer. We have to be very careful in the words used to avoid the Airbnb software from deleting words or even the whole message. It they do go to our website to get the information and decide to book via our website, then so be it. It was their decision. We were not targeting to poach the booking.
If prospective guests message us asking for “Your best price” it is our policy to say we do discount on Airbnb and that our best prices and special discounts are only on our website which is always at least 15% cheaper due to Airbnb fees and charges.
I have learnt to be careful when messaging guests to avoid words being deleted by the Airbnb software when messaging guests, and incase there is any dispute with a guest and and the CS rep will need to read the massages. However the worst that has happened so far is to have words deleted or receive advice the massage was not delivered due infringing Airbnb rules, in which case I usually re-word it and it goes through.
It looks like this is all automated and no one is reviewing it to punish hosts, as I have not got any kick back or warnings from CS.
Just bear in mind that Airbnb have a good public liability insurance & booking direct could leave you uninsured.
What liability insurance? If you are referring to Aircover, there are thousands of host accounts of being denied any coverage despite thousands of dollars of guest damages.
It would be foolish of hosts not to have their own private insurance that covers their rentals- you can’t depend on Airbnb.
Host liability insurance
Host liability insurance, a part of AirCover for Hosts, provides Hosts with $1 million USD in coverage in the rare event you are found legally responsible for a guest getting hurt or their belongings being damaged or stolen while they’re staying at your place. People who help you host, like co-Hosts and cleaners, are also included, so you can feel confident hosting on Airbnb.
Host damage protection
Host damage protection, part of AirCover for Hosts, reimburses Hosts up to $3 million USD in the rare event your place or belongings are damaged by a guest during an Airbnb stay. You’re reimbursed for certain damage caused by guests to your home and belongings if the guest does not pay for the damage. It also reimburses for extra cleaning services in certain cases, like removing stains left by guests (or their invitees) or pet accidents and smoke odour removal.
I see no point in having additional insurance although we only have a spare room we use for short stays, maybe stand alone properties would require individual insurance.
And they rarely honour it!
@TeriGeri I don’t think you understand- that million dollar Airbnb coverage hype is pretty much BS. Many hosts have had claims that they have spent months trying to get Airbnb to pay for, including major house trashings, submitting paperwork again and again, only to get nothing, or $200 for $5,000 worth of damage.
I am also a spare room homeshare host and don’t have any Airbnb insurance, but I live in Mexico, where it takes years for any sort of litigation to work its way through the court system, so I’m not really concerned. But if I lived where people sue and win over some of the most ridiculous stuff I would make sure to be covered with private insurance.
Also you should be aware that if for instance, a fire starts in your Airbnb space, your regular house insurance may be void if they find out you had an Airbnb there.
Has anyone ever heard of any host being kicked off Airbnb or punished for encouraging off platform booking? I’d love to do more direct bookings but if I was banned from Airbnb that would be very bad. I’ve searched all these forums and not a single story of any host ever getting in any significant punishment for encouraging off platform booking. It seems they threaten banning but don’t do it.
What I do is when a good guest checks out, I tell them if they ever want to come back or have a friend who might want to book, they are welcome to book directly if they choose. Or if they prefer to book through Airbnb, that’s fine, too.
So I am not “encouraging” them to book directly, just mentioning it as an option.
But most guests are happy to save the Airbnb fees.
How would Airbnb know if a repeat guest, or anyone else booked directly?
Guests usually already have my phone number programmed into their phone by then, and I also give them my email address, often before they arrive, as I usually email them a map to my place. (Airbnb doesn’t block exchange of email addresses in platform messages once a booking is confirmed.)
This is the most important point.
If they just cancelled and abandoned airbnb chat and have talked with you on the phone, go for it. Airbnb will never know. They just see your dates are unavailable.
For all they know someone on another platform booked you.
Ideally you have a direct booking website and your prices are somehow higher than airbnb. I like to make 5% more on direct bookings to make it worthwhile and the guest saves about 9%.
You can just call the guest and work out a deal and tell them NOT to use airbnb to communicate anymore. Since you didn’t encourage the guest to cancel, you didn’t do anything wrong.
I wish lots more guests were smart enough to call and cancel and rebook direct. But most people just don’t understand how much they are paying airbnb extra.
I think we are all aware of that.
Obviously hosts who take direct bookings would hopefully not be so clueless as to discuss such things with guests on Airbnb messaging.
It’s not true that everyone is aware of that because I just recently spoke with another host that did not know the conversation was monitored. I like to hope that caution is followed but are we not here on a forum to help one another learn? That’s the only reason I mentioned it
Well, that host was lucky that you told them. It’s kind of astounding to me that anyone wouldn’t realize that Airbnb has access to everything on their platform.
Messages aren’t monitored as in some human is reading them all, but they have algorithms that pick up things like private information exchanged before a booking is confirmed.
Messages between potential guest and hosts have also sorts of flags built in….possible phone numbers, mention google, property address, website, even too long a text conversation between host and guest can be flagged. On Airbnb they just block out the possible issue…… on VRBO they block the entire message……and some guests are so obtuse that they really don’t understand that big brother is watching and complaining about the excessive fees and wanting to book direct can get both sides of the transaction blocked!
@RIGSBY - What did you end up doing?
You’re partially right, but try obtaining “smoke odor removal” compensation through AirCover and then share the story. First, you’ll need to prove that the guests or their visitors smoked inside the property. Since having cameras indoors is prohibited, that’s nearly impossible. Photos taken after checkout won’t hold up because the guests can easily claim they smoked outside and only disposed of the butts inside. They could also blame your cleaners or, in the worst-case scenario, accuse you of planting the evidence yourself.
Unless your guest admits to smoking indoors, the most you can expect is an amount that’s likely no more than your regular cleaning fee—if you even charge one. Meanwhile, you’ll need to keep your property closed for at least a week to air it out, wash the walls, curtains, pillows, and mattresses, and get rid of the smell. Your personal efforts won’t count, as AirCover typically requires an invoice from a professional cleaning company, which won’t include repainting the walls either. And that’s assuming you can even find a professional service capable of fully removing the smoke odor.