Guest has been blocked from booking on AirBnB as they said she might be having a party

[JJD]

@Brian_R170

Of course, they’re still going to punish a some percentage of innocent guests.

And also punish some percentage of innocent hosts. The local under-25s are 30% of my business. Never had a single problem with that age group. Fortunately, many of them are smart enough to use a VPN and are still booking with me (though not as many as before).

[Brian_R170]

@JJD

And also punish some percentage of innocent hosts.

Isn’t that a given for any Airbnb policy?

[muddy]

@Nearthesea

Most of the damage that has been done in my house has been my people who are 30 and over. I don’t like this rule at all. I think it’s ageist.

That may be your personal experience, and that of some other hosts but obviously it isn’t the case on average. And even if 90% of hosts have found that under 25s have never been a problem for them, the metrics say that when there are these out of control party scenes, they are overwhelmingly from bookings of those under 25.

So while it may be ageist, it isn’t like those kinds of things don’t happen in other walks of life. Young men statistically have the highest rate of traffic accidents, so young men pay the highest insurance rates. There are plenty of young men who are responsible, careful drivers, but those guys still have to pay the higher insurance rates because of the metrics.

Maybe what Airbnb should do is to only apply that algorithm for bookings with new hosts, say for the first year of being Airbnb hosts, as newer hosts aren’t experienced with vetting guests. And let the experienced hosts decide for themselves whether it seems like a risky booking. They could still warn hosts that this booking fits their “party” parameters, but not actually prevent the booking from happening.

[Nearthesea]

I like that idea a lot of Airbnb letting us as seasoned hosts decide for ourselves. After five years at this, I see the pattern of what age group I can trust. The younger ones are the most cautious and worried about doing something wrong and tidy up after themselves the most. They also are more aware of how to sort and separate recyclables.

[Jefferson]

@Nearthesea. Well said! We are happy to accommodate most young guests, especially if they are not local. Even still, our stay does not lend itself to be low-hanging fruit for a potential party location.

[JJD]

@Nearthesea

They also are more aware of how to sort and separate recyclables.

And most of them want to compost too. I would never ask a guest to compost, but these kids ask, so I point them to the composter in the back of the yard and they look so dang happy taking stuff out to it.

[jaquo]

@Stevan

Just curious couldn’t the conditions listed below be a red flag to, say, anyone?

Certainly not to me. I’ve had plenty of local guests, many teenagers and about half of my guests have no reviews.

I have a two day minimum so quite a lot of stays for that length of time but I rarely have last minute bookings because I’m normally back-to-back. But my apartments aren’t really suited to partiers anyway plus I’m right there on the premises.

Mind you, I don’t have red flags because I use IB anyway.

@muddy

Maybe what Airbnb should do is to only apply that algorithm for bookings with new hosts, say for the first year of being Airbnb hosts, as newer hosts aren’t experienced with vetting guests. And let the experienced hosts decide for themselves whether it seems like a risky booking.

I think that’s a great idea.