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I pre-approved someone 2 days ago and they haven’t actually accepted/confirmed the reservation yet. I need to find out if they’re really going to stay soon so I can schedule the cleaning staff because I have another guest coming in a day after they leave. This guest is new so I’m wondering if she doesn’t realize she needs to complete the reservation…
So, what would I say diplomatically enough to find out if she actually intends to stay and get her to confirm the reservation?
I’ve had this a few times and follow up with a message along the lines of “hi there, I have a couple of other people now asking about your requested dates so if you’d definitely like to stay, please confirm the booking as soon as you can…I’d hate you to miss out”. 
Assume they aren’t coming… Remove the pre-approval.
Agreed. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone leave it for more than a few hours before booking.
Don’t pre-approvals expire after 24 hours anyway?
As others have said, assume they aren’t coming.
No harm in sending an email to let them know as you haven’t heard back, you’re assuming they aren’t coming and the dates have been released.
As you are aware, potential guests are told they have 24 hours to move forward on your pre-approval and make the reservation during which the apartment is not blocked off their calendar and considered still available. Some guests may think that not following through automatically cancels the pre-approval. You might thank them for their interest and remind them that they should complete the booking or decline. Airbnb encourages you to pre-approve but for someone who is merely inquiring, this may seem pushy. We are relatively new to Airbnb and have also been through this scenario.
Good luck,
Jim
We get a TON of pre-approval requests. I never take any of them seriously. Most people who want to book use the ‘Request to Book’ which is approve/decline. This requires them to put in their CC info and i believe puts a hold on their account, so us as hosts know they are serious. The lookey loos use the ‘contact the host’ feature which generates the pre-approve/decline/ discuss further option. I would say generally we don’t convert many of the guests we ‘pre-approve’. My guess is bc they have sent out a boiler plate email to 100s of hosts and are looking for the best price, and don’t necessarily have an emotional connection to my house. The IB and ‘request to book’ people want to stay at our property specifically. (Yes, request to book even exists if you don’t have IB, one of our listings in non-IB)
When they don’t confirm within 2-3 hours I cancel them!
Thanks, this got them to tell me they had chosen another place so I could move forward. 