I am going to be traveling for three weeks in Africa and I am concerned that with being airborne or not having WiFi for periods of time while driving, I may run afoul of Airbnb’s 24-hour response time rule. Is there anything I can do to prevent getting dinged for lack of timely response?
I did exactly the same in July. I decided to risk it since the possibility of being without internet for more than 12 hours was remote. I did get a booking literally as the plane was pulling away from the gate on a flight from Dallas to Munich, but it was only 9 hours before I had service again.
Here’s my thread that might have some relevant advice for you.
1 Like
Get a co-host you trust. If a friend (like mine is), then a gift certificate for dinner or a nice present is good payback. Or pay them 10% of your net.
1 Like
Will you have people in your listing while you’re away?
You can use the “snooze” feature so you don’t appear in searches and aren’t bookable.
But if you still have active reservations going on, best to get a co-host to manage both current guests and future bookings.
1 Like
I usually get a sim card from the airport as soon as I land and I have the app. Unless you travel 24 hrs continuously - which is unheard of - you could still check your email in airports during layovers and all airports offer like 1 hr of free wi-fi, so yes, you could still be in charge.
Alternatively add a co-host for a certain period, and let her/him reply and be in charge of everything.
1 Like
I won’t have guests during that time but I don’t want to miss any 2020 bookings while I’m gone.
A co-host is a good idea but I don’t have anyone who is up to speed with being a co-host.
And the time difference between the US and Europe is not a problem? I’m not sure how Airbnb calculates the 24 hours it allows.
it calculates from the time of the booking. it doesn’t matter where you are on the globe. the times of the booking plus 24 hrs. Actually when you open the app on your phone it will tell you what time you have left to reply.
Do you have a cleaner? That’s the more important question. When I travel I communicate the schedule to the cleaner (usually I have people booked in advance). I mean I don’t think that the date of your departure comes and your calendar will be empty, you know what I mean? So I inform the cleaning lady (who is a friend btw) of what the schedule is so far. I either block the rest of the days if she is not able to do more cleaning or I inform her if requests do come in. It’s up to you. You can even swicth to approval mode if you don’t want surprise bookings or just block the days between the bookings you have. It’s up to you. You can decide with your cleaner if she can handle more. If she does, once you get a booking you email her so she can go and do the cleaning for you. I have the ABB app on my phone, the email as well and I get notified when someone books me. As I said you have layovers you have the opportunity to check your email and the app in the airports and to reply. Just make sure you get one or 2 extra batteries with you in case your phone needs to be recharged. If you don’t want trouble, just contend yourself with the reservations you have until the date of departure, communicate that to the cleaner, block the rest of the days and there you have it.
1 Like
I snooze my listing if I get on a plane that has no wifi, then I unsnooze it as soon as I land and can get internet.
2 Likes
Then I’d just leave it alone and continue fielding reservation requests.
When traveling, I can usually predict when we’ll be out of cell service for too long. I’ll just snooze for a day or 2 while I’m in the mountains, then turn it back on. Sounds like that solution might work best for you.
I have a lot of auto replies set up through Smartbnb so my response time is almost immediate.
1 Like
I wouldn’t worry too much about being in Africa without communication. You can buy data and airtime for an African Sim card (we use Vodacom) at any little village shop as basically Africa runs on mobile data rather than Wifi.
As @adrienne12 says, more of a challenge may be keeping your phone charged. Don’t forget to get plug adapters. Probably a multi-adapter travel plug, as US plugs are rarely usable abroad.
Above all, don’t worry too much and have a great time in Africa!
2 Likes
I got 5 bookings while I was in South Africa. Did not snooze my account. All is well.
4 Likes
Thanks for the update. I’m going to be out of the country for 3 weeks and I just set my account to not be open to book until I return. I have IB and usually respond to the booking same day but no response is required on IB. Also since Airports have wifi and many planes have it for a reasonable fee there’s little chance that someone won’t get a response in 24 hours.
3 Likes
Yep it is really nice when hosts come back to the thread and let us know the outcome. When I was researching in 2017 and 2018 before our launch, the cliffhangers drove me nuts(er). 
1 Like