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Early on, we changed to IB and the requirements open as possible. We wanted to remove obstacles to “book now”. We can always look at each booking to see if there cause for concern or reason to ask questions.
So far, it’s working well enough but we would appreciate a sense of what IB requirements the community uses and why you like certain settings. Please also specify what country you are in.
Thanks!
We have used Instant Book almost since we signed up as hosts. Our only requirements are Airbnb’s default requirements.
Works like a charm.
I have had instant-book enabled since I started hosting, and I have always had Airbnb Minimum + Government ID.
I require Government ID because it’s a standard requirement worldwide for getting a hotel room. I’m not sure it helps me in any way since I don’t get to see it to verify that it belongs to the guest that actually checks in, but I personally have had 100’s of hotel stays in 25 countries, and showing a driver’s license or passport was always required.
Edit: I also have 2-day advance notice as well. It’s not related to Instant Book, but a lot of hosts use it as a way to help prevent certain types of bookings. I only do it in case we haven’t cleaned for some reason or need time to finish maintenance/repairs, etc.
I do all 3, and I don’t accept same-day bookings, which helps to screen out locals.
I require a pulse and a working credit card,
heads in beds
RR
You’re missing out on the zombie market 
‘deads in beds’
Have you ever cleaned up oozed embalming fluids? No thanks
RR
I don’t have any requirements for my Instant Book and I take same day, late in the day bookings. I won’t hesitate to use my automatic cancellations if I get a booking I’m not comfortable with.
Just Airbnb requirements. I don’t have any days in between bookings as I want back to back and I would take same day bookings but it’s only happened (I think) twice. Most guests book far in advance so it’s unusual for me to have same day availability.
I’ve had the Airbnb requirements thing since I turned on IB just a few weeks after starting with Airbnb. The approval/request thing is just too time consuming for me and I believe (not necessarily correctly of course) that the lack of stringent requirements is one of the reasons why the apartments are almost always back to back.
It’s worked out fine with no problems.
We only have Govt ID and the questions in the welcome message (which is cut off in your photo).
The Govt ID is only because I have the ideal that guests should make a tiny bit of effort to be part of the community before booking. It seems like a normal thing to do and if you don’t want to do it, then that may be why you’re not booking a hotel, kind of like @Brian_R170 's reasoning. But mostly it speaks to “participation” on the guest’s part. I have on occasion let it go if I’m in the mood though 
However, we get a ton of new users (about 50% of our guests) and when they request and I ask them to go and verify their ID and they say, “sure thing” and go and do it, it makes me feel better 
We use the questions in the welcome message to get a little more info so that we can customize the guest’s experience. About 98% of people answer them. The 2% who don’t can still come stay, they just won’t get as customized experience, their choice, their loss 
edit to add: We have a 2-day notice on our 2-BR apartments and a 1-day notice on our studio apartment. It is just for us, in case we need a break and don’t want to have everything ready to go - we can take the day off and not worry about a last minute booking. If we are all set, I will go in and change it sometimes (though usually can use the break instead). We do have that guests can still Request beyond the notice though, but it gives us the option to say no.
Good idea. I like this one. It helps everyone.
I’m one up on him, I only require a pulse at check in. From then on it’s optional 
JF
I also used to require the Govt ID but I had a situation about two years ago where a couple was in the car on the road (with their dogs) headed to town for an emergency. My calendar was blocked because their ID verification hadn’t gone through. I was messaging the guest, I called Airbnb (not helpful) and I finally said via the Airbnb app, I board dogs through Rover if you want to book a stay for your dogs there. The guests booked their dogs one night on Rover and that gave me access to contact them. I then sent them my address and they paid me cash on arrival. They didn’t even realize the Airbnb reservation had not gone through. So they then canceled the request with Airbnb. During that process I removed the ID requirement (it didn’t help them though) and never put it back.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t have that requirement, this is obviously an unusual situation, but the longer I do this the more confident I feel that the primary thing I need is payment, I can handle everything else. Eventually I’ll be served a big slice of humble pie but until then…heads in beds as RR puts it.
I’m not sure I understand the situation. I get requests from people who don’t have their ID verified but I can still just accept without making them verify their ID.
Is it that Airbnb randomly flagged them to have their ID verified? I had that happen to a guest before I was even using IB. I wasn’t requiring the ID but they got hung up by Airbnb, who was making them verify their ID - it didn’t have anything to do with me or my settings.
Also, my cousin contacted me recently asking about the ID thing. She was trying to book an Airbnb somewhere and the system was making her verify her ID, even though she’s been booking for years on Airbnb. The host was not requiring the ID. It became a problem because her D.L. (driver’s license ,) photo was old and didn’t match her selfie (dramatic hair change :).
I have also had IBs come through as confirmed and booked without the guest having ID but assume that was a glitch and just rolled with it.
While I admire this and enjoy @RiverRock’s viewpoints about it a lot , this isn’t my first or main career and I need it to be as enjoyable as possible. Some of that is me getting guests that are a good or at least decent fit for my listing. It might be flawed thinking but it has been working for me 
I don’t recall all the details now. It may not have been related to the ID requirement box being ticked. All I know is that was the impetus for me to untick the box. Then, given all the anecdotal evidence that Airbnb is largely ineffective in checking guests, removing them if they are an issue and so on, I left it unchecked.
We all have our comfort levels. There is no reason for anyone to mindlessly follow my advice unless they are just like me and their listing is just like mine.
lol. I was just trying to understand what happened
I agree that
That’s why I look at it as more of ‘effort points’ for the guest. And sometimes I just let it go anyways. Only once when I’ve asked for it has someone decided not to do it. She was already getting on my nerves so it was kind of an easy way to move her along.
Of course you won’t mindlessly do anything. I’m just stating it for the record in case someone else reading here thinks it’s a good idea just because they read about it on the forum. Someone recently posted that they read here it was a good idea to wait to review until after the guest reviewed. That’s not good advice generally speaking but might be in a certain context. So in an abundance of caution I thought it might be advised to remind any readers that not everyone can do what I do successfully.