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Got an IB booking without even a profile pic. Couldn’t find a place to require anything except “Good track record” (whatever that means these days). Is that the only requirement that can be auto enforced now?
They seem to forbid booking on behalf of someone else unless you are enrolled as a travel planner but not requiring ID verification and a pic like they used to in IB effectively allows that.
Yes, as a host you can require a profile pic but you won’t see it until after the booking is confirmed. Here’s instructions on how to do it.
If the photo does not include the guest’s face or has something unhelpful like a cartoon, you can contact Airbnb and have them cancel the booking.
I would message the guest and point out that you require an actual face photo in order to ensure that the guest who booked is actually among the guests who show up before asking Airbnb to cancel the booking.
Almost all of my guests have had actual face photos, but some have shown “Phone number not available” after I accepted their request and their booking was confirmed. When I told them their phone number wasn’t being shown, all were forthcoming in providing it. Some said they didn’t even realize they’d never provided their phone number to Airbnb.
In other words, in my experience, I think the majority of guests are amenable to providing things which are reasonable asks, especially if you explain to them why you require the info.
I don’t see “Booking Settings” anywhere like you mention. I used to see that long back, but for a while, the menu has changed both on a phone and a browser and it only shows me under “Your space” a section called “Instant Book” where the only “Optional settings” is “Good track record”.
Yeah, they move things around to unintuitive places. When I go into my account this evening, I’ll see if I can find it, if no one replies here first. I have profile photo checked and I don’t even use instant book.
@randomoid I searched all over for a check box to require a profile photo, and can no longer find it. There is no longer any heading “Booking settings” that I can find when I go to “Listings”, as @Keugenia suggested, although it certainly used to be there. It seems that Airbnb quietly removes more and more of hosts’ ability to vet guests.
I do not use instant book at all, so I just have this requirement in my house rules, but I know there used to be a check box to require profile photos, even for requests, which I had for sure checked… But they have either eliminated it, or buried it somewhere you could never find it. Maybe if you have instant book turned on, and go to that section in your “edit listing” it’s there, but it seems you say you can’t find it either.
I should mention that this is what I saw using the desktop version- I don’t use the app.
I am recently back to hosting with a new listing and have found this option only if you set Instant Booking.
I didn’t find anywhere of these options about “Booking Settings”. I have IB on.
Didn’t see it either.
and scroll to ‘guest requirements’, turn on 'require a profile photo:
Thanks, I do see this option and it is turned on. Weird that my guest was still able to book without a pic. Maybe she used a pic of the no-pic cartoon icon as her pic or maybe the system let her book because her partner on the reservation did have a pic. Or maybe the requirement is just not strictly enforced or has loopholes.
What Airbnb refers to as a profile pic can be anything- a cartoon character, a plate of spaghetti. I state in my house rules that I require a clear face photo profile pic.
@Rolf Thanks! I was sure I had clicked on that symbol while searching around, but I guess not. Sure isn’t intuitive.
@Militaryhorsegal Profile pic requirement does appear even if you don’t use IB. Follow Rolf’s instructions.
I don’t understand why Airbnb’s techies can’t just have things on the dropdown menu, like Booking Settings, or Guest Requirements, instead of burying things behind 3 clicks and a symbol. That you have to first click on “Listing”, then the listing itself, then some unexplained symbol is ridiculous.
