Minimum number of nights not working

1

I have set my Trip Length Minimum Stay to 4 nights, for EVERY night Sun-Sat.
However, I often get requests to stay for 2 or 3 days. What is going on?

2

Sometimes folks only need less days than your minimum, so they ask.

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4

Theyā€™re sending requests because they canā€™t book. THEY SHOULDNā€™T BE ABLE TO REQUEST DAYS THAT ARENā€™T AVAILABLE. I just got a booking for tonight when guests just checked out and someone requested,

At least when it was elevated to the second level, he cancelled.

5

I just tried to do what youā€™re talking about as a ā€˜non-hostā€™ and itā€™s not giving me the option to ask the host a question. It is telling Me thereā€™s a 4 night minimum, and not allowing me to progress any further unless I state that I want to book for the 4 nights.
Iā€™m actually asking the guest now via ā€˜messageā€™ to see if it didnā€™t tell him there was a four night minimum, or if he got around the issue somehow.

6

Guests typically will make a request for booking for some four night minimum for instance a month from now and then send a message saying ā€œwe just put that in but we really only need Xā€. Itā€™s to your advantage to receive questions like this since you may be comfortable giving three out of four nights In that timeframe.

7

I believe it said ā€˜Request to Stayā€™ and gave me the option to Accept or Decline. I couldnā€™t replicate what he did when I went on as a traveler. I guess he did think he was quite special, but I had actually jacked up the nightly rates prior to his request, thinking that we may have used the condo that weekend. So our payout was the same as if heā€™d booked 4 nights at the regular rates. Also, he said heā€™s getting in at 2:30 in the morning, so it actually is only a 2 night rental for a 3 night price.
I messaged him and he said he wasnā€™t sure how he did it, but it DID tell him 4 night minimum.

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8

Are you folks saying that the dates the guests entered on a Booking Request contravened your settings, or that they asked in their message for that? Because as far as Iā€™m aware, dates that are not available to be booked cannot be entered on a request.

If they are just asking if youā€™ll accept a shorter booking, guests can ask you to provide caviar for their emotional support puppy if they want to.

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9

Even though my max is 7 nights, I had someone ask about a monthly rate. Gave her the reasons why it was a no.

11

The way they asked was a request that I could accept or deny their request. After we texted back and forth regarding some questions I had, I hit approve, and a 3 night stay was approved.

12

Inquiries give the options to Pre-approve (not Accept) or Decline. Not trying to be pedantic, but some newer hosts or those used to getting IB bookings donā€™t understand the difference in the way an Inquiry and a Request are handled. If it says Pre-approve, itā€™s an Inquiry, and yes, it only requires a message back to the inquirer, which Airbnb conveniently neglects to mention.

13

It was a 3 day that didnā€™t meet my minimum request that I ended up accepting. At least he told me he was aware there was a 4 day minimum but thought heā€™d ask. At least now I know that the potential guest knows the minimum nights policy so when I tell them no, they arenā€™t surprised.

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14

Weā€™ll I hit accept and it booked. It didnā€™t preapprove.

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17

Quite true, and thatā€™s always been evident to me, but Iā€™ve been surprised by the number of new hosts who seem not to notice that, or say they received a sketchy Request and donā€™t know whether to pre-approve it or decline. :wink:

18

There is a setting under booking settings/calendar/trip length that asks to manually approve requests that are outside of your booking range. It probably defaults to yes when you set up your listing these days. I would check there and see what is selected.

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19

@DozerPug I just spent 20 minutes trying to find such a setting without success. I looked at all the settings for the listing. Where is it?

21

@NordlingHouse Hereā€™s a screenshot showing it. Hope this helps.

image
image1125Ɨ2436 109 KB

Edit: This setting is only available with IB as you are reviewing everything with request to book.

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22

Thereā€™s only a setting for longer stays, but not one for same day booking (which I donā€™t allow, but this system glitch did) or for stays shorter than 2 nights. I donā€™t want them to be able to request booking for either.

As I have said many times, they need to fire their entire software development team and get someone competent.

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