When I first opened my airbnbs in 2021 (3 in a 3 fam home), I was tipped off by a guest that messaged me saying Air wouldn’t let her book for 2 nights over Halloween weekend. I learned that the Air algorithms block short stays for fear of partying. I adjusted my minimum stay to 3 nights for all holiday weekends and picked up some bookings that year for Halloween and in 2022. Well, this year, I have another 2 units in the region and nada. No bookings for the 10/28 weekend in any of my 5 Airbnbs. And this is a popular time of year bc we have a nice autumn so it has to be Air overplaying their hand here. I can’t afford to lose a whole peak weekend across all my properties (winter is much quieter). Is there anything else I can be doing to get around the Air algorithms?
List on other sites, like Vrbo.
@KimF I’ll echo @CalebD and ask what happened? Did you get your rental booked? How did you do that?
I ask because new hosts often bemoan the fact that they haven’t got bookings when all they do is rely on Airbnb. So it would be interesting to know what methods you used to fill those dates.
Yes, same for me. I just double-checked the minimum stay settings and crossed my fingers. And then as we approached the date, things started filling up. So I don’t know what happened there… a fluke, Airbnb lightened up the algorithms as the date got closer…? it’s a mystery.
One thing we forget about as hosts is how other hosts impact our bookings. Not always directly, too - sometimes a host with a similar setup and pricing stops hosting, or raises their pricing by a few dollars, or their cleaning becomes deficient, and you suddenly see more bookings… at least that is what happened to me with my 5 day max room geared to business folks.
Or conversely, when a company stops bringing in consultants, and our bookings decline.
We THINK we are somehow at fault when bookings go down, or are quick to blame a ‘secret airbnb algorhythm’ or even the political climate.
And sometimes it’s just not a popular time in one’s area. I’ve read posts from hosts saying “We started hosting in May and we were fully booked all summer, now in Sept. our bookings have stopped. What’s going on?”
Well, summer is vacation time. Once Sept. rolls around, people are generally back in work and school mode and may not get vacation days again until Thanksgiving or Christmas.
I don’t usually get any bookings from mid-May to late Oct.- it’s too hot and humid here- not tourist season.