This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
I live in an area where we get a lot of summer college interns. I’ve gotten a lot of inquiries for this summer, and some of them are from parents helping their kids find housing. Up until now I have told them that the child needs to book directly with me because I don’t take third party bookings, and then I never hear back from them after that (not to mention that it makes me question how responsible a kid is if their parent has to find their housing). Since I’ve gotten so many summer inquiries so far without a booking, I’m trying to figure out what I can do to secure a booking if someone seems really interested/qualified but the message comes from a parent. If the child can’t/won’t create their own account, could I have the child be added as a second guest on the parent’s booking or would that still be considered a third-party booking if the parent isn’t staying? If the child was added as a second guest, would I be able to message the child on the Airbnb system or would I still be communicating with the parent? Can the parent use their credit card on the child’s Airbnb account, if payment is the reason the parent wants to make the booking?
I’m not crazy about doing what is essentially a third party booking, so perhaps it would be better just to wait until I get an intern who is able to book for themselves. I live in a tourist area and am not desperate for the money, so I won’t have any problems getting reservations if it doesn’t work out with an intern.
Do NOT take third party bookings, no matter how lucrative you think it might be. Since you’re in a tourist area you should get plenty of Short Term Bookings.
I don’t think you can have Billy added as a guest on Mom & Dad’s account. Any communications would go to them as the account holder, not to Billy.
If Intern Billy isn’t responsible enough to book for him/herself, s/he probably isn’t responsible enough to keep the listing in proper shape. Mommy & Daddy can pay for little Billy with their credit card (Airbnb doesn’t care as long as the card is valid), but Billy needs his own Air Account with Mom & Dad’s credit card listed on it.
Same thing for adult children booking for Mom & Dad. The kids can help Mom & Dad set up their account, then show them how to use it. But Mom & Dad need to have their own communication with you and AirBnb; and need to take responsibility for their own actions.
Thanks Ken. I tend to agree with this and no third-party bookings has been my policy all along, but I was starting to rethink a way around it for the interns. It’s kind of funny because the latest inquiry I got was from a parent who said “my kid is very adult and responsible”. My first thought was, if he’s so adult-like (and I’d hope a 20 year-old nearly graduated college student would be), why can’t he make his own reservation?
Good to know. I have a feeling a lot of parents are footing the bill and that’s why they want to be in charge of the booking, but maybe I’ll suggest this if I get more inquiries from a parent.
@MissSwan Thank you, I think I’ll do that. No third-party bookings has been my policy all along, so why change now, especially for such a long booking when it’s even more important to communicate directly with the guest in advance.
When parents book for a child, you now have three guests instead of one: mom, dad and student. And they rarely agree.
Obviously a student must create their own profile. Thems the rules. And you want to make sure that they, and not mum and dad, sign off on the description, terms and rules. Hence you have only one guest to deal with.
Parents who are footing the bill may demand overnight rights, inspections, and behaving like you are running a daycare.
Students can break rules, act out, and tell their parents any ole thing.
That’s why I generally prefer postgraduates. They have more at stake than undergrads. And we are in a better position to support them.
Thanks @justMandi. You bring up a lot of good points, many of them being the reasons why I declined parents last summer and do not take third-party bookings. I have raised my prices this summer to keep up with the rest of the neighborhood and I have been getting a lot of “looky-loos” who say how perfect my listing is, but nobody who wants to commit and they give me a sad story about how low their intern’s salary is. I guess I was trying to be creative and find another way to attract summer guests, but I’m seeing that I need to hold my ground and enforce my no third-party booking rule, not only to comply with Airbnb’s rules but also to keep my sanity and not have parents looking over my shoulder.
The overnight rights was a big concern when I thought about adding the child as a guest on the parent’s reservation, because then technically the parent could stay over whenever they want since it’s a reservation for 2.
This is where they get you. It’s a free trip to your place. And then there’s their friends. Who you will meet shirtless and hung over.
Student bookings are for one person only. It’s in place to help them focus on their studies.
There are no previews. I get bookings by semester and there is a 50 percent surcharge for Sepember. What they do is set up tours in your town and visit 5-6 places a day. That this is your one and only chance, they say. And you say, you have to be effing kidding. But I digress. It reduces your odds geometrically. I don’t have time for that.
I accommodate adults. I can assure parents of my qualifications, but ultimately it is between the student and I.
But they never cease to surprise you.
A nineteen year old shows up. His only special request is ice cream and bottled water. He hates local water. He gets up and 5 and is back fourteen hours later. Well it turns out he is slated to be a PhD candidate. He had been holding out on us. And the review he wrote actually had me in years, it was so beautiful.
The one student I will bend over backwards for is the medical resident or medical student. They put in so many hours here that they could well be working for below minimum wage. They can be gone for days at a time. All they want to do is sleep. Basically they book, and I send a special offer for as low as I can afford.
It’s gratitude for the amazing treatment my partner was given in 17 and 18 for lung cancer.
Whenever someone wants to book either their intern progeny or their husband working part-time in my city, and it seems like they are setting up “appointments” to see 15 different places, I bow out. “Let me know if you don’t find something you like after your tour.” No interest in turning my private home into model home tour.
No. And I fail to see what that has to do with my responses, except to say that I would never have raised children to be so dependent on their parents or anyone but themselves – exactly the way I was raised in the 50s and 60s. In 1967, after 2 years at a local university, I went way to school – over 1200 miles away – and did all the planning, arranging travel, lodging, etc. myself. My parents raised us to be independent, self-reliant and self-sufficient, not leaches on them or society.
I have two girls who will be entering the world n a few years. My goal is they grow into independent women who don’t need theirs dads to help. But we will be there, we will help until they make us stop. I was raised by wolves, I want better for my kids. I’m not a helicopter parent but I cannot imagine just booting them out and washing my hands of it. My wolves always told me at 18 we are breaking your plate. I left at 15
Nothing wrong with helping them into young adulthood.
What is “better” about not being a wolf? Parenting is not a popularity contest, it is designed to create independent young adults.
This is a sincere question.
If wolf cubs were permitted to stay juvenile past the 2 year mark, still nursing and still eating regurgitated food, their incompetence would doom the survival of the pack.
n a few years. My goal is they grow into independent women who don’t need theirs dads to help. But we will be there, we will help until they make us stop. I was raised by wolves, I want better for my kids. I’m not a helicopter parent but I cannot imagine just booting them out and washing my hands of it. My wolves always told me at 18 we are breaking your plate. I left at 15