Pre-approved inquiry for the same day

[KKC]

What if you pre-approve and then cancel it? What does that do to the clock?

[Mike_L]

Once you pre-approve, it stops the clock. Cancelling doesn’t restart it.

[Astaire]

@SandyToes

Remember, if it’s an Inquiry, as long as you have answered/responded to the proposed guest, you won’t get dinged. The clock runs out in 24 hrs., and it is noted that it has “expired”.

How sure are you of this? That clock makes me nervous.

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@Mike_L

Whether you’ve pre-approved or not, if they don’t book say within 30 min of you replying to their queries, I might write them a note saying something like

“I have another party interested in booking, but since you asked first I want to make sure you get first priority. Please can you complete the booking by clicking Confirm within the next 30 min if you’re still interested. It wouldn’t be good to have the other guest waiting without an answer either way for too long. I want to be sure I’m fair to both parties”

This makes them feel attended to, but also makes them guilty for not responding. I usually get a reply one way or the other right away.

[konacoconutz]

I have found if they do not request nearly immediately after inquiring they never will. That’s why preapproving is a big waste of time IMHO

[SandyToes]

How sure am I about the 24-hr time limit to pre-approve or decline? I’m as sure as punch, unless the gremlins at Air have been fiddling with the hoops again through which we must jump.

When I receive an Inquiry, it says to respond within 24-hrs. or my response rate will be affected. The operative word is “respond” and they don’t specify that it must be limited to only pre-approve or decline. Dialogs are allowed.

In the past, I’ve received reminders from Air during that time stating “now that you and ___ have exchanged messages” (or something like that), “go ahead and pre-approve her”…or similar. I just ignore those reminders because usually the ball is in the inquirer’s lap.

If the traveler goes silent, I take it to mean they are still shopping around and let it go. At the end of the 24-hr period, the label “Expired” was noted next to the inquiry in the Message section. Now the labels read, Accepted, Declined, Not Possible, Closed, or Cancelled, but no Expired .

As for a clock, I vaguely recall a clock face appearing for Inquiries as well as Requests but now I see only a countdown of digital numbers.

To tell you the truth, I just haven’t paid that much attention to the graphics - I just follow the prompts and do my thing.

[anon67190644]

I had my first inquiry in a dog’s age tonight. This young woman asked some intelligent questions about distances. I responded honestly which should have convinced her that she didn’t want my place. And yet, 30 minutes she booked.

The AirBNB world is almost an alternate universe.

[faheem]

Hi @Mike_L,

@Mike_L

Yes, it always happens this way. I did complain to Airbnb about this last year and got no response. I reported it as a glich and heard nothing back and nothing has changed.

As it happened, I got an inquiry just now, and bearing this thread in mind, I paid closer than usual attention to the “countdown” clock.

I observed that after I initially replied, the clock indeed just stayed put and continued counting down the seconds. However, when I refreshed the page, the clock disappeared. I asked earlier in this thread what happened if the page was refreshed. I don’t recall seeing a response.

[Mike_L]

That is good to know. Thank you! I wasn’t able to test your theory before because I had already pre-approved. I will try that next time.