Airbnb instant book

[hugsarah]

Sorry if there's a thread devoted to this already - I just couldn't find it!
Has anyone tried Airbnb's instant book and if so, how have they found it? They are very insistent that I wont double book and will still have control, but I have my doubts...
How have others found it?

[Nemo]

I've only just listed on it, so won't be going down the instant book route. I have just had my first booking from it, so it didn't put them off! Here's an old thread. viewtopic.php?t=21272&highlight=airbnb+instant

[hugsarah]

Thanks Nemo
I've had a couple of bookings through them but one is so far in advance I really don't think it will happen!
I'll have a look at that thread...

[annedab]

We had a one night instant booking at the weekend. All very straightforward...... but we did have one in the summer that I accepted and they cancelled within half an hour as it turned out we were 90 mins from where they actually wanted to be! We got 50% of the nightly rate though Works well for us for b&b but I am reluctant to do it for our gites.

[e-richard]

.... They are very insistent that I wont double book and will still have control....

This all presumes that whenever you take an ENQUIRY let alone any booking from ANY OTHER source, that you INSTANTLY update and block out your Airbnb calendar.

Then if the enquiry turns to nought, you have to unblock your Airbnb calendar.

It works a treat if ABB is you ONLY source of bookings or maybe if it's the major source.

Remember that even automated calendar synchronisation (using iCal or similar) is not instantaneous. There could be a 1-2 hour or more time span between updates.

[Cassis]

We've been listed on AirBnB for several years without any problems. I've been toying with the idea of AirBnB instant book for a while, though I'm sceptical about the "up to twice as many bookings" claim.

They say that the calendar sync feature updates immediately, so you can safely turn on Instant Book even if you're listed on multiple sites provided they are synched with AirBnB. Unfortunately booking.com does not synch so that's not much of a guarantee, especially as booking.com generates many more bookings, but it doesn't bother me too much.

You can require minimum x days warning or prevent instant booking more than x days ahead.

I'm going to try it in the off season and keep it under review.

[e-richard]

They say that the calendar sync feature updates immediately, so you can safely turn on Instant Book even if you're listed on multiple sites provided they are synched with AirBnB.

Are you (they) telling us that if you take an enquiry at any HomeAway or TripAdvisor site, that your Airbnb calendar is instantly blocked from taking an instant booking?

I would be exceedingly surprised.
Pleasantly mind you, but I very much doubt it's true - yet !

[Cassis]

They say that the calendar sync feature updates immediately, so you can safely turn on Instant Book even if you're listed on multiple sites provided they are synched with AirBnB.

Are you (they) telling us that if you take an enquiry at any HomeAway or TripAdvisor site, that your Airbnb calendar is instantly blocked from taking an instant booking?

I would be exceedingly surprised.
Pleasantly mind you, but I very much doubt it's true - yet !

That's what THEY say. I make no personal guarantees.

As I say, it doesn't faze me anyway.

[Cassis]

Here's what they say - I don't endorse it. I just restate it. Anyone who has proof that it's bollocks is welcome to shred it.

You can control the timing for reservations.
You can set the dates when your listing is available for bookings. And you can set minimum and maximum trip lengths for your listing, so you get bookings that are valuable and manageable.

We also don’t want you to worry about getting double-booked if you list your space on multiple sites. Now the calendar sync feature updates immediately, so you can still turn on Instant Book.

[ianthy]

Here's what they say - I don't endorse it. I just restate it. Anyone who has proof that it's bollocks is welcome to shred it.

You can control the timing for reservations.
You can set the dates when your listing is available for bookings. And you can set minimum and maximum trip lengths for your listing, so you get bookings that are valuable and manageable.

We also don’t want you to worry about getting double-booked if you list your space on multiple sites. Now the calendar sync feature updates immediately, so you can still turn on Instant Book.

Hi

I have used IB with Airbnb for a while now and it presents approx. 80% of my bookings via Airbnb, which totals 50% of all of my bookings (need someone good at maths for this one!) I have not experienced any problems BUT you do need to respond quickly by blocking your calendar on other sites. I do this via PIMS and then manually on HA. I have not really checked the new syncing set up on Airbnb because I am happy with my current calendar syncing bar having to do HA manually.

On the IB issue, if you opt out eg not use IB, it seems to affect your priority in the listings. Doesn't mean you won't get booking but it may be more difficult for guests to find your listing. if you check out some of the groups on Airbnb you find this info discussed a lot.

[Essar]

iCAL standard is only a file lookup and pull product for importing calendar information from a primary source. It can also be extended to provide event & journal information.

Do not confuse iCAL with Apples own product or iCalendar which are different products.

How often it is initiated is up to the subscriber, the importer of the information.

When sites state that they export calendar information, they only provide the file source details for the importer to pull in. These files will always be a website file ending with the suffix ".ics".

When AB state that their calendars are instantly updated simply means that they have initiated an import from your defined source when a new booking is made on their site. If you use AB as your primary source for the calendars elsewhere; the other sites - subcribers - will not be updated until they run there own import routine.

I only use listing sites that provide iCAL import:-

HomeAway (recent) - Once daily
OwnersDirect (recent) - Once daily
HolidayLettings - Once daily (23:00 bst)
FlipKey (note they have recently changed their .ics file name) - Once daily
AirBnB - On a direct booking & every 2-hours
HouseTrip - Every 3-hours
Rentivo - Every 4-hours
TravelMob - Once Daily
Voya.ge - Once Daily
Fereinhausemiete
VacationHomeRentals - Once Daily
Google Calendar (inc Android) - Set up dependent
OutLook Calendar - Set up dependent

[Nemo]

They say that the calendar sync feature updates immediately, so you can safely turn on Instant Book even if you're listed on multiple sites provided they are synched with AirBnB.

I can state that it isn't foolproof. It synched with a new calendar and for some reason it left two weeks unblocked that were booked. I had to manually block them out, even though the rest of the calendar seemed to update ok.

[Jonathan]

They say that the calendar sync feature updates immediately, so you can safely turn on Instant Book even if you're listed on multiple sites provided they are synched with AirBnB.

Are you (they) telling us that if you take an enquiry at any HomeAway or TripAdvisor site, that your Airbnb calendar is instantly blocked from taking an instant booking?

I would be exceedingly surprised.
Pleasantly mind you, but I very much doubt it's true - yet !

That's what THEY say. I make no personal guarantees.

Airbnb does not update my Holiday Letting/Tripadvisor calendar.

Jonathan