Air Bnb

OTA = Online Travel Agency, which means those sites that sell the booking and take the payment for you.
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roxytoo
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Air Bnb

Post by roxytoo »

I've only taken one booking through Airbnb before. I have been emailing and replying to a guy who has now, after 10 emails, says he wants to pay cash on arrival! I emailed back and said you can't do that through air bnb. He has now said he's not interested. I thought airbnb was supposed to stop all this crap??!! what a waste of time!
rosebud
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Post by rosebud »

No bookings for me from AirBnB for over a year now...

One enquiry in that time for someone wanting a reduced price for a 2 night stay!!
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

People who have never used Airbnb before aren't aware of how it works regarding payment. I had an enquiry from a French woman who said it was her first time using the site and she wanted to pay just the deposit and the balance nearer the time. I explained it wasn't possible with Airbnb and how it worked...I never heard back from her again!
annedab
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Post by annedab »

We have had ABB bookings (for bed and breakfast) and when the guests leave they say "oh, we must settle up with you - how much do we owe you?". Needless to say they are always delighted when we tell them that they have already paid :lol:
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Anne

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Quiterio
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Re: Air Bnb

Post by Quiterio »

roxytoo wrote:I've only taken one booking through Airbnb before. I have been emailing and replying to a guy who has now, after 10 emails, says he wants to pay cash on arrival! I emailed back and said you can't do that through air bnb. He has now said he's not interested. I thought airbnb was supposed to stop all this crap??!! what a waste of time!
Could it be because you haven't signed up for Instant Bookings?

I had originally, then retracted because the whole idea makes me very nervous. You'd have to be 100% sure all your calendars are synced.

But when I stopped this facility AirBnB warned me that I would take far fewer bookings this way. And so far ..... none!
la vache!
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Re: Air Bnb

Post by la vache! »

Quiterio wrote: But when I stopped this facility AirBnB warned me that I would take far fewer bookings this way. And so far ..... none!
Yes, AirBnB now give priority to instant bookings. I'm thinking of going over to them - they sync with ical so availability updates are less of a problem, but nevertheless it is risky.
Essar
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Re: Air Bnb

Post by Essar »

la vache! wrote:
Quiterio wrote: But when I stopped this facility AirBnB warned me that I would take far fewer bookings this way. And so far ..... none!
Yes, AirBnB now give priority to instant bookings. I'm thinking of going over to them - they sync with ical so availability updates are less of a problem, but nevertheless it is risky.
If you use more than one listing site the instant booking option can be a dangerous thing to do, even with all sites updating via iCal. Unless, Airbnb updates your primary iCal source or it is your primary iCal source then there are inevitable time delays - could be up to 24 hours for updates to be pulled in by some sites.

I use FreeToBook as my primary iCal source for all listing sites because the only instant booking site I tolerate is BC. FTB have a channel manager option for BC which allows instant 2-way communication for bookings, changes to bookings and the setting of rates and conditions. If I receive a BC reservation then FTB is intstantly up to date and any other listing site pulling in the iCal availability calendar will get the latest position.
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e-richard
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Re: Air Bnb

Post by e-richard »

Essar wrote:[with ical] there are inevitable time delays - could be up to 24 hours for updates to be pulled in by some sites.
That delay sounds excessive to me. Steve, do you have any records of the pull intervals and/or timings for various sites ?
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ianh100
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Post by ianh100 »

We have only taken 2 bookings via ABNB, both were perfect guests and actually paid a little more than I would get via other sites. They gave us great reviews.

I did not like it as I thought I could not set different minimum stays at different times of year but I was corrected on that misunderstanding from people here. Instant bookings are not for me as I also have calendar anxiety, perhaps I just need to spend an evening making sure all of my iCal syncs are working.....
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roxytoo
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Post by roxytoo »

calander anxiety...............oh I do like that!!
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Cymraes
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Re: Air Bnb

Post by Cymraes »

e-richard wrote:
Essar wrote:[with ical] there are inevitable time delays - could be up to 24 hours for updates to be pulled in by some sites.
That delay sounds excessive to me. Steve, do you have any records of the pull intervals and/or timings for various sites ?
One of my listing sites only pulls data across once every 24 hours I *think* it's Independent Cottages but I could be wrong.
Giuliano
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Post by Giuliano »

I list on a lot of different sites, using Avaibook as a channel manager and synching tool. So far, no problem at all. Synching with Expedia, Booking.com, Atraveo and some other minor sites is instant. With Airbnb, HL and HA it takes some time, but I can manage it.
Essar
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Re: Air Bnb

Post by Essar »

e-richard wrote:
Essar wrote:[with ical] there are inevitable time delays - could be up to 24 hours for updates to be pulled in by some sites.
That delay sounds excessive to me. Steve, do you have any records of the pull intervals and/or timings for various sites ?
The major sites are quite efficient, although, none quote a start time:-

HA et al = every 4 hours
TA et al = every 4 hours
AB = every 2 hours
RO = every 24 hours
VHR = twice a day (?)
BC = manually or instantly via a channel manager (not iCal)
TM = every 24 hours
AO = every 6 hours
HE = every 8 hours
"Write something, even if it's just a suicide note"
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doraine
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We have a schedule of the airbnb fees they charge renters

Post by doraine »

Here are the fees that we figured out on on our own for Airbnb- the guest fees. Hope they help someone out.
Airbnb's guest charges
cost airbnb charge percentage
$65 $8 .123
$340 $41 .121
$396 $48 .121
$941 $107 .114
$1254 $134 .110
$1348 $141 .105
$1680 $158 .094
$1798 $163 .091
$2010 $169 .084
$2247 $174 .077
$2696 $185 .069
$3146 $201 .064
$3820 $233 .061
$7062 $439 .062
$11880 $713 .060
doraine
golfing girl
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Post by golfing girl »

I am fed up with Air B and B contacting me to tell me I have just missed out on a booking, as the booking has gone to someone whose prices are lower than mine by £30, £15 , £20 per night etc. So in January I lowered my prices!!!! and guess what I still didn't get a booking. Air B and B are very disappointing
I wish I was on the golf course
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