Airbnb Reservation Processing

Reservation processing

Instant booking process

Depending on the type of listing in the Airbnb dashboard, your guests can use Instant booking process or Booking request process.

All listings connected to Channel Manager are set to instant book by default. If a listing was previously set to request to book, it will be automatically changed to instant book after you API-connect it.

1. A guest enters the reservation page on the Airbnb website and provides the details of a reservation (dates, number of guests etc.).

2. Airbnb checks with Channel Manager if the property is available for the selected dates and number of guests.

3. Channel Manager confirms if the property is available or not.

   Note: Airbnb does not quote Channel Manager for the pricing details. Instead, it calculates it itself on the basis of the pricing plan, taxes and fees shared with the Airbnb.

   Quote is performed in the following way:

   • in case the reservation was generated in a regular flow, then Channel Manager is quoted for the property's availability, Minimum stay, Changeover restrictions and Preparation Time Before Arrival.

   • in case the reservation is a Special Offer, then only availability is checked.

4. If the property is available to rent, the guest completes the reservation process on the Airbnb website by providing their personal data.

5. Airbnb inserts a booking to Channel Manager.

6. Channel Manager sends a reservation confirmation to Airbnb.

7. Airbnb confirms the reservation on their side. An email notification with new reservation details is sent to the PM’s confirmation email address.

Importing bookings

Scattered bookings are annoying and very hard to escape. Especially, when you just connected to Airbnb or it is your first time using the channel manager software. The option to importing bookings will help you get all your existing future bookings from Airbnb to one place. Now, you can have a full visibility over your future bookings and guests.

Bear in mind that this is a one-time action that is supposed to import bookings which were created before you have started using Channel Manager or connected to Airbnb. Any new bookings will be automatically created in your PMS, without any need to manually import them.

1. Log in to White Label Channel Manager and go to the Channels tab.

2. Select Sales Channel from the Your sales channel section. Please, see an exemplary view below.

   

3. Select the Property Settings tab on the top.

   

1. Find the account you would like to import bookings for. Hover the mouse over the three-dot menu on the account level.

   

   Note: You can import bookings for the whole account only. If you have more Airbnb, you need to repeat it for each of them.

2. Confirmation pop-up is displayed. Click Proceed & Import to continue.

   

3. The process is initialized. Do not exit the page until it is finished. Depending on the number of bookings you have in your Airbnb account, it may take a while to complete. Once the bookings import is complete, the page will reload. Please, verify if new bookings were successfully copied to your PMS. If the process was not successful, you will see an error. In this case, try again. If the error persists, please contact Channel Manager.

Modifying a reservation

Any reservation on Airbnb can be modified after both the host and guest come to an agreement about the changes. This is called Reservation Alteration. Either the host or the guest can start the alteration process, which creates a pending alteration. Modifications can be initiated only in Airbnb and will be synchronized to Channel Manager in real time.

A guest can request changes to the dates and the number of guests. In such a case, the price is preserved for the days already reserved. Additional price is calculated for the dates outside of the existing reservation dates. The host can accept or deny the alteration request in Airbnb dashboard. If the host accepts, the reservation is modified. The reservation details are updated in Channel Manager, as well as the property's availability.

The host can also modify the reservation conditions, for example dates or property. The guest must accept or deny the alteration request, otherwise the reservation remains unchanged. If the guest accepts, the reservation is modified. The reservation details are updated in Channel Manager, too. You can read more about it in Airbnb Help.

For listings using Daily price

Whenever a reservation's dates are modified: 

• originally booked dates will maintain the same Daily price;

• newly-booked dates will be assigned the most up-to-date Daily price.

For listings using LOS pricing

For listings using LOS pricing, the guest may not be able to begin an alteration. In such a case, the guest may ask the host to initiate the alteration.

If the LOS pricing for the original reservation dates were removed, for example you switched from LOS pricing to Daily price, then the new price will be calculated using Daily price.

Cancelling a reservation

It is recommended to avoid cancelling reservations to not face penalties from Airbnb. Because cancellations disrupt guests' plans and impact confidence in the Airbnb community, hosts should fulfil all confirmed reservations. If a host cancels a reservation, there are consequences that apply. In most cases, cancelling a reservation will place a calendar block on those dates. More detailed information on cancellation penalties can be found in the Airbnb Help Center.

Cancellations are initiated in Airbnb and synchronized to Channel Manager in real time.