So you have your Airbnb listing up. It’s running hot with multiple bookings and inquiries and life is great! But a week later, you have no new bookings and your entire month is vacant… What’s going on? Why are you not getting bookings on Airbnb anymore?
It could be as simple as a few settings not selected right, or using sub-optimal photos. Perhaps your price is set too high? There could be any number of reasons and I will cover the 11 most common mistakes that hosts make in this article.
So never fear, the answers are here! Here are some tried and true ways to get you back up in the rankings and booking out like a trooper.
Without further ado, and in no particular order, here are 11 reasons why you’re not getting bookings on Airbnb.
#1 Guest Requirement Settings too Strict
There is a section within your booking settings called Guest Requirements. Here you can choose the type of requirements that a guest must have before he or she can book your place.
Recommendation from other hosts
When you select this option, a guest will have to meet several requirements. Firstly, the guest must have travelled on Airbnb before. Secondly, they cannot have any negative reviews. Lastly, they must come recommended by other hosts.
So by selecting this option you are in effect cutting out all new users. Keep in mind, many people also make new accounts to take advantage of the referral kickbacks. For example, $50 off their first booking. (More on Arbnb first booking code here).
Of course, the chances of getting a problem guest may go up a little. Then again, it is worth noting what you may be missing out on. The monetary value of having new guests far outweighs the one or two guests that may not be so great.
To conclude, I would recommend anyone who has this option checked to think about removing it. You are excluding too many guests and Airbnb does not like this.
Government Issued ID
By checking this box you will only allow guests that have their ID verified by Airbnb. So a guest will have to upload a photo of their ID and then upload a selfie to prove that is it them.
While in theory this seems quite a reasonable things to ask of guests, a lot will flat out refuse. This is due to identity theft or could be as simple as not wanting to put a photo of their ID out into the world.
So in essence, by checking this box you are eliminating a lot of older guests. People that still have trust issues with online security. Fair enough too, its a scary world out there!
Airbnb Standard Requirements
Before a guest can make a reservation, Airbnb will have asked for a few pieces of key information. This is the information that is then given to hosts and used by Airbnb for payments.
Every guest must provide the following information.
- Full name
- Email address
- Confirmed phone number
- Introductory message
- Agreement to house rules
- Payment information
The default setting is to only accept guests that meet the requirements. You can change it, but I recommend keeping it selected.
#2 Altering Minimum Night Stay
The majority of guests will only want to stay for 1 or 2 nights on Airbnb. This may seem like an obvious thing, but many hosts overlook this. I know my average bookings are 1-2 nights and that comes from a very large sample size.
When travelling and looking for somewhere to stay, I want to pull my hair out when there is a minimum stay option. I often find a place I like the look of, go to book it but can only choose 3 or more nights. So I move on.
In short, you’ll likely cost yourself bookings by using such options. Think about it, for some people, one of two nights is not doable. If you are new or finding it hard to get bookings, reduce your trip length minimum to 1 night.
As a result, you will start getting more bookings as your listing will always show. More bookings means more income hitting your bank account. You will also be getting paid cleaning fees each night instead of once every 3 days
#3 How Far In Advance Do Guests Book?
So again, you have has a solid week of bookings with your calendar filling up nicely and then… Crickets.. You’ve got dead quiet and haven’t had a booking or an inquiry in days!
Lets check out your calendar. If the majority of your bookings fall in the two weeks from now zone, this is very normal!
Most guests book 2 weeks out, unless, of course, they are very organised and push it out to about 4 weeks. And the unorganised who book the very same day they check in.
So don’t worry if your Airbnb isn’t getting bookings for next month or next year, its all about the 2-week zone. If you’re getting bookings for this time frame then you’re doing well. More bookings will come as the month ticks along!
#4 The New Listing Boost
Brand new hosts have a treat in store when they first list. If you’re a host, then you may have noticed your property had a spike in bookings for the first month or so. In other words, you get a free boost for the first month or so.
This is because Airbnb want to make sure new listings can get at least some reviews up. So when your free boost ends, you will have some credibility and can compete with other listings.
It is so important during this boost time to lower your prices so they are under the average of your area. You wont have this boost for long so you have to take advantage and get as many bookings as you can! Down the track you can make good money from Airbnb.
Remember you are a brand new listing, so price your listing accordingly. It may pay to familiarise yourself with how the Airbnb price breakdown works.
#5 Research Prices
Getting your price wrong is likely a big reason why you are not getting bookings on Airbnb.
It will come as no surprise that will greatly impact your amount of bookings you will receive.
Have your price too high and no one will book you. There is way too much competition on Airbnb to get away with having an overpriced listing.
Having your price set way too low can also have the same effect. Imagine if you saw an amazing looking place and it was only $40 per night. You would be thinking, yeah too good to be true, it must be in a terrible area or its right next to a train track.
Hitting that sweet spot right in the middle is where you need to be. And if you are experiencing a booking slump, lower your prices for a couple of weeks. This will get your listing relevant and moved up in the rankings.
Here is a great tool to help work out exactly where your property should be sitting price wise in your area.
#6 Getting References (Different to Reviews)
Getting a reference to add to your Airbnb profile is akin to getting a reference for a job. It builds trust and lets people know a little more about you as a host.
The process of getting a reference is actually quite easy. All you need is a friend or family member that has an Airbnb account or a Facebook account and you’re good to go.
Now for some strange reason, Airbnb will only let you request a reference via Facebook. So to get a reference you friend must be on Airbnb and on Facebook… A bit odd, but that’s how it is!
To link up Facebook with Airbnb, click on your profile picture in the top right-hand side of the menu bar. Then select Edit Profile. Next click Trust and Verification on the sidebar on the left. Scroll down to where is says Facebook and then link them up.
#7 Slightly Change Your Listing Every 3-4 Weeks
This is a handy listing hack that I use often when I hit a booking slump. Bookings can go from being non-existent in the search results to being right back in the mix.Your listing may have become stale and you’re not getting bookings on Airbnb anymore.
All you have to do is change something in your listing. Add a photo, change the price by $1 and then change it back again. You could add another sentence to your description or block out a day and then unblock it.
A little tweak here or there can be enough to “reactivate” your listing in the algorithm. As a result, you get back in the rankings and receiving bookings again. Hey, it’s worth a try!
#8 Your Title & Photos Will Make or Break You
Having quality photos and descriptions will come as no surprise to most hosts. But take a look around, there are so many listings with gigantic mistakes. These are the main reason they are not getting bookings on Airbnb.
They use crappy, unprofessional iPhone photos. Or, use poor wording in their descriptions and their titles lack key information.
Photos
Below you can see a sample of an actual listing that is showing the classic photo no-nos. There is a fair chance they are not getting bookings on Airbnb.
If you can take away one tip from this page that will get you more bookings, then this is it. Only use LANDSCAPE oriented photos! As you can see below, the portrait orientation looks awful. It makes your rooms look small, cramped and very uninviting.
My second pet peeve here is the useless photo (Photo #2). Why take a photo of a stuffed giraffe? What are you trying to say to your guests here? That you like to go to carnivals and win stuffed toys? Its useless, get rid of it.
I apologise to the host who’s listing I am using as an example here. But if you don’t bother to orient your photos in your listing (Photo #3), it is a warning sign. What else are you not doing inside your actual property?
Now I know not everyone can afford a digital camera, it is a big expense after all. But you have to remember that this is all a potential guest has to go on before booking your place. It may be why you’re not getting bookings on Airbnb.
So open the curtains, buy some fresh flowers and take as many photos as you can to really showcase your home. And remember, landscape photos only!
Lure Guests in With Your Title
Let’s use the same listing as another example (sorry mate!). As you can see, the description shows they have that they have two private parking spots. There is also a balcony, it’s cozy and they are close to the Metro.
These are all great points about the property that go unmentioned in the title. You have 50 characters to entice guests, so a big missed opportunity here!
Read more about writing catchy Airbnb titles in my detailed guide.
A title that this host could have used would be “Cozy Private Room with Balcony In Downtown LA – Free Parking”.
The free parking will get people every time, its a winner and a bonus for a guest to be able to park their car without a fee. Having a balcony is another bonus and a nice cozy private room sounds inviting.
So you can see, a few tweaks here and there definitely improve a listing. This will give you a boost back up the rankings and getting booked again.
To conclude, if you’re not getting bookings on Airbnb, try improving your title! There is a fair chance this will play a big part in turning your problem around.
#9 Blocked Out Calendar – Breaking the Rules
What is this about breaking rules?? No no, what I am referring to here are rule sets for your calendar. Here you can select a block of dates in your calendar and set price or duration rules.
This setting comes in handy if you plan on going on a trip for a few days and only want guests that will book 3 days or more. Or if you have a month-long event on in your area and want to bump up the prices for those dates.
However, if you forget you have a rule set turned on, this will affect your bookings. So be careful to only use the rule sets when you need them and remember to turn them off when you
To add a rule set, go to your Availability settings on your listing. Then scroll down to Trip Length and then hit ‘Add a custom rule for seasons or specific dates’
#10 Is your Airbnb listing not showing?
A question I am always asked is why is my Airbnb listing not showing? I’ve even dedicated an entire article to answering questions on why that may be.
First, you should check if your listing is actually showing in the searches. There are several ways to do this; firstly use the search filter and narrow down your search. Or second, use the map to zoom right in on your street.
If your listing is still not showing, then something is clearly up.
It may be as simple as there is a ton of competition in your area. Airbnb limit their search results to 300 properties, so you may be lower in the rankings.
Whatever the case, there is most likely a good explanation. So be sure to check out our detailed guide on this topic.
#11 List On Other Platforms
So we have nutted out the most common reasons why you’re not getting bookings on Airbnb. You have followed all the steps and your bookings have improved, but they’re still not where you want them to be.
Our next step is to list on other Platforms. More exposure will equal more bookings, it just means a little more organising on your part. As a result, you’ll be managing many listings across multiple house sharing websites.
As you can see from the image above, there is a lot of market share in VRBO/Home Away. They have also recently had a major upgrade and now have a mobile app which is quite user friendly.
I know a lot of people who are on both Airbnb and VRBO/Home Away and it is always a mixed bag of results. Some people get the majority of their bookings off Airbnb, while using VRBO/Home Away as a supplement. Other hosts are the other way around.
It’s especially a good idea if you have a number of bad reviews on one platform, which will effect your bookings.
Not Getting bookings on Airbnb?
No longer a problem! Follow these 11 suggestions and your Airbnb booking rate will increase.
These are tried and tested suggestions, things I have done myself with great success. I am sure they will work for you too. It will also be worth your time learning how to get good Airbnb reviews.
If you have any questions, or any hints and tips that have worked for you in the past, I would love to hear from you in the comments section below.