Air newbie

[Morticia]

I'm taking the plunge after realizing I'm the only game in town NOT listed on air. What do I need to know before signing up? I've read some of the other listings and realize there is a way to go horribly wrong with the listing. (One inn has one room listed. The room has 10 beds and 6 bathrooms. That's gotta be an input error somewhere!)
How do you keep all the different possible double bookings from happening? We're on booking so this will be a third way a guest can make a rez. Do you have yours set for 'request a reservation' or the immediate reservation?

 

[Mary at Bridgewater Inn and Cottage]

I joined early on ( 5 yrs ago ?) . I am a VRBO ( vacation rental by owner & BnB) Realized all VRBO's here were listed on AirBnB, so that how I joined, .I offer 2 rooms and its done as a request reservation. If reservation is accepted I call them get their e-mail address and more info if needed. Then send them my Confirmation as it has tons of info for them. Most AirBnB's here call at the last minute, so often turned down but I make about $5,000.00 or less per year which is not bad for a tiny 3 room BnB.........

 

[Arks]

Lots of inns, including me, only post one of their rooms on air.

 

[Morticia]

I joined early on ( 5 yrs ago ?) . I am a VRBO ( vacation rental by owner & BnB) Realized all VRBO's here were listed on AirBnB, so that how I joined, .I offer 2 rooms and its done as a request reservation. If reservation is accepted I call them get their e-mail address and more info if needed. Then send them my Confirmation as it has tons of info for them. Most AirBnB's here call at the last minute, so often turned down but I make about $5,000.00 or less per year which is not bad for a tiny 3 room BnB.........

.

So you get an email from air saying you have a request or you have to log in and check?

 

[Morticia]

Lots of inns, including me, only post one of their rooms on air..

I would only post one room. Given you get everything from a shared room to a whole house on air, I figure the detached bath won't be a problem.

 

[Copperhead]

Signing up as well. I am the only licensed one in my area.
I have seen how they can go wrong as well. One here says 10 bedrooms, 3 beds. I know the place and it only has 2 bedrooms. It is shown as $200 a night, but in details only shown as weekly or monthly with rate. No details, no description.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

I'm a newbie on air. Only about 3 months now and I've had 3 reservations. The first one called me direct and I gave her the same rate. The second one is here right now. Really nice people and very happy.
Mort, check out my listing on air and you can see where I've made it VERY clear we're licensed and inspected and that they need to pay our lodging taxes on arrival. I first listed our cheapest room with a big discount. I need to get some reviews so others will trust staying with us. They can only do a review if they've stayed through a reservation with air. So I still don't have any until these guests we have now do one.
I've now listed a second room, our most expensive, stand alone unit. I think I need to do a big discount (I haven't yet) just to get people in here to do reviews.
Everything is done through the air site, and you will get e-mail notification when someone puts in a request. Be sure to do request only so you won't have any double bookings. It's also a way to upsell if that room is no long available when put through their request. Just offer them another room and you can always give them a discounted rate since the commissions on air are very low.

 

[Morticia]

I'm a newbie on air. Only about 3 months now and I've had 3 reservations. The first one called me direct and I gave her the same rate. The second one is here right now. Really nice people and very happy.
Mort, check out my listing on air and you can see where I've made it VERY clear we're licensed and inspected and that they need to pay our lodging taxes on arrival. I first listed our cheapest room with a big discount. I need to get some reviews so others will trust staying with us. They can only do a review if they've stayed through a reservation with air. So I still don't have any until these guests we have now do one.
I've now listed a second room, our most expensive, stand alone unit. I think I need to do a big discount (I haven't yet) just to get people in here to do reviews.
Everything is done through the air site, and you will get e-mail notification when someone puts in a request. Be sure to do request only so you won't have any double bookings. It's also a way to upsell if that room is no long available when put through their request. Just offer them another room and you can always give them a discounted rate since the commissions on air are very low..

Thanks for the bit about the taxes. I was going to include them in the price just so it's over and done. Will go look at your listing.

 

[Morticia]

I'm a newbie on air. Only about 3 months now and I've had 3 reservations. The first one called me direct and I gave her the same rate. The second one is here right now. Really nice people and very happy.
Mort, check out my listing on air and you can see where I've made it VERY clear we're licensed and inspected and that they need to pay our lodging taxes on arrival. I first listed our cheapest room with a big discount. I need to get some reviews so others will trust staying with us. They can only do a review if they've stayed through a reservation with air. So I still don't have any until these guests we have now do one.
I've now listed a second room, our most expensive, stand alone unit. I think I need to do a big discount (I haven't yet) just to get people in here to do reviews.
Everything is done through the air site, and you will get e-mail notification when someone puts in a request. Be sure to do request only so you won't have any double bookings. It's also a way to upsell if that room is no long available when put through their request. Just offer them another room and you can always give them a discounted rate since the commissions on air are very low..

That's a very extensive listing! Good job. I like that you can put in that you have other rooms and here's who we are, look us up online.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

I'm a newbie on air. Only about 3 months now and I've had 3 reservations. The first one called me direct and I gave her the same rate. The second one is here right now. Really nice people and very happy.
Mort, check out my listing on air and you can see where I've made it VERY clear we're licensed and inspected and that they need to pay our lodging taxes on arrival. I first listed our cheapest room with a big discount. I need to get some reviews so others will trust staying with us. They can only do a review if they've stayed through a reservation with air. So I still don't have any until these guests we have now do one.
I've now listed a second room, our most expensive, stand alone unit. I think I need to do a big discount (I haven't yet) just to get people in here to do reviews.
Everything is done through the air site, and you will get e-mail notification when someone puts in a request. Be sure to do request only so you won't have any double bookings. It's also a way to upsell if that room is no long available when put through their request. Just offer them another room and you can always give them a discounted rate since the commissions on air are very low..

That's a very extensive listing! Good job. I like that you can put in that you have other rooms and here's who we are, look us up online.
.

That's a very extensive listing! Good job. I like that you can put in that you have other rooms and here's who we are, look us up online.

Thanks! I used our b&b name all over our listing, so who knows how many people will go to our website and book. Once we get some reviews I'll make the discount less.
I finally got tired of banging my head on the wall about air, so if you can't beat them, join them.
Also, by not including the taxes, it helps keep the price down to compete with others who are not collecting taxes.

 

[Morticia]

I'm a newbie on air. Only about 3 months now and I've had 3 reservations. The first one called me direct and I gave her the same rate. The second one is here right now. Really nice people and very happy.
Mort, check out my listing on air and you can see where I've made it VERY clear we're licensed and inspected and that they need to pay our lodging taxes on arrival. I first listed our cheapest room with a big discount. I need to get some reviews so others will trust staying with us. They can only do a review if they've stayed through a reservation with air. So I still don't have any until these guests we have now do one.
I've now listed a second room, our most expensive, stand alone unit. I think I need to do a big discount (I haven't yet) just to get people in here to do reviews.
Everything is done through the air site, and you will get e-mail notification when someone puts in a request. Be sure to do request only so you won't have any double bookings. It's also a way to upsell if that room is no long available when put through their request. Just offer them another room and you can always give them a discounted rate since the commissions on air are very low..

That's a very extensive listing! Good job. I like that you can put in that you have other rooms and here's who we are, look us up online.
.

That's a very extensive listing! Good job. I like that you can put in that you have other rooms and here's who we are, look us up online.

Thanks! I used our b&b name all over our listing, so who knows how many people will go to our website and book. Once we get some reviews I'll make the discount less.
I finally got tired of banging my head on the wall about air, so if you can't beat them, join them.
Also, by not including the taxes, it helps keep the price down to compete with others who are not collecting taxes.
.

How about cancellations? Are you allowed to charge for them? Is there a place for that information?

 

[Morticia]

I'm a newbie on air. Only about 3 months now and I've had 3 reservations. The first one called me direct and I gave her the same rate. The second one is here right now. Really nice people and very happy.
Mort, check out my listing on air and you can see where I've made it VERY clear we're licensed and inspected and that they need to pay our lodging taxes on arrival. I first listed our cheapest room with a big discount. I need to get some reviews so others will trust staying with us. They can only do a review if they've stayed through a reservation with air. So I still don't have any until these guests we have now do one.
I've now listed a second room, our most expensive, stand alone unit. I think I need to do a big discount (I haven't yet) just to get people in here to do reviews.
Everything is done through the air site, and you will get e-mail notification when someone puts in a request. Be sure to do request only so you won't have any double bookings. It's also a way to upsell if that room is no long available when put through their request. Just offer them another room and you can always give them a discounted rate since the commissions on air are very low..

That's a very extensive listing! Good job. I like that you can put in that you have other rooms and here's who we are, look us up online.
.

That's a very extensive listing! Good job. I like that you can put in that you have other rooms and here's who we are, look us up online.

Thanks! I used our b&b name all over our listing, so who knows how many people will go to our website and book. Once we get some reviews I'll make the discount less.
I finally got tired of banging my head on the wall about air, so if you can't beat them, join them.
Also, by not including the taxes, it helps keep the price down to compete with others who are not collecting taxes.
.

Is there a W-9 form in the signup or is that something extra I have to find and send in?

 

[Anon Inn]

I put 'the plague room' on Air. It is very small. I price on Air with taxes included. Our B&B name is on the listing so they know its a business. I've long had the apartment on Air, but just a couple of months ago added the inside room, because as others have noted, we were the only B&B in the area that had not done so.
Our second set of Air inside room guests just left, happy. It was their first Air experience as well as their first B&B experience.
Cancellations are done thru Air. You have a choice of days required for cancellation. a couple of bookings have canceled within the limit. We got paid. If they were unhappy it was up to Air to deal. No pleading. That was nice.
One thing happened recently. I had an Air person cancel and book not so far away, so I sent her some information on local places in the area she shouldn't miss. She like the note so much she canceled the booking she had made previously and rebooked with us. She then had two cancellation fees, and Air won't refund, as least not so far. So I will have to be extra nice when she gets here to overcome that little problem.

 

[Generic]

I'm a newbie on air. Only about 3 months now and I've had 3 reservations. The first one called me direct and I gave her the same rate. The second one is here right now. Really nice people and very happy.
Mort, check out my listing on air and you can see where I've made it VERY clear we're licensed and inspected and that they need to pay our lodging taxes on arrival. I first listed our cheapest room with a big discount. I need to get some reviews so others will trust staying with us. They can only do a review if they've stayed through a reservation with air. So I still don't have any until these guests we have now do one.
I've now listed a second room, our most expensive, stand alone unit. I think I need to do a big discount (I haven't yet) just to get people in here to do reviews.
Everything is done through the air site, and you will get e-mail notification when someone puts in a request. Be sure to do request only so you won't have any double bookings. It's also a way to upsell if that room is no long available when put through their request. Just offer them another room and you can always give them a discounted rate since the commissions on air are very low..

That's a very extensive listing! Good job. I like that you can put in that you have other rooms and here's who we are, look us up online.
.

That's a very extensive listing! Good job. I like that you can put in that you have other rooms and here's who we are, look us up online.

Thanks! I used our b&b name all over our listing, so who knows how many people will go to our website and book. Once we get some reviews I'll make the discount less.
I finally got tired of banging my head on the wall about air, so if you can't beat them, join them.
Also, by not including the taxes, it helps keep the price down to compete with others who are not collecting taxes.
.

How about cancellations? Are you allowed to charge for them? Is there a place for that information?
.

They boil it down to 3 policies, the strictest if 50% charge in less than a week.

 

[Generic]

I just recently decided to test the waters. I put the taxes as extra and collected here because otherwise they need to pay commission on them and of course it inflates my price next to those (almost all) who are illegal. I also changed some of the offering. It's one room at the moment only!
What's different? Doesn't include the daily housekeeping, schedule change of sheets, etc. Has a maximum stay. They also cannot book our garage space, even at extra charge, it's street parking only AYOR. It includes a continental breakfast only. I did put that they can have full breakfast for an extra charge, but I'm thinking that maybe I shouldn't offer it at all.

Frankly, I think that's going to be the big torture for them... having to smell my full freshly cooked breakfast wafting through the house. In fact, I'm contemplating saying that breakfast is not available for reservations via AirBnB, just coffee or tea... or maybe not even that.

 

[Skamokawa]

Our listing is in Skamokawa. We have two, one for the apartment, one for the room. The room has Twin Gables in the subject I think! Both bookings we have had so far through them have been the Millennials, just the market we are trying to develop. Reservation requests come in text and email. That text tone makes it easy to respond to right away.
Since we have so few rooms and I am seldom far from a computing device, I just make sure my Air calendar and Reskey calendars are the same after I get each booking. I can even do this from the phone if I must.

 

[Arks]

I'm a newbie on air. Only about 3 months now and I've had 3 reservations. The first one called me direct and I gave her the same rate. The second one is here right now. Really nice people and very happy.
Mort, check out my listing on air and you can see where I've made it VERY clear we're licensed and inspected and that they need to pay our lodging taxes on arrival. I first listed our cheapest room with a big discount. I need to get some reviews so others will trust staying with us. They can only do a review if they've stayed through a reservation with air. So I still don't have any until these guests we have now do one.
I've now listed a second room, our most expensive, stand alone unit. I think I need to do a big discount (I haven't yet) just to get people in here to do reviews.
Everything is done through the air site, and you will get e-mail notification when someone puts in a request. Be sure to do request only so you won't have any double bookings. It's also a way to upsell if that room is no long available when put through their request. Just offer them another room and you can always give them a discounted rate since the commissions on air are very low..

That's a very extensive listing! Good job. I like that you can put in that you have other rooms and here's who we are, look us up online.
.

That's a very extensive listing! Good job. I like that you can put in that you have other rooms and here's who we are, look us up online.

Thanks! I used our b&b name all over our listing, so who knows how many people will go to our website and book. Once we get some reviews I'll make the discount less.
I finally got tired of banging my head on the wall about air, so if you can't beat them, join them.
Also, by not including the taxes, it helps keep the price down to compete with others who are not collecting taxes.
.

Is there a W-9 form in the signup or is that something extra I have to find and send in?
.

Is there a W-9 form in the signup or is that something extra I have to find and send in?

They have you do the W-9 the first time they pay you.
I figured out how to have Air pick up my ResKey availability calendar. It's not instant like Booking, but Air polls ResKey every 15 minutes or so for the calendar, so it's a lot more accurate than me updating it manually like I have to do with VBRO.

 

[Morticia]

I'm a newbie on air. Only about 3 months now and I've had 3 reservations. The first one called me direct and I gave her the same rate. The second one is here right now. Really nice people and very happy.
Mort, check out my listing on air and you can see where I've made it VERY clear we're licensed and inspected and that they need to pay our lodging taxes on arrival. I first listed our cheapest room with a big discount. I need to get some reviews so others will trust staying with us. They can only do a review if they've stayed through a reservation with air. So I still don't have any until these guests we have now do one.
I've now listed a second room, our most expensive, stand alone unit. I think I need to do a big discount (I haven't yet) just to get people in here to do reviews.
Everything is done through the air site, and you will get e-mail notification when someone puts in a request. Be sure to do request only so you won't have any double bookings. It's also a way to upsell if that room is no long available when put through their request. Just offer them another room and you can always give them a discounted rate since the commissions on air are very low..

That's a very extensive listing! Good job. I like that you can put in that you have other rooms and here's who we are, look us up online.
.

That's a very extensive listing! Good job. I like that you can put in that you have other rooms and here's who we are, look us up online.

Thanks! I used our b&b name all over our listing, so who knows how many people will go to our website and book. Once we get some reviews I'll make the discount less.
I finally got tired of banging my head on the wall about air, so if you can't beat them, join them.
Also, by not including the taxes, it helps keep the price down to compete with others who are not collecting taxes.
.

Is there a W-9 form in the signup or is that something extra I have to find and send in?
.

Is there a W-9 form in the signup or is that something extra I have to find and send in?

They have you do the W-9 the first time they pay you.
I figured out how to have Air pick up my ResKey availability calendar. It's not instant like Booking, but Air polls ResKey every 15 minutes or so for the calendar, so it's a lot more accurate than me updating it manually like I have to do with VBRO.
.

Is there a W-9 form in the signup or is that something extra I have to find and send in?

They have you do the W-9 the first time they pay you.
I figured out how to have Air pick up my ResKey availability calendar. It's not instant like Booking, but Air polls ResKey every 15 minutes or so for the calendar, so it's a lot more accurate than me updating it manually like I have to do with VBRO.

How did you get the calendar to work like that? I need that part!

 

[Morticia]

Wow the photos are crappy. How did you size them so they show up decently? Everything is blurred. Is there a good size?

 

[Morticia]

Also - I'm trying to set a 2 night min on Fri & Sat. I've found where to do it and it says it's saved but I don't see anything on the calendar itself that shows that.
Fixed.