How do Airbnb "Instant Book" reservations work?

The "instant book" setting allows your guests to instantly reserve and book the listing without approval. The settings will apply to all available dates in the calendar.

When importing a listing from Airbnb, its booking settings will automatically change to "Instant Book".
You can change it back to "Request to Book" manually in Guesty and it will sync with Airbnb.

When publishing a listing to Airbnb, you set its booking policy to instant book or request to book. 

You can change your booking settings to Instant book at any time.

Benefits of using the "Instant Book" option

Below are some of the benefits of choosing instant book settings:

• Saves time
  No need to communicate with guests before a reservation is made.
• Increase the number of reservations/bookings
  Guests can filter search results to view listings that can be booked instantly — no waiting for a reply or confirmation.
• Improves a listing's placement in search results by positively increasing your response rate
• Increases the chances of becoming an Airbnb Superhost since a high response rate is required

How Airbnb "Instant Book" reservations work

Below is the lifecycle of a booking request's reservation status from start to finish:

1. First, the guest will select reservation dates on the listing page in Airbnb, and click Reserve. After that, they'll proceed to the checkout page.
2. Once the guest provides their payment details, they'll click Confirm and pay.
3. The reservation will be updated to Pending Verification status in Airbnb.
   This status means that Airbnb is checking if the dates are available to book, as well as, verifying the guest’s identity and payment method.
   • The process may take up to 24 hours
   • The guest may be subjected to additional verifications at this time
   • Any failures during this step will result in a failed booking
4. The next steps depend on the result of the verification process:
   • If the guest has passed the verification process successfully, the reservation status will change to Pending.
   • If the guest fails to pass the verification process, their request will be a failed booking, and the listing will be available for other guests to book.
   • If the initial charge attempt fails, the guest is given 24 hours to amend their payment method, and the reservation will move to Awaiting Payment status.
     • If the new attempt to charge with the amended payment method is successful:
       1. Airbnb will check the listing's availability again, to make sure that the property is still available to book.
       2. If the listing is still available, the booking will be confirmed, and Airbnb will send a reservation confirmation notification.
     • If their payment method isn't rectified within those 24 hours, their reservation won't be booked.
     • If the new attempt to charge with the amended payment method fails, this will result in a failed booking.