What is instant booking?
Instant Book can streamline the booking process and help your listing stand out.
Instant Book is a powerful tool that allows guests to instantly book your pool for available dates—alleviating the need for you to review and accept each booking request individually. Many hosts report that they earn more money by making the booking process easier for guests, and that they appreciate the convenience this provides. Guests often search for listings with Instant Book.
Keeping your calendar up-to-date is key to using Instant Book successfully. If you are unable to do this, you could be surprised by unexpected bookings or end up canceling a reservation due to a scheduling error, which could result in a cancellation fee. To ensure that your Resortifi calendar is always current, it’s a good idea to synchronize it with whatever calendar you primarily use (iCal, Google, etc.).
Tools for extra peace of mind
Some hosts may initially feel hesitant to use Instant Book because they worry that they will not have much information about potential guests before booking. Before guests can use Instant Book, they must meet all your guest requirements and agree to your house rules. You can set your requirements to offer Instant Book only to guests who have received positive reviews from other hosts, guests who have government-issued IDs, and more.
You can also create a custom greeting and include important questions that Instant Book guests will receive during their booking process:
- How many people will be coming with you?
- What are your other requirements?
- Are there any other details you would like to share about your booking?
Many hosts say that it actually makes more sense to use Instant Book to get the benefits of more views and bookings, while maintaining the same level of guest quality.
Why might you still get booking requests?
Even with Instant Book turned on, there are cases where you might receive booking requests from guests. This could happen if you have not updated your calendar in a while, or if you have recently needed to cancel a reservation. Guests who do not meet your criteria to book instantly might also send reservation requests. For any requests that do come through, you will need to respond by accepting or declining the reservation, or messaging your prospective guests within 24 hours.
Reliability is key for using Instant Book
Whatever decision you make, remember that Resortifi has strict policies around hosts canceling reservations because reliability is a critical part of being a great host. That said, if you use Instant Book and you're uncomfortable with a reservation once it’s made (for instance, because your prospective guests are asking if they can break your house rules), you can cancel a booking without penalty using the online cancellation tool up to three times per calendar year.
Keep in mind that you can never cancel for any reason that violates Resortifi’ nondiscrimination policy. And if you do cancel a reservation, that signals that Instant Book may not be a good fit for you right now, so Resortifi may send booking requests instead for your next few reservations.