What is the difference between request and inquiry on Airbnb?

You have 24 hours to accept or decline a trip request before it expires. Respond within 24 hours. Guests who send an inquiry are usually searching for more information before sending a reservation request. Find details on the various statuses your reservation may go through.



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There are two ways to make a reservation on Airbnb: Request to Book and Instant Book. Request to Book requires the intervention of the host. Basically, a guest makes a request to book a listing and the host has 24 hours to accept the booking. They can also decline. If left unanswered, the booking expires.

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You can respond to an inquiry with an answer, a pre-approval, or by declining. Declining an inquiry signals to the guest that their needs aren't a good fit for your space and encourages them to request another listing. But none of these actions directly affect your acceptance rate.

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Go to the listing and click or tap Contact Host to send a message. Pro tip: If you want to ask about specific reservation details, enter the dates and number of guests for your trip before hitting Contact Host.

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Respond within 24 hours Be sure to respond to all messages—especially inquiries and trip requests—within 24 hours.

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Note: Currently, you can cancel Airbnb inquiries only. If the dates are actually unavailable, you can check the box Mark my calendar dates unavailable with the given time frames, and those dates will be displayed on your calendar as blocked for everyone.

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An inquiry is just a regular message that a potential guest sends you when they want to clarify some details of your listing. Perhaps, they are interested if you accept pets at your rental or provide a late checkout. To respond to an inquiry, you can answer the guest's question, pre-approve, or decline it.

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Payment. You'll be charged once a Host accepts your reservation request, or immediately if you use Instant Book. You may be able to split the total cost of your reservation across multiple payments if your reservation meets specific criteria, or you can pay the full amount in one go.

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Most of the time when an Airbnb host receives a booking request, it is coming from a guest who is genuinely interested in staying at the property. Unfortunately, there are incidences where hosts receive booking requests that are meant to scam the host.

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Decline the request before it expires within 24 hours—your response rate will thank you! It's one of the factors that helps you become a Superhost. Decide whether to keep the dates blocked or open them up for someone else to book.

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Unless you've found an Instant Book listing, you'll have to request that the Host accept your stay. At the Confirm and pay stage of your request, you'll need to include a brief message about why you're traveling and when you'll check-in.

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The majority of hosts pay a flat rate of 3% of the booking subtotal, which is made up of the nightly rate, cleaning fee, and additional guest fees. The flat rate does not include Airbnb fees and taxes. Generally, guests pay a service fee of around 14% of the booking subtotal.

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