New Work Collection for Business Ready Ready Space

[Tomasz9]

My listing was business ready until this new Work Collection thing got rolled out.  Now I am not meeting the self check-in requirement.  I have self check-in including directions with photos and the keypad information filled out.  There is nothing else I can see that requires updating to meet this last requirement to get back to being Business Travel Ready.  Anyone else having this issue?  Thanks!

[Matthew285]

@Tomasz9 we have been Business Travel Ready, and when the Work Collection thing appeared, we still are Business Travel Ready.

This sounds like something to contact AirBnB support about.

Please let us know what you discover! Maybe there is something more to the Work Collection than being Business Travel Ready, or maybe the BTR requirements have changed.

[Dassi0]

There is a new box to check. Make sure you walk through the entire menu. 

We are bothered that we cannot check both self check in & host will meet you. We have the keypad, but Greer guests most of the time. Some people really like the help with their luggage b

[Pete28]

Unlike the previous biz ready category, you now need to be a superhost to qualify for the new one, another barrier to new hosts joining Airbnb, and another reduction in inventory for guests. 

[Andrew614]

My listings have all been business-travel ready and we do have a lot of guests who travel for work. We have always had a strict cancellation policy, though, and with the new requirements we have to shift to moderate or flexible. We run a really tight ship and work to have our listings booked as much as possible (we average around 90% occupancy). I'm concerned that the moderate cancellation policy will lead to a lot of cancelaltions that make it difficult for us to stay fully booked or have to lower our rates if a guest cancels too close to a reservation date. I don't want to lose out on the business travel though, as these guests tend to be great. Does anyone else have experience using the moderate cancellation policy on their listing?

[Matthew285]

@Andrew614 it would be good to find some data to see if having Strict vs Moderate actually affects the % of people who cancel.

If you think about it, cancellations really don't happen *because* of the cancellation policy; they happen because of outside events in the guest's life. The cancellation policy's biggest effect is how much the guest has to pay if they cancel.

This, of course, ignores the effect of people who make reservations with plans to cancel later, but I've never understood that thinking. People do that a lot with hotels, but it works less well with AirBnB because you have to put your money up front, and you will lose your AirBnB fees regardless a lot of times.

Does anyone know of any studies about whether the cancellation policy has an affect on how many cancellations happen to a given host?

[Andrew614]

You got to the heart of my concern--more people using Airnb like a hotel in regard to booking and not really being committed to the trip! Of course I understand that other circumstnaces outside the guest's control can change, but for guests who are not very committed to their plans it's a huge inconvenice to the host to have a booking and then have it cancelled within 5 days. Would love to see if there's some data on this.

[Jessica137]

@Anonymous  I am wondering what you have decided to do.  I, too, have been Business Ready until the recent cancellation policy change.  I am still sticking to Strict and am wondering if that is going to hurt me in the long run since I cannot be advertised in the Work Collection.  Have you found out anything?  Thanks, Jessica

[Jillian36]

We have the same concern and have submitted feedback asking for multiple cancellation policies depending on the type of traveler.  Seems reasonable, at least where we are, to accept moderate cancellation for business guests, but for standard travelers retain our strict policy. 

[Kelsey50]

My listing has always been very accomodating of people traveling for work. I even bought items to meet the specific requirements when the initial policy first came out. The cancellation policy is definitely my biggest concern and because I refuse to change it, my listing no longer shows up in the "work" search results.

The first year of renting on Airbnb, I had my listing set to Moderate - Full refund up to 5 days prior to check-in is an ABSOLUTE JOKE. I had way too many people change their mind, cancel, then call Airbnb and come up with an excuse to get the Airbnb fee back. In addition, by the time they canceled I either 1. Couldn't rebook those dates or 2. Had to cut the price down significantly because the renters blocked the dates for 2 months prior to canceling. 

In comparison to a hotel, there are plenty of hotels that have non-refundable rates without restriction on whether or not it is a "work-related" reservation. I think it is ridiculous to punish hosts for their cancellation policy. If guests do not like the policy, they can book somewhere else but Airbnb should not be making that decision for them by removing us from the search results.

Last but not least.. Flexible and Moderate policies allow guests to book, receive all of the house/check-in information, cancel and get a full refund. Can anyone say, security concern? There is literally a page with 120 comments dedicated to the security concerns involved with the new 48 hour grace period on Strict policies. How is this new work collection requirement any different?

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Airbnb-Updates/New-strict-cancellation-policy-update/m-p/652735?...

[Alexandra316]

Does anyone know what the new requirements are? I lost mine also, and I don't know why.

[Alexandra316]

I think I figured it out... it's because they re-classified my place as a "guest suite" rather than an apartment. Apparently, it needs to be a house, apartment, bungalow, cabin, chalet, townhouse, villa, guesthouse, loft, condo, hotel, or bed and breakfast to be considered for the work collection.

[Matthew285]

@Alexandra316, I hear what you are saying about a "Guest Suite" not being on the list of types, but I was wondering about a few things:

1. If you are talking about the "The Flat on King in the Heart of Wine Country", I still see it classified as an  "Entire Apartment"
2. When you say "they re-classified my place" are you saying your property type changed without you changing the settings?
3. My listing is in the "Work Collection" and I deliberately chose "Guest Suite" as our listing type a while ago. (A lot of properties could be classified as either.)

Have you checked your Work Collection status? It should tell you where you stand.

[Alexandra316]

Thanks for the reply, @Matthew285. How are you getting that view? I don't see that when I go to my Stats.

[Matthew285]

@Alexandra316 if your menu still says "Stats" then your Host Dashboard hasn't been updated yet.

For me, the "Stats" menu has been replaced by the "Progress" menu. This happened a few days ago. I didn't do anything to make it happen, so I don't know why/when/how the update happens.