What To Do when your Airbnb guest asks for Early Check-In

Question

First and foremost my system is based on "Give them an inch they will take you 10 miles" which I find to be true in this business. There are many different ways to run your Airbnb. Here is how I, (Superhost with 2000 glowing 5 star reviwes), run mine!

This is my "Early Check-In Late Check-Out" System.

Rule 1.

My listing mentions NO Early Check-In No Late/Check Out so I am off the hook even before they book. If it's mentioned in the listing and they don't read it.... you're still at risk of a bad review so you must beat them over the head with your systems.

Rule 2.

The following is included in my "Confirmed Booking" message which is sent AUTOMATICALLY by my PMS (property management software) (YourPorter) to anyone that has a PAID booking.

"CHECK-IN/CHECK-OUT TIMESCheck-in is at 4pm and check-out is at 11am. While we try to go above and beyond to accommodate our guests, we cannot offer early check-ins or late departures. This is to allow our cleaning crew ample time to make sure your home is thoroughly cleaned and sanitized before and after your stay."

This eliminates nearly all of the early/late requests.

BUT you still get the folks that don't read anything. Which leads me to....

Rule 3.

Here's a real-life example. I have currently a high maintenance question asker about to check in for a week for the in-high-demand July 4th weekend. This is a large party that has paid a lot of money to stay in a large home on the beach. But the thing is... If they were to cancel, I could have this rebooked within 3 minutes for MORE money than they have paid.***

I re-sent the same message from above, so she now has this a second time, and she said "That's unfortunate for us" clearly displaying her dissatisfaction in our policy.

So my message in this particular situation is....

"Hello! We are happy to offer you a one-time courtesy full refund but you will need to take advantage of this by today at Noon (insert time zone). Otherwise, the cancelation policy will be in effect. Thank you and travel safe!"

Works every time.

Of course, this is to be used sparingly. I wouldn't necessarily use it on a Tuesday in February.

I'd love to hear how you handle this with the never-ending stream of multiple personalities that are entering your property and your!

***If I could get more money... why did I book them? Well, it's not always wise to wait until the last second to book in-demand holidays. It's worth a few dollars less to book it in advance. I find the sweet spot is 4-5 weeks prior.

"If it's repeatable, you can build a system around it and anyone can facilitate this system" - Ray Dalio

The goal is of course to take yourself out of the business and let the business run itself. My assistant is taught all systems and handles the messages for me.

To summarize.... If it happens more than TWO times -build a system around it so it never happens again!

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Nice post! We would only allow early check-in if there's no additional effort on our part. If the unit is already cleaned and ready to go, why not? If it's going to involve any effort or inconvenience on our part, it ain't happening.

Luke Marsh · Answer

We typically are more flexible on early check-in than late check-out. We will try to accommodate people who want to check-in early if it means we don't need to do any extra work. Typically we can offer up to 30-60 mins early. Our check-out is less flexible because our cleaning crew needs to come in within a half-hr after the checkout time and clean the rental. Whatever you decide I would implement it and uphold it 100%, so there are no exceptions to your policy. It is just a lot easier to do it that way.

Luke Carl · Answer

I should mention that I occasionally bend the rules and allow someone to check in early. My problem is scale. I've got 28 properties and 4 housekeepers. I don't want to spend time on such a small task. If the guest asks me two hours before check-in if they can check in early... there's a pretty good chance I'll say yes. I just can't promise anything in advance -it's too much to coordinate.

Ken Boone · Answer

We don't have a problem allowing early check-in/late check-out if it works.  We don't get a lot of late check out requests.  I bet we have only had a handful in the past two years.  Early check-in requests are a little more common.  It seems like a few  people ask this question well in advance of their trip and some ask the day they are arriving.  In either case the standard answer is we will accommodate if it works with our cleaners schedule and we won't know for sure until that day.  Sometimes we can plan something with our cleaner ahead of time but we won't guarantee it.

When our cleaner let's us know everything is ready, we frequently notify guests the cabin is ready for check-in and they can check-in whenever they please - whether or not they have asked for early check in.

To me it's that one more thing we can do to let the guest have an awesome experience at my cabins.

Jeffery Wilen · Answer

@Luke Carl

Thanks for the post. We may incorporate a few of your processes. Currently we rarely allow a change in checkin our checkout times, and never during peak season. I’ve also charged for it when we don’t have a conflict with an arriving or departing guest. It’s a fee for having to reschedule the cleaning team.

John Underwood · Answer

I dont have many requests for this. I try to accommodate when possible.

I have have the house already cleaned prior to day of check in I generally offer an early checking even if not asked for.

I notice even when I say tbey can  checkin at noon, often many people still don't check in early.

Well over half of our renters drive 3 plus hours to get to our location.

Mike V. · Answer

If it’s possible I respond saying,

Hi, I am able to accommodate (early check in / late check out). There’s normally a $100 fee but I’d be happy to waive it for a nice 5 star review. :)

This drives my reviews up because people who typically won’t leave reviews do, and if anything bad happens during their stay it offsets it.

Justin Anderson · Answer

I'll just add one tip to your initial post..."We typically can't allow early check ins just due to giving our cleaners proper time to get the cabin ready.  But I'll let you know the moment it's ready for check in.  If you happen to hit town early, I suggest you do XX YY ZZ."I give my cleaners access to my messaging system and as soon as the cabin is ready they send a templated message to the guest letting them know how 'awesome' the cleaners were and their cabin is ready.  Of course I'm CCd on the message so I know what's going on as well.I feel you for the high maintenance guest, though.  You know already how the review is probably going to look.  :/

Paul Cox · Answer

Always the student here @Luke Carl...I will be using for future reference especially once we get #2 going and all that follow. Currently we do the same thing as @Nathan G. If the cabin has been cleaned and is setting empty and ready to go, we'll go as early as a 1pm check-in. I won't rush our cleaners to accommodate an early check-in though.  I think I've only had the question asked 2 or 3 times, so hasn't been a real issue for us.

Luke Carl · Answer

To determine your Check-In Check-Out times... I highly recommend the ENEMY METHOD

What To Do when your Airbnb guest asks for Early Check-In

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