AirBNB Summer 23 Release

Appears they are adding a number of new things specifically for software-connected hosts (https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hosting-homes/a/upgrades-for-professional-hosts-602).

Have they provided OR with any documentation as to how/when these may be seen through the API? 

How about the sunsetting of the email aliases? I think we can still accomplish what we need with Airbnb message triggers/templates?

From past experience I am guessing it will be some time. Would be nice if OR could respond to such announcements of a big set of changes from a major OTA like Airbnb. 

- Chuck

Have they provided OR with any documentation as to how/when these may be seen through the API? 

As of the present time, no, they have not.  Therefore we have no actions or changes currently planned, as we have no way of knowing what exactly they would need to be.  We are generally fairly brisk at responding to updated versions of Airbnb APIs, but the scheduling of how those occur, are documented, and released, is entirely on them.

How about the sunsetting of the email aliases?

That has been announced by Airbnb as being scheduled for September.

I think we can still accomplish what we need with Airbnb message triggers/templates?

Assuming you are using our Airbnb API connection, yes.  Recommended best procedure would be to use the Airbnb message triggers/templates to request guests to sign the rental agreement, because as part of that process they provide their direct email address, which can be used as needed for messages thereafter.

Thanks, Ken. 

Any reasons OR knows to NOT opt into the early access they are offering - in terms of any effect on API operations? They indicate it is a 1-way street, no going back. 

I am not inclined to do it, but could be useful to see what is coming.

We have heard reports of issues, but aren't yet knowledgeable enough about the situations as to provide any authoritative advice.  In general, given that Airbnb has made it crystal clear that this is, as you put it, "a one-way street", prudence suggests waiting a bit to gain more knowledge before making an irrevocable decision.

Thanks, Ken. 

Any reasons OR knows to NOT opt into the early access they are offering - in terms of any effect on API operations? They indicate it is a 1-way street, no going back. 

 

I am not inclined to do it, but could be useful to see what is coming.

I would view this like any Windows update or service pack.  Never be one of the beta testers (which is what this "early access" seems to be) and usually wait a month for all the bugs to be worked out.

The one unmentioned, though not insignificant, change I've seen is that API hosts can no longer access custom promotions. It's been reported other discounts are also unavailable to edit on Airbnb.

Yes so I was just looking at that, trying to add a promotion on Airbnb and i couldn't find a way. This is a major bummer. Will hurt if we can't compete with other listings this way. 

Some bold hosts have reported they temporarily disconnected the API, on a property by property basis, made their adjustments to tools/discounts/promos & reconnected/republished the API properties. This is much too new for us to know if there are any subsequent issues caused by doing this.

Has AirBnB shared the details with OR yet? On their communication to hosts they say that they have and for us to check with the PMS as to timeline of availability. Is this already on the development plan and do we have an ETA of availability?

especially interested in the checkout instructions

I was able to set up check out instructions the day the update was released, through the app.  Don't think it's affected by the api connection.

As with all those "cards" that show up on the top of your listing page, asking for more info about things like your appliances and your yard, the check out instructions are not yet synced via API. Per our testing, you can create those check out instructions on Airbnb and they should remain in place.

Per a discussion today with Airbnb, we have confirmed that if you accept the summer update early release, you will in fact not be able to do custom promotions in your calendar.  This is a known gap and they do plan a near-term fix, but no ETA at present.  So, if custom promotions is important to you, we recommend not moving forward with implementing the summer update early release at this time.

We have also confirmed that, despite some mixed messaging and confusion, custom promotions is in fact not supported by Airbnb's API, and so cannot be implemented by OwnerRez (or any other channel manager).  While this may change in the future, that is yet to be determined and would be a good bit further down the road in any case.

When we receive further updates from Airbnb on this topic, we'll post them here.

Airbnb fixed the Custom Promotions for API connected hosts!

If you run into any issues, take a video (Loom is a free option) of your attempts on Airbnb & send it to Help@OwnerReservations.com so we can submit that on our Airbnb bug ticket.

NOTE: There is a repeated pop up warning you access is limited, you just keep closing those