How do I handle taxes for Airbnb reservations?
Airbnb states that they will be collecting and remitting taxes for certain areas. If Airbnb is collecting and remitting any taxes for your property, you must have a separate rate type for Airbnb in ThinkReservations to accommodate this. If Airbnb is not collecting and remitting any taxes for your property, then you must collect all applicable taxes from Airbnb guests separately when they arrive at your property. You can ask Airbnb to collect these taxes for you, but it requires manually editing each Airbnb reservation, so keep that in mind. You can add verbiage to your Airbnb Listing Summary, which states you will be collecting taxes upon check-in.
How do I see what taxes Airbnb is collecting?
To see exactly which taxes Airbnb collects for you listing, log into Airbnb:
Go to Your Listings and select a listing.
Click the gear icon on the listing editor to open preferences.
Optionally, click Local laws to review the notes Airbnb shares with you.
Click Taxes
Note the "Local taxes collected and remitted by Airbnb" section. These are the taxes that Airbnb is collecting and remitting directly to the tax authority. They are not remitted to you or to ThinkReservations.
How do I control what taxes are being added to my Airbnb reservations?
If Airbnb collects some or all of your taxes, you must create an Airbnb Rate type in ThinkReservations. Once the rate type is created, make sure that it is mapped to your Airbnb Listings in Settings > Airbnb. Finally, navigate to Settings > Rate Types:
Click on your Airbnb-connected rate type
On the Details tab, scroll to the Taxes section and check the box, "OVERRIDE TAXES"
Checked taxes are added to reservations booked on this rate type.
Cleared checkboxes are not added to reservations booked on this rate type.
Mark with a chekmark the taxes that you will be collecting.
Clear the checkbox for taxes that Airbnb will be collecting and remitting.
Click Save.
If you would like Airbnb to collect additional taxes, instead of you collecting them from the guest directly, you can program Custom tax collection with Airbnb. Airbnb will collect these taxes and then remit them to you. If overriding your taxes, these taxes should be checked so they show on the reservation in ThinkReservations.
Custom taxes collected by Airbnb will have the tax amount bundled into the base rate. To accommodate this, you will need to manually edit each Airbnb reservation to move the tax amount from the room to the tax section where it belongs.
How do I adjust my reservations for custom tax collection?
Airbnb supports what they call "pass-through" taxes. These are typically taxes that you have programmed in the "Custom tax collection" section of your listings on Airbnb. This allows you to collect taxes that Airbnb is not already collecting. However, the Airbnb reservations will have these taxes baked into the base rate of the room, essentially doubling the tax amount on the reservation.
Ensure that the Airbnb-connected rate type is set to collect the tax, and that the tax amount or percentage matches what you have in ThinkReservations and Airbnb.
To fix:
Open the reservation in ThinkReservations and Airbnb
Change the room rate in ThinkReservations to match the Sell Rate as seen on Airbnb. (This is the price the guest would see and pay.)
Add the Service Fees to the reservation in ThinkReservations. This is a non-taxable item added in the negative to accommodate Airbnb's commissions. Enter the amount that you see on the reservation in Airbnb.
If you don't already have an item to use for this, create it first in Settings > Items.
Now the total should match the payout.
What's the Difference between Limited Sync and Sync Everything?
With Sync Everything, Airbnb will collect rates and availability from ThinkReservations and all information in the listings' settings in ThinkReservations > Settings > Airbnb. This includes the listing summary, amenities, check-in window, cleaning fee, images, etc. Airbnb will also pull the maximum number of adults and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms from the rooms' settings in Settings > Rooms.
Everything Sync:
Reservations booked on Airbnb (post connection)
Rates
Availability
Restrictions
Listing Details as found in ThinkReservations > Settings > Airbnb
Number of bedrooms as found in ThinkReservations > Settings > Rooms
Number of bathrooms as found in ThinkReservations > Settings > Rooms
With Limited Sync, Airbnb and ThinkReservations are still communicating and syncing information. However, the information is limited to only rates, restrictions, and availability from ThinkReservations. Look in ThinkReservations to see what rate type you have associated with your Airbnb account. (This is similar to our connection with Booking.com and Expedia.) All other information regarding the listing (including occupancy, listing description, etc.) is pulled from what you've set up for the listing on your Airbnb account, not what is set up in ThinkReservations. This option can be handy if you don't want to offer Airbnb the same number of guests you would accept directly over the phone or on your website.
Limited Sync:
Reservations booked on Airbnb (post connection)
Rates
Availability
Restrictions
[Listing Details handled on Airbnb; not through ThinkReservations]
How does Airbnb determine a listing's occupancy?
For listings marked as "Sync Everything," Airbnb pulls occupancy from ThinkReservations' Settings > Rooms. ThinkReservations sends the maximum number of adults to prevent occupancy issues. However, Airbnb doesn't allow us to specify adults and children. If you would like to offer a different occupancy to Airbnb, you can opt for limited sync rather than full sync of the listing.
Why isn't my room syncing with Airbnb?
There are a number of possible reasons your listing is not synced with Airbnb:
In Settings > Rooms, if any of these options are marked, it will prevent you from connecting:
There are less than five amenities marked on the listing page.
There are less than seven high-resolution images for the listing.
The Listing Summary is blank.
There are less than 30 days of availability over the next 12 months for the listing.
The listing is still pending approval. After the new listing(s) are created, it can sometimes take 2-8 days for Airbnb to process and approve them.
You didn't meet the listing requirements.
Why does Airbnb only enforce the restriction on the arrival date?
Airbnb only uses the restrictions that are set for the arrival date or first date of a stay. For example, if you have no restriction on Thursday and a 3-night minimum on Friday, a guest booking on Airbnb would allow you to stay only two nights on Thursday and Friday. This would not be possible in ThinkReservations as a 3 Minimum Nights Through restriction on Saturday would require a guest to stay 3 nights if available. The difference is in what Airbnb currently supports. (Expedia handles this in a similar way.)
I connected ThinkReservations to the wrong Airbnb account! Do you know how I can correct this?
To connect your ThinkReservations account to the correct Airbnb account, you must first disconnect the wrong Airbnb account from ThinkReservations, then reconnect.
To disconnect, click the "Disconnect" button inside ThinkReservations.
Before you reconnect, make sure that you are switched into the right ThinkReservations account, and logged into the right Airbnb account!
Click the red Connect to Airbnb button, and follow the prompts to reconnect. Import or reimport listings as needed.
ThinkReservations only allows you to connect one Airbnb account to one ThinkReservations account. If you connected one Airbnb account to two ThinkReservations accounts, disconnect from both, and reconnect the right one, as both will have issues.
If I merge a preexisting listing in Airbnb with the listing I create in ThinkReservations, will it impact my host status, search results, or reviews?
No. Merging preexisting Airbnb listings with new listings created in ThinkReservations will not impact your host status, search results, or reviews. Once merged, the listing will retain the same listing ID it had previously in your Airbnb account.
Can I turn off Instant Book?
No. Instant Book is enabled by default for connected listings, but currently, Airbnb does not allow you to disable this. If that changes, we still would not recommend you to disable as it can have a negative impact on your ability to accept new bookings.
How often does Airbnb sync with ThinkReservations?
ThinkReservations makes the information available almost instantly. Airbnb's update schedule is hourly. Sometimes, changes might take longer to show on Airbnb. Airbnb checks availability a second time during the booking process to ensure availability for the listing.
Airbnb informed us that if an update fails for any reason, it is immediately automatically retried three more times. After four failed attempts, nothing happens until the next validation/sync is initiated. Once re-validated, the listing is again synced and put back online if taken offline. If the listing still isn't synced after these automated processes, the first attempt can take one hour, but subsequent attempts can take longer.
Can I change fees that are set up on Airbnb, but not in ThinkReservations?
Possibly! You can change fees from within Airbnb. Navigate to the Calendar view inside Airbnb on a desktop computer, and click on a listing. Click Price settings.
You can make adjustments to the following in the right column, but use them at your own risk, as they could revert, not be enforced, or not apply correctly to the reservation!
Base price (default price prospective guests see before they put in dates)
Weekly and Monthly discounts
Additional discounts and promotions
Cleaning fee - this comes from ThinkReservations, so you shouldn't change here.
Short stay cleaning fee
Pet fee - this comes from ThinkReservations, so you shouldn't change here.
Pet fee type - you can change the type of fee. If you change this, it will be overridden when you click the Save button in the listing in ThinkReservations.
Extra guest fee - pricing for additional guests comes from ThinkReservations, so you shouldn't change here.
Management Fee, Community fee, Linen fee, and Resort fee
Again, please use at your own risk.