TL;DR: Enabling Instant Book on Airbnb increases your bookings, cuts your inquiry workload, and boosts your search visibility. It’s one of the top three filters travelers use, and a majority of Airbnb reservations happen on the spot. You keep control through guest requirements, house rules, and cancellation policies.
Want to double your bookings? There’s one simple setting that draws travelers straight to your door. And it requires less effort, not more. Nearly two million Airbnb hosts have made their properties instantly bookable, and for good reason.
What are the benefits of Airbnb Instant Book?
More bookings, less waiting
Today’s travelers don’t want to wait 24 hours for a response. That explains why more than 60% of Airbnb reservations happen on the spot. When guests can book immediately, they do.
Here’s what that means for you:
- Guests commit before they find something else
- Last-minute travelers get the swift confirmations they need
- Your calendar fills while competitors wait on inquiry responses
Less back-and-forth, more time back
With guests confirming bookings on their own, you skip the repetitive inquiry cycle. That doesn’t mean you lose touch. You can still:
- Send customized welcome messages upon booking
- Request important details upfront
- Communicate as much (or as little) as you want
A lighter workload doesn’t mean a lesser guest experience. It means you spend time where it counts.
Better search visibility
Instant Book is among the top three most commonly used Airbnb filters. When travelers filter for instant booking, your listing shows up, and non-Instant Book properties don’t.
Beyond filters, Airbnb’s algorithm rewards responsiveness. With Instant Book, your response rate climbs automatically. Hit 90% or higher, and you may qualify for Superhost status, which brings its own visibility perks.
How does Instant Book protect your rentals?
Instant Book doesn’t mean anyone can book. Airbnb requires guests to meet certain criteria before they can use it, and you set additional requirements:
- Government-issued ID verification
- Positive reviews from previous hosts
- Completed profile information
Guests who don’t qualify can still send a booking request for your approval. And when travelers book, they agree to your house rules, creating a contract that gives you grounds to cancel without penalty if they violate your terms.
How does Instant Book protect your revenue?
Worried about cancellations eating into your income? Set clear cancellation policies as part of your terms. Specify when refunds apply and when they don’t.
Double bookings are a different concern, but one that a synchronized calendar solves entirely. When you manage availability across channels from a single source of truth, Instant Book on Airbnb doesn’t create conflict with your Vrbo or Booking.com calendars. Guests book on the spot without your approval because the calendar already reflects reality.
Managing 1–4 properties? Guesty Lite keeps calendars synced across Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com from one dashboard. You get Instant Book confidence without the double-booking risk, at a price built for smaller portfolios.
What do hosts say about Instant Book?
Charles Bloem, CEO of Home from Home and a Guesty user, shared his experience after enabling Instant Book across his Airbnb listings:
Did Instant Book help you grow your business?
“Instant Book certainly helped increase our Airbnb bookings. We only started on Airbnb in late 2017, and it was really slow. Since we put our properties on Instant Book, we’ve seen tremendous growth. We’re now moving all listings to Instant Book and controlling our calendars through software, without which it would be challenging, if not impossible.”
Did you see higher conversion rates?
“Yes. Guests choose their dates, see which properties are available, and book when they’re ready. They prefer this convenience.”
How do you handle guests who don’t meet your standards?
“We set requirements on Airbnb. Guests need a verified ID or passport uploaded, and they generally introduce themselves and share a short itinerary.”
Does it save time?
“With Instant Book, we receive bookings throughout the day without answering each inquiry. Combined with automated messaging, it works really well. We focus on getting more listings and handling other important daily tasks.”
How to make Instant Book work for your business
More than half of Airbnb’s listings are instantly bookable, and the hosts who use it tend to stay with it. The math is straightforward: more visibility, more bookings, less busywork.
Enabling Instant Book sets you up to capture bookings you’d otherwise lose, from last-minute travelers, from guests who won’t wait for replies, from anyone who filters for instant availability. With guest requirements, house rules, and cancellation policies in place, you keep control while removing friction.
When your calendars sync across channels, Instant Book becomes a growth lever instead of a liability. One dashboard, one source of truth, instant bookings, no double-booking risk.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. If a guest violates your house rules or doesn’t meet the requirements you’ve set, you can cancel without penalty. Airbnb also allows a limited number of penalty-free cancellations per year for Instant Book reservations.
No, it helps. Instant Book confirms automatically, so your response rate improves without you doing anything. This protects your standing in Airbnb’s algorithm and your path to Superhost status.
You can require:
– Government-issued ID verification
– A profile photo
– Positive reviews from other hosts
– Agreement to your house rules
Instant Book is an Airbnb-specific feature. But when your calendars sync across Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and direct bookings through property management software, enabling Instant Book on Airbnb doesn’t create conflicts elsewhere.
Yes. Smaller hosts often benefit most. Instant Book reduces the inquiry load that can overwhelm a side business. Combined with calendar sync and automated messaging, it lets you compete with larger operations without working like one.
Guesty’s talented marketing team is comprised of passionate professionals who share insightful industry knowledge and shape brand narratives. By bringing a diverse blend of expertise to the table, we are the visionary architects behind the Guesty brand and innovative campaigns that help people understand our product.
