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#Post#: 298--------------------------------------------------
Mr. Mister
By: Arks Date: October 8, 2023, 7:17 pm
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I dropped VRBO and Booking because I hated how they stood
between me and the guest, demanding total control and keeping me
from communicating directly with the guest.
I'm still listed on Air. About 5% of my bookings come from Air,
but it's a little extra income and I'm all for that.
But a couple of days ago Air took a reservation for last night
from someone with first name "Mr." and last name "Mister." But
Air lists him as "verified." I wasn't comfortable with renting a
room to someone that anonymous, but it worked out fine. He
arrived at 2:30 AM (I use self check in) and was gone before
11:00 AM later the same morning. He was there such a short time
he barely had time to make any mess. So it worked out OK.
But I'm strongly considering dropping Air. For one thing, there
was a recent iCal breakdown between Air and ResKey that let Air
book one of my rooms that was already booked by someone else, so
I had to cancel the Air reservation. The SOBs "fined" me $50 for
cancelling the double booking (withheld the money from my next
payout). First time that ever happened. So now I hate them.
#Post#: 299--------------------------------------------------
Re: Mr. Mister
By: JimBoone Date: October 9, 2023, 3:07 am
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Arks, I'm lucky I suppose that we started before OTA's were so
popular. When using them was suggested to me we had not yet
started using an online booking engine so that prevented me from
making the jump. I'm with you, I don't think I'd like the
control, too much red tape. Perhaps Generic will chime in, I
think he has a system of sorts to work his listings to his
advantage.
#Post#: 300--------------------------------------------------
Re: Mr. Mister
By: gillumhouse Date: October 9, 2023, 7:17 am
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He does "work them" to fill holes.
I am with you Jim. I want my guests to be MY guests with direct
communication between us. I have seen enough from the Brits with
b.con and the other OTAs plus the problems created through
Ex.ped.ia spoken about on another forum to tell me I made the
right decision.
#Post#: 301--------------------------------------------------
Re: Mr. Mister
By: Generic Date: October 11, 2023, 4:34 pm
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We have Air on API with myallocator, still. But they recently
removed the email address. I get so little business that way
that I'm wondering if it's worth the trouble at all.
#Post#: 302--------------------------------------------------
Re: Mr. Mister
By: gillumhouse Date: October 11, 2023, 8:12 pm
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I hit wrong icon. Meant LIKE and could not undo
#Post#: 303--------------------------------------------------
Re: Mr. Mister
By: Arks Date: October 12, 2023, 4:54 pm
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[quote author=Generic link=topic=46.msg301#msg301
date=1697060057]
I get so little business that way that I'm wondering if it's
worth the trouble at all.
[/quote]
Agree. Probably more trouble than it's worth.
A couple of years ago it was just one other property and me on
Air in my little town. Now there are 5 others and me. All of
them are full houses available for booking. I'm hoping they will
eventually realize they'd be better off leasing the house as a
long term residence. In the mean time they compete strongly with
me, because I'm more expensive.
Life is hard, and then you die.
#Post#: 304--------------------------------------------------
Re: Mr. Mister
By: Anon Inn Date: October 13, 2023, 5:33 pm
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I had one double booking with Air this summer. An Air guest
booked 3 minutes after a direct booking. Ack. I ended up
phoning the Air guest, explaining the situation and asking her
to cancel and I would refund, including her Air fees. Cheaper
than their penalties, and the guest was very understanding.
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