Request to Book Reservations (status request, no booking number)

When a reservation is received from Airbnb with no bookingNumber and a status of request, this is not an error or incorrect processing on the NextPax side. It is an Airbnb Request to Book (RTB) reservation: a booking that requires explicit approval before it is confirmed. Because an RTB reservation has not been confirmed yet, no booking number is assigned. A booking number is only created once the request is approved and the reservation becomes a confirmed booking. If the request is instead declined or expires, the reservation ends in a request-rejected / cancelled state and never receives a booking number.

The RTB flow requires an action: each request must be accepted or declined. How this is done depends on how you work with NextPax. Partners using NextPax Core action the request in the Reservations Overview (the same accept/decline flow used for Booking.com Request to Book). Partners integrating via the Supply API accept or decline the request through the API and should make sure their own logic handles the request status explicitly, rather than assuming every Airbnb reservation arrives as a confirmed booking with a booking number. The technical specification is documented in the NextPax Developer Portal under Request to Book.

A common point of confusion is that this happens even when the listing is set to Instant Book. Per Airbnb's listing policies, API-connected listings are automatically set to Instant Book — but an Instant Book listing can still receive an RTB request in specific scenarios defined by Airbnb. These include, among others: a booking attempt made within 48 hours of check-in where the guest selects a custom check-in window that falls outside the listing's defined check-in time; a booking made within the listing's booking lead time; a guest who does not meet the host's Instant Book guest controls/criteria; a Korean guest booking under a strict cancellation policy (excluding listings based in Italy); a booking Airbnb flags as high risk under its Party and Events Policy; a stay whose number of nights exceeds the Instant Book maximum (including seasonal-rule limits); a listing configured for RTB-only; and bookings made in an extended availability window or a period opened via async calendar overrides. In other words, "Instant Book is enabled" does not guarantee that every reservation arrives as an instant booking — Airbnb decides per reservation.

Can these requests be switched off? NextPax cannot block Airbnb from sending Request to Book reservations. If you would prefer not to receive them, contact your NextPax account manager and we'll be glad to talk you through the options.