Getting repeat guests to book direct, without breaking Airbnb's rules

A guest who has stayed once is the easiest booking you'll ever get. They know the place, they liked it, and they don't need to be sold on it. So why do so many of them go back to the app to book again? Usually because the app is where they found you, and it's the easiest way back.

The job is to make your own site the easier way back. And to do it without breaking Airbnb's rules, because those rules are stricter than a lot of hosts think.

First, what Airbnb doesn't allow

Airbnb's Off-Platform and Fee Transparency Policy (checked October 15, 2026) says hosts can't, among other things:

• ask or encourage guests to move current, future or repeat bookings off Airbnb
• put links that take people off Airbnb in a listing or a message
• offer a discount to book off Airbnb
• ask a guest for their email through Airbnb's messages after they book, or use their contact details for marketing

Airbnb says repeated or serious breaches can get a listing or an account suspended. So nothing below asks an Airbnb guest to book anywhere else. It's about being easy to find, and looking after the guests who already book with you direct.

1. Be easy to find

Plenty of guests look you up for themselves, or hear about your place from a friend who stayed. When they do, they should land on your own site.

• Give your home a name and use it everywhere: your listing titles, your house manual, the sign by the door, your own website. Guests remember “Bluebird Cabin”. Nobody remembers “Cozy 2BR with hot tub, mountain views”.
• Get the web address that matches the name, so typing the name finds you.
• Search for your home's name and town and see what comes up. If it isn't your own site, that's the first thing to fix.

2. Make booking direct as easy as the app

A returning guest opens your site on their phone, checks their dates, sees the price and pays. If any of that takes an email back and forth, plenty of them give up and open the app instead. So show live availability, show the full price for their dates with every fee up front, and take payment by card there and then. A “contact us for availability” form loses people who would happily have booked.

3. Look after the guests who already book direct

A guest who books on your own site is your guest, and you have their email. These are the people to invite back.

• Ask before they leave, not after. A line in your check-out note or a message on their last day: you'd love to have them back, and here's how to book.
• Give them a reason. A returning guest price, or first pick of next year's dates before you open them to everyone else.
• Don't overdo it. An email when next year's dates open is plenty, and make it easy to say no thanks.

4. Answer the same day

Returning guests often ask first: are those dates free, can they bring the dog this time. Reply the same day if you can, with the price for their dates and a link to book. A guest who waits 2 days for an answer has often booked somewhere else by then.

Why it matters more this year

Airbnb has moved most hosts onto a single fee of 15.5%, taken from the host's payout. So a guest who books you direct is worth more than a year ago: on a $1,500 week, about $232.50 more to you. What the fee change means for direct bookings.

Where Lettiva fits

We build your own direct booking website for you, from the listings you already have, with live availability, the full price and card payment in one go. Guests pay you directly into your own Stripe account, with your name on their card statement. You can give returning guests a promo code that comes off when they type it in on your site. And every guest who books with you is yours to welcome back. See how it works for a vacation rental.