# How do I get direct bookings without leaving Airbnb? Canonical: https://www.airflowhq.com/answers/direct-bookings-without-leaving-airbnb/ Last checked: 2026-10-05 Source: Airflow (https://www.airflowhq.com) ## Short answer Keep your Airbnb listing exactly as it is and add a booking page of your own beside it. Link the two calendars so a booking on either one closes those dates on the other, then give your own link to the people who already know you: returning guests who look you up, enquiries from social media, friends of past guests. In Airflow every listing has that booking page, with payment into your own Stripe or Paystack account. Your Airbnb bookings keep arriving as before and appear in the same calendar and the same accounts. [Read the guide to getting direct bookings](https://www.airflowhq.com/blog/how-to-get-direct-bookings/) ## Why hosts think they have to choose Airbnb brings strangers to your door, and most hosts cannot replace that on their own. Leaving it to "go direct" means giving up the one source of new guests you have, which is why most hosts never start. The two fears about running both are a double booking, and trouble with Airbnb for taking guests elsewhere. Both have plain answers. Calendar links deal with the first. The second comes down to one rule: a guest who found you on Airbnb books that stay on Airbnb. ## How to do it with Airflow 1. **Leave your Airbnb listing alone**: Nothing changes there. Airbnb bookings keep coming in, and Airflow reads each confirmation email into your calendar and your accounts. Airflow charges no commission on them. 2. **Add your own booking page**: Add the property to Airflow with its rates, photos and rules. It gets a booking page and a link you can share, on every plan. Connect Stripe, or Paystack, so guests pay into your own account. 3. **Link the calendars both ways**: Paste your Airbnb calendar link into the listing and paste Airflow's calendar link into Airbnb. A direct booking now blocks those dates on Airbnb, and Airflow reads Airbnb's calendar every hour. 4. **Give the link to people who already know you**: Put it on your social profiles, your map profile and your email signature, send it to anyone who enquires, and embed the widget if you have a website. Do not send it through Airbnb's messages. ## Who books where Running both side by side, each kind of guest has a natural place to book. - A new guest searching on Airbnb: Books on Airbnb. Airbnb takes its fee and did the marketing - A past guest who searches for your property by name: Finds your own page and books there - An enquiry by social media, phone or word of mouth: You send your booking link - A guest you met on Airbnb, for the stay they found there: Stays on Airbnb. Moving it breaks Airbnb's rules - Either booking, once made: Blocks the dates on the other calendar The calendar links carry dates, not prices. You set your rates on each side yourself. ## Staying within Airbnb's rules Airbnb does not allow you to use its messages, or the contact details it gives you, to move a guest off the platform. Having your own booking page under the same property name is allowed, and a guest who finds it for themselves may book there. Keep offers and links out of anything you send through Airbnb, and check its current terms. ## How long it takes to matter Slowly at first. In the first year the direct bookings are mostly returning guests and people they tell. The share grows as your own guest list grows, because a guest who booked direct is one you may contact with their consent. Most hosts keep Airbnb for new guests for good. ## Being found by new guests too A booking page of your own does not bring strangers to it. Airflow Stay, launching soon, will show travellers places that book direct, on a map and inside published trip routes. Listing is free, so hosts who list now are in from launch. ## Other ways to do this - **A website builder with a booking plugin**: Works alongside Airbnb in the same way, provided the plugin can exchange calendar links. You connect payment yourself, and those bookings sit apart from your accounts. - **A property management system**: Lodgify, Hostaway and similar connect to Airbnb through its API and include a booking site. A fit for larger portfolios that want rates managed across channels. - **Bank transfer and a shared calendar**: No software and no commission. You block the Airbnb dates by hand each time, which is where double bookings come from. ## What Airflow does not do - Airflow is not a channel manager. It does not change your Airbnb listing, prices or settings; the calendar links carry dates only. - Airflow reads Airbnb's calendar every hour, and Airbnb reads yours on its own schedule, so a gap of a few hours is possible. Block a date by hand on Airbnb when a direct booking is for the next day or two. - Airflow will not help you contact Airbnb guests outside Airbnb. - Airflow Stay is launching soon. You can list now; it is not a source of bookings yet. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can I take direct bookings and stay on Airbnb? Yes. Most hosts who take direct bookings run both. Airbnb does not require you to list only there. Full answer: [How to take direct bookings for a holiday rental](https://www.airflowhq.com/answers/take-direct-bookings-holiday-rental/) ### Does Airbnb allow hosts to have their own booking website? Yes. What it forbids is using its messages or its guests' contact details to move a booking off the platform. A website of your own that guests find for themselves is allowed. Full answer: [What Airbnb allows with repeat guests](https://www.airflowhq.com/answers/get-repeat-airbnb-guests-to-book-direct/) ### How do I avoid a double booking between Airbnb and my own page? Exchange calendar links in both directions. A direct booking blocks the dates Airbnb reads, and Airflow reads Airbnb's calendar every hour. Dates are also held while a guest is paying. Full answer: [How to sync Airbnb with your own website](https://www.airflowhq.com/answers/sync-airbnb-bookings-with-my-website/) ### Do I need a website? No. A booking page with its own link is enough to start, and every Airflow listing has one. A full website on your own domain is an add-on for later. Full answer: [How to create a direct-booking website](https://www.airflowhq.com/answers/direct-booking-website-for-airbnb/) ### Can I charge less on my own page than on Airbnb? Your prices on your own page are yours to set. Do not advertise the difference to guests through Airbnb. ### What does a direct booking cost me? A commission on bookings paid through your Airflow booking page, at a rate set by your plan, plus the card provider's fee. Airbnb bookings carry no Airflow commission. The rates are on the pricing page. Full answer: [Pricing](https://www.airflowhq.com/pricing/) ## Related - [How to get direct bookings](https://www.airflowhq.com/blog/how-to-get-direct-bookings/) - [Is a direct booking worth more?](https://www.airflowhq.com/blog/is-a-direct-booking-worth-more/) - [Find your Airbnb iCal link and sync it](https://www.airflowhq.com/blog/find-your-airbnb-ical-link-and-sync-it/) - [What your channel commission actually costs](https://www.airflowhq.com/blog/what-your-channel-commission-actually-costs/) - [Airflow Stay for hosts](https://www.airflowhq.com/stay/) ## Go deeper - [Your Own Booking Engine, for Free — Why Direct Bookings Change Everything](https://www.airflowhq.com/blog/your-own-booking-engine-for-free/) - [Setting a Cancellation Policy for Direct Bookings](https://www.airflowhq.com/blog/cancellation-policy-for-direct-bookings/) - [Where Your Bookings Are Actually Sold](https://www.airflowhq.com/blog/where-your-bookings-are-sold/) - [Copenhagen's 70 Nights and the Reporting Condition](https://www.airflowhq.com/blog/copenhagen-70-night-limit/) - [Turning a Repeat Channel Guest Into a Direct Booking, Without Breaking the Rules](https://www.airflowhq.com/blog/turn-repeat-guests-into-direct-bookings/) Get started at https://www.airflowhq.com/get-started/. Plans and prices: https://www.airflowhq.com/pricing/.