Can you book airbnb without ID?
An airbnb is a company on whose grounds property owners and landlords can connect. All of these connections are online-based. The landowners are regarded as the hosts while those who are seeking for rental services are regarded as the guests.
As a virtue of this business, the hosts do not get to physically meet the guests until the day they arrive.
You’d agree that could be quite risky, especially in cases where the guest would be sharing a room within the host’s building.
So, to protect the hosts and to also prevent any form of fraudulent activity with the airbnb platform, the guests are required to provide some means of identification.
That way, airbnb can ascertain if the guests are who they claim to be. This is where the ID’s come in. An identification card is a means by which airbnb can legally validate or ascertain the identity of the guests.
The hosts are also not left out in the ID presentation. To be sure that the hosts aren’t going to disappear after reports of lodging in a place, airbnb requires them to present their means of identification too.
However, a time would come when they would be trusted by all. The reviews and ratings on their pages would help the guests ascertain their validity. Besides, comments left by customers cannot be cleared or deleted by the host.
Examples of ID cards you can use to book an airbnb include the following;
- Driver’s license
- Voter’s card
- Utility bills (Bank bills, Electricity bills, etc.)
- Visa card
- Passport
Any of these or any other documents with your legally recognized name and geographical address would do as a means of verification.
Another reason this ID is required is because the minimum age for any Airbnb user is 18years. So, in a bid to prevent under aged individuals from renting out property, an ID would be required for verification.
How to book airbnb without ID
Before you can book a room or building on airbnb, you have to have a means of identification. The reason for this has been discussed in the section above.
However, in a situation where you do not have the required document at the point of your account creation, you could do it another time. But until then, you wouldn’t be able to book any room on airbnb.
You might have heard that airbnb asks personal questions in the process of validating an account. That is true.
Airbnb could also request for the guest to present pictures that are different from whatever is uploaded on the user’s profile picture.
However, none of these can be used in place of an actual ID. It is only when Airbnb wants to make a further validation that you’d be requested to do either of those things.
Once all of the verification process is over, you wouldn’t have to go through it again. It’s usually a one-time procedure after which you can start booking rooms and buildings.
The only exception to this rule is when you log in to your account with another device. For the protection of your data, you’d be asked to present some other means of validation.
All of these procedures is for Airbnb to be sure that it’s really you.
Is it safe to give airbnb my ID?
If you are bothered about your details leaking out to the public, here’s something for you. Airbnb has a special protection program that helps in safeguarding every detail you submit.
The website has third-party panels and standard encryption that cannot be easily hacked. Below are some other details that can help you trust the Airbnb website better;
1. They connect you to properties all around the world. So, it doesn’t really matter the place you wish to have your vacation. Airbnb has got you covered.
2. Airbnb has physical offices in about thirty cities.
3. Over half a billion guests have lodged on the airbnb platform since its inception.
4. Airbnb allows you to tour local areas and locations at the outskirts of cities without having to bother about hotels and other expensive lodging options.
5. The two things that airbnb requires from every user are these—personal details and payment information.
6. You and your host can communicate via the Messaging feature.
7. Every price you see for any lodging on Airbnb was set by the host.
8. You can cancel a booking if you aren’t comfortable with it. Cancellation is free in a situation where you do so two weeks before check-in. However, anything more than that would attract a charge.
9. On your Airbnb account, you could function as a host and as a guest. So, you don’t have to open another account for the sake of switching your roles.
10. It’s very easy to create an Airbnb account. You can work your way towards account creation by using the website—airbnb.com or by downloading the app on your mobile device.
If you are using an Android device, you’d download from Play Store. But if you are downloading on an Apple device, you’d download from Apple Store.
11. Airbnb offers discounts and coupons to their users in order to encourage them to make more bookings.
12. Airbnb’s aim is to make traveling more pleasant for people. The meaning of this is that they get to experience life at the outskirts of the city. They also get to eat foods eaten by the locals.
13. It’s possible for you to make a booking on behalf of your friends and family if you’d be traveling together. However, you can’t make a booking for someone you won’t be traveling with.
The reason is that the host wouldn’t be able to ascertain the person’s identity.
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