What to do if Airbnb accidentally blocked your account and how to prevent it
Having your Airbnb account blocked is a pain in the ass for many people. It happens quite often for several reasons, but the worst is when the booking is already made. There are many pros and cons of using Airbnb instead of regular hotels, but undoubtedly one of the downsides is the risk of being blocked.
Airbnb is an accommodation app that people use when traveling. Traveling (especially internationally) can bring its own set of challenges. Airbnb is one of the best ways to book unusual accommodation. Airbnb can be a great tool for reducing travel costs, but it won't work if those travelers are locked out of their accounts. This is stated in the material of thetravel.com.
Airbnb often has login problems and you can be blocked. The inability to receive SMS or emails is one of the main reasons for blocking.
There are a few other reasons for blocking access to your Airbnb account, and often it's simply an inability to verify your login information. Not being able to log into your email is one place where problems start. One way to ensure that you can log in to your email account is to always have a login on multiple devices. Make sure your phone number and email address on Airbnb are up to date.
Those who lose their phone while traveling will have to replace their phone, but losing your phone also means losing your existing SIM card. So, it may not be possible to recover your phone number until you return home, which means not being able to get SMS codes from Airbnb (or from the bank, or for any other verification).
Another problem is that the SIM card may simply not work in international roaming as expected. In short, not being able to receive SMS codes is a curse for traveling.
The Airbnb community is full of people who have problems with old email and phone numbers, so they can't log into their accounts. As much as possible, never allow for a single point of failure (such as relying on your phone to log in or an SMS code).
To ease the headache caused by a lost SIM card, try to plan ahead. Are there other ways to authenticate? Airbnb's two-step authentication is explained on the Airbnb website (you can use your phone for two-step authentication, including face recognition, fingerprint, or password).
For many accounts, such as Facebook and Google, you can download authentication apps and use email for authentication instead of SMS.
Airbnb reserves the right to suspend, deactivate, or delete any account that violates their terms and services (such as unauthorized subletting and breaches of trust and safety). Trust and safety is a very important part of Airbnb's policy, and they want to assure that everyone is safe while traveling.
Sometimes accounts can be accidentally blocked by Airbnb. For example, for "unusual or suspicious activity" or violation of community rules. Much of this is automated, and often accounts are flagged and blocked by mistake.
One reason for flagging suspicious behavior is repeated failed login attempts. Don't just keep entering the same password hoping it will work one day. If the password doesn't work, stop and think about what might be wrong.
One way to mitigate these problems is to book in advance (to have more time to deal with any unexpected issues) and take screenshots of your booking and correspondence.
If your account is blocked, you have no choice but to follow Airbnb's procedure. They may request identification documents to authenticate the user (it takes up to 12 hours for them to review and approve them).
