• Vacation Rentals that have „Instant Book“ switched on don’t require an approval from the owner before they can be booked by guests.
• It makes it easier for guests, who don’t want to wait until the host manually accepts their booking.
• Users can use an Instant Book filter when searching for vacation rentals.
• Instant Book Listings show up higher in Airbnb search results, which leads to more bookings/earnings for the vacation rental owner.
• Instant Book helps you to become a Superhost (more bookings, more reviews) and it can save you time as you don’t have to respond manually to booking requests.
• Specific settings allow hosts to „screen“ potential guests and to control to a certain degree, which travellers can book instantly without first sending a request (e.g. only guests who have a verified Government-issued ID and positive reviews from other Airbnb hosts).
• If a guest seems suspicious you can cancel an instant booking without penalty (e.g. no fees, no loss of Superhost status), but only up to three times.
• To avoid last-minute instant bookings you can set how much advance notice you need before a booking (max. 7).
• If you’re driven by profit, it might be in your interest to switch Instant Book on. If you prefer to only accept well-vetted people, you might leave it switched off.

(Source: via @Airhosta – Get the full story at https://www.airhosta.com/blog/airbnb-instant-book-guide/ )