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Yes, there is flexible, moderate, strict, Super Strict 30 day, and Super Strict 60 day, and Long Term.
The reps. give no answer as to how one gets invited to super strict.
But I am not following how you were set up on a 30 day strict policy, that was neither a Super Strict 30 day, and it wasn’t the regular strict policy.
I have never heard of a 30 day strict policy. Am I losing my mind here?
i think i’m losing mine lol
I’ll check with my partner later…it was a wee while ago it changed…
maybe only certain countries used it? I dunno… Are you in the states?
You just need to google “Airbnb cancellation policies” and it will show all of them. Oh Please go after those payouts and update us. Find out why guests canceled and why Air isn’t giving you any reasons.
I raised this point before on this forum, about 2-3 months ago. There WAS indeed a Strict 30 days once and not by invitation; at some point (I am guessing sometime this last Spring), it was ‘subtly’ changed to Strict 7 Days. I am in Belize, so perhaps it was automatically assigned to ‘foreign’ listings originally, which made sense. The 7-day thing doesn’t work whatsoever for ‘out of the way’ listings. I am on 60 Day Strict now, but wish it was even longer, because of the logistics and location of my listing.
Either way, you need to call them @sunshine1 because it appears something may be wrong with passed bookings, 7 days or no 7 days. No harm in applying for either the 30 or 60 Strict policy, they will at least listen.
Any idea what the difference was between a “strict 30 day” versus the “Super Strict 30 day”?
Do you think only certain regions had this option? I’ve only seen the 5 policies plus the long term one.
It appears the difference is, or was, in name only. The new verbiage is ‘Super Strict 30-Day’. It stands to reason that it was originally applied to really ‘out of the way places’ locales, not necessarily just being ‘foreign’ to the US. Most Airbnb places in Europe are certainly not out of the way, that’s for sure. How they determined who was who is a million dollar question.
I have a conference call with them this week, will ask if get the opportunity; it has always made me wondered why it was changed in the first place. 
OKay…now that is making sense. It’s the same 30 day policy, but before there was no “super” in front of it.
So now the million dollar question is…which policy did/does Sunshine have 
Yes, either way it merits a call.
In fact get this: I had a cancellation (which I always welcome, my rare break times), because of ‘unable to get a Visa in time’; the guest said “I realize I am unfortunately within the 30 days time frame and not entitled to the 2nd 50%, but would you consider refunded it”. I checked their listing and said 7-days! They were on 30 days originally. The upshot is I refunded them gladly, I used the 3 days to make some cool looking colored pavers for the island between buildings, which was dying to do. Everyone happy.
No, I don’t think Airbnb is trying to be slick, just make things more uniform as they get bigger and bigger, and yes strange things tend to happen in the process.
I just booked a hotel for my brother where if I cancel within 72 hours of the check-in date, the hotel keeps half the booking – that’s $1650. So we have reached a point where the Ritz Carlton (which in general, obsequiously caters to their guests) has a more strict cancellation policy than a single mom renting our her basement on AirBNB…
The restaurant I just reserved also has a cancellation policy of $25/per person (so my group of 7 will pay the restaurant $175 if we cancel on the same day).
Did you put down a credit card to reserve the restaurant?
Yes! In fact I made reservations for two restaurants this week and BOTH required my credit card. I feel like various industry standards are actually moving toward stricter cancellation policies and AIR is moving the other direction with hosts who have no inventory or leverage to rebook our spaces.
I’ve actually dined at two restaurants where I paid for my meal UPFRONT (including drink and wine pairings) when I made the reservation! Unbelievable, right?
This is in Chicago??
Yes. Both restaurants are run by Chef Grant Achatz (Alinea and Next) but there are many others in Chicago and in other cities. You purchase “tickets” to dine for a particular seating (weekends from 6-9 are most expensive, weeknights and early/late seating are a bit cheaper0. Since it’s a tasting menu you pay for the meal upfront and indicate whether you want wine or drink pairings. And since these menus cost anywhere from $90-195 per person (before wine) you better believe there aren’t 'no shows" anymore.
http://www.gq.com/story/dinner-reservations-high-end-dining
The guy who designed the ticketing software states that 2 no-show tables a night at Alinea (there were probably never that many but he’s making a point) would cost the restaurant $250,000/year. The bottom line here is that no-shows (or last-minute cancellations in our case) cost too much money and even the Ritz and Four Seasons have figured out that cancellations before 3 pm on day of arrival are a thing of the past.
Is Andy’s Jazz club still open? I’ll go there any day. 
I would love to eat at Alinea. Please let us know how you liked it.
It was a completely amazing and an incredibly fun 4.5 hour experience. I expected a fantastic meal, but I didn’t realize it was also going to be so fun and I had no idea that it could be analytically interesting. I know that sounds bizarre and bullshitty but I actually kept thinking about the meal for a long time because it raised these questions I’d never considered about food, taste, form, expectation, and memory.
It doesn’t sound bizarre and bullshitty at all. It sounds like you had a meal that stimulated not only your senses, but also your intellect. I can’t think of higher praise for a restaurant. Thank you for letting me know what it’s like to eat at Alinea.
EllenN,
I agree with you. I have a flexible policy because I get all the business I want. Making guests feel safe is good business to me. I get maybe one cancellation per 14 reservations and those are usually weeks ahead of time. Most times the open slot gets filled.
I have had customers send me emails saying they will never use AirBNB again due to the AirBNB fee not being refunded. My fees can get pretty big since my rate is $205/night plus upcharge for 3 or more guests. In fact, a friend of my daughter-in-law’s had to cancel a trip to see her (we’re just a few blocks away and DiL had a houseful), the DiL’s friend complained and I ended up sending a check for AirBNB’s fees. The woman canceled a full month ahead, so I was miffed that AirBNB felt entitled to keep the fees.
Guests are the paying end that makes this work. I am all for these changes. HOWEVER, AirBNB should put their money where their mouth is and keep their fees the same! After all more guests mean more fees!
chicagohost,
Actually Moderate beats the Ritz by 4 days, and Strict beats by nearly 12. I really don’t think giving some of the money back 30 days ahead is unusual. Even beach towns on the east coast usually ask for a small deposit that is nonrefundable 90 days ahead, not the full cost. The full cost is usually due 30 days ahead. So the strict policy seems pretty reasonable for rare, high-volume cases.
I have hear friends thinking about using AirBNB go with a hotel because the reservation price is collected immediately, allowing AirBNB to get interest on the float. More than one friend and guests have complained about how the fees are not refunded. Getting AirBNB to back off the fees is a great idea! I just wish they would put their money where their mouth is and keep the fees the same, more reservations means more fees. Refunds are electronic so the cost disappears behind a flood of zeros to the right of the decimal point! I really think AirBNB wants a higher fee and is hiding it this way.
I think you will find that restaurants that charge a cancellation fee, and the majority of hotels, are rare. In fact, I usually have to ask the hotel to take my card to save me a room if I am going to arrive after 6 PM. I find there are a lot of great restaurants that don’t so I go there, as I think most of AirBNB guests would do also.