From what I’ve read, AirBNB is very pro-guest, particularly when it comes to weather related incidents and I’ve seen instances where they urged the host to refund money even though the guest could still access the property (in the instance of recent Texas flooding). When this host refused to do so, AirBNB stepped in and decided to refund the money to the guest. With Border issues, I’d assume that they consider that more guest responsibility to ensure they had proper paperwork or whatever. I’m curious to see how they handle your situation, please do update.
Billy Bob’s anecdote surprises me because my limited interaction with CS has indicated that they like us to bend over backward to accommodate guests so that they are more likely to continue using AirBNB in the future. I’m amazed they would be so punitive with a guest booking wrong dates and immediately correcting. It really underscores how they want us to accommodate guests with full refunds even when it falls outside the parameters of our cancellation policies but they stick to their own bottom line when it comes to their fees.