AirBnB Guest Payment Plan Option?

I’m a bit confused by the guests ability to pay using the AirBnB payment plan option. I just had a guest try to book using the payment plan and it was unavailable for them. They were trying to pay using a credit card and was inline with all the requirements listed in AirBnB help documentation in the link below. I’ll list them again here.

  • You choose to pay with a credit card, debit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Airbnb credits
  • You choose to pay with a currency other than the Indian rupee (INR). Read more if you’re paying with the Brazilian real (BRL).
  • The reservation has a total value of $50 USD or more, including taxes and fees
  • The day your reservation starts is at least 14 days in the future (how far ahead you need to book is determined by the listing’s cancellation policy)
  • The reservation isn’t a long-term stay (28 nights or more)
  • The reservation doesn’t use Airbnb for Work

The main point of contention being the “The day your reservation starts is at least 14 days in the future” bullet point. I have the flexible cancellation policy set which allows them to cancel up to 24 hours before checkin and allows for a full refund except fees. If it’s dependent on the cancellation fee setting, is the shortest amount of time in which a guest can use the payment plan feature when they make a booking at least 14 days or more before checkin? It appears that it’s just not possible to use it if booking say a week in advance. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks,
Sean

https://www.igms.com/airbnb-cancellation-policy/#:~:text=of%20policy%20selected.-,Flexible,14%20days%20before%20check-in.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2143/how-do-payment-plans-work#:~:text=The%20reservation%20has%20a%20total,stay%20(28%20nights%20or%20more)

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1696/payment-plan-terms#:~:text=The%20Payment%20Plan%20Feature%20allows,pay%20with%20certain%20Payment%20Methods.

Yes, this is correct, because Airbnb still collects the final payment several days before check-in. I don’t know the exact rules, but according to 2 different guests, the last payment was due about 9 days before check-in. I had flexible policy, too.

I believe that’s correct and I think it’s one of Airbnb’s better policies. For one thing, if a guest’s finances are such that they can’t come up with the entire payment a week before the check-in date, I wouldn’t really want a guest like that. If they break something, are they going to pay for it?

And if a guest pays half a week before check-in and isn’t charged the other half until a day before, it’s quite possible that there wouldn’t be funds in place to pay the other half and you might not be notified of that by Airbnb until the guest has already checked in.

I don’t know for sure, but perhaps if a guest has had payment issues in the past, Airbnb may not offer them the payment plan option, but neither the host nor the guest would likely be informed that was the reason.

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But meanwhile they blocked that booked time!

Yea, I think what you said make sense. Probably isn’t a good sign if they can’t pay a week in advance.