Has anyone signed up for this?
Old policy
New
2 Likes
I probably wouldā¦ 30 days notice seems fine to me. But it looks like itās not available to me yet
1 Like
Regional? I donāt know
To me, this seems like itās screwing hosts.
Before:
Full refund if guest cancels within 48-hours of booking AND at least 28-days before check-in. Otherwise, guest pays for 30 nights.
After:
Full refund if guest cancels at least 30-days before check-in.
Otherwise, guest pays for 30 nights.
Basically, the guest now gets any time more than 30-days before check-in for penalty-free cancel. If the host is offering only a 30-day minimum (like I would be), I just donāt see how this would be a benefit. Getting a 30-day+ reservation just 30 days before check-in seems improbable.
Maybe Iām wrong, but I doubt many 30-day+ reservations are booked less than 30 days before check-in. Itās almost impossible to believe since my pre-pandemic data showed my average stay of about 5 days was booked more than 50-days before check-in.
[Edit] Iām assuming, possibly incorrectly, that very few hosts offer the same listing for both short-term and long-term rentals since the laws and regulations tend to be very different between them. I guess there might be cases where that isnāt the case, and I would appreciate reading about such markets/listings/etc. that donāt have the crazy differences between short-term and long-term rentals.
3 Likes
This might also be good for places close to med centers. When my mom had cancer (sheās in great shape now!), she lived 20 minutes from her Midwestern university med center, but most of the other patients who were getting intensive therapy were coming or facing severe illness were coming from hundreds of miles away and often needed month-to-month housing.
3 Likes
It seems like a good option for hosts who want to offer that option. It always seemed a bit harsh to me for a guest to lose an entire monthās payment as long as they give sufficient notice to cancel. Thereās certainly a lot of noise from guests on other forums about this.
30 days notice seems reasonable to me.
That said, I donāt think a guest should ever be given an entirely full refund when cancelling, regardless of the cancellation policy. Just as Airbnb wonāt return the service fee if cancelled after the free cancellation period, I feel hosts should be able to retain a nominal amount to cover the time they spent answering a guestās questions, sending them info, etc. Like $25- $30.
5 Likes
Oh! Yeeesssss. I like that idea very much.
3 Likes
If you offered a 30-day minimum stay and a guest cancelled 30-days before check-in, do you think that would be reasonable? To be clear, Iām not arguing, I just want confirmation from that perspective, because I personally think that a cancellation 30-days prior would guarantee a lower occupancy rate [edit] for hosts restricted to 30-day or longer stays.
I really wish Airbnb would share more data with hosts, such as statistics on how far in advance bookings are for various length-of-stays. I might consider listing with them again if they did since Iām looking for ātenantsā again on Jan 1.
2 Likes
I donāt know, Iād have to think about that. It would seem to depend on how likely it was in the hostās location and market that they could get another long term booking for those dates. Iāve never offered long term stays- my max is two weeks. Iād consider a longer stay from a guest Iād had before and trusted, but Iād never accept a long term through Airbnb anyway, it would be a private arrangement.
In my market, guests tend to book two weeks to a month in advance. I could replace a cancelled booking a couple weeks out in high season, but not with a weekās notice. I know that from experience.
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Yeah, thatās my experience, too, but even though I had a max stay of 14 days, the max stay I ever hosted was 11 days. Data on advance notice for longer stays in my area would be incredibly useful, but Airbnb doesnāt provide it and there simply arenāt enough short-term-rentals that support 30-day-stays or more to even try to glean this data myself or get it from some 3rd party.
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I think youāre right; that person would not choose this option.
My minimum stay is 6 days, and I also accept longer stays, with three months being the longest so far. I have often thought that the strict cancellation policy for long-term stays is pretty harsh for my circumstance, and Iād be willing to take on a bit more risk if it meant a larger market. I think itās good that Airbnb is testing the question.
You questioned whether any hosts do both short- and longer-term bookings. I donāt do regular short term, because I donāt have the ability to do quick turnarounds. But Iāll happily take weekly bookings. Things are still weird because of Covid fears, but I think that it will be reasonable to expect that Iād rebook fairly readily.
You referred to the laws being very different, and I know thatās true in some places. In my province, the Residential Tenancy Act specifically doesnāt apply to vacation rentals, so when I am booking through Airbnb to someone who has a permanent residence, this is not a big concern. When I go off platform (even if it is to extend an Airbnb stay) I use the RTA āmutual agreement to end a tenancyā to lock in the move out dates. They are treated like a tenant in every other way.
Airbnb has so many different cancellation policies to fit the needs of different hosts; it just always struck me as odd that monthly stays didnāt have any other options.
2 Likes
Seems like I am always the odd-ball host. 
May-Oct short term rentals.
Nov-April 30 short term and/or >30 night snowbird/relocation/WFH nomad rentals. Same listing for both.
The demand for oceanfront STR continues in the off season. Iām not oceanfront so off season STR limited.
My high season is the exact opposite of yours. And if I didnāt mind having a full time roommate in my private room listing, which I do, or really needed the money I would do the same- May to October is dead season for my strs.
1 Like
I agree however it happens firmness quite regularly. Honestly, the change would rarely affect any of my 30 day or more bookings.
I have been given the option but currently closed all my listings due to exigent circumstances at ine if my listing gs recently.
I am ine if the one hosts. The only difference I see is the taxes. They are different fir month long bookings.
I LOVE this idea!!!
In this instance you are right. Nit reasonable. A host with this situation should not opt in.
This would be hard because the stats are different for different areas, types of listings, etc. too many variables to provide useful info. And my guess is that a majority of hosts wouldnāt care or read it anyways. I would just look at my own historical facts to determine the likeliness fir me and my situation, since that is what I care about anyways.
They want us to help them to market test their theory?
I kinda already do/have.
Regardless of booking platform I get a lease for rentals over 28 nights. My lease has a cancel with no penalty with 30 days notice clause.
Meaning:
cancel 31 days before stay starts -full
refund.
Booked for 90 days, on day 45 you can give 30 days notice and end the lease on day 75 and only pay to day 75.
So far it has worked out. I get rebooked either another LTR or a mix of STR & personal use.
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Airbnb isnāt messing about; they are simply allowing the hosts to beta test for them. Airbnb is trying to tap the market of remote work temporary relocations and other longer-term housing demand associated with pandemic travel and work/life reorganization.
See Airbnb ad page that says āNeed a sublet? Try monthly rentals insteadā
The hosts are expected to assume the risks. Savvy hosts will research tenant rights, be properly licensed and insured, and have LTR contracts. Other hosts will simply add LTR because Airbnb is selling it.
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Itās astounding to me that Airbnb is so clueless. I donāt think itās a matter of them doing these things on purpose, it seems to me they are just unable to follow a thought through to its logical conclusion.
If they really want to enccourage long term stays through their platform and capture that market, smart business sense would dictate that they make it attractive and secure for hosts to provide that type of housing.
Itās just like their new pet fee fiasco. They want to make it easy for guests to bring pets, but they institute it in a way that will result in formerly pet friendly hosts now switching to no pets.
Their increasingly useless CS department, that is ranted about endlessly all over social media and forums, by both hosts and guests, is really bad PR for them.
I honestly think the decision makers at Airbnb are stupid. It reminds me of people who think that Trump and his syncophants are somehow clever, have some magic tricks up their sleeves, and will get away with everything. When in fact they are operating on arrrogance, bullying tactics and a sense of entitlement, but are really quite stupid.