Guest cancel, moderate policy

1

Moderate

  • Guests can cancel until 5 days before check-in for a full refund, and you won’t be paid
  • If they cancel after that, you’ll be paid for each night they stay, plus 1 additional night, plus 50% for all unspent nights

edited. so I’ll be paid 50% for the reservation = unspent nights???

( My first question) So… they cancel 25 hours in advance, don’t come at all, 2 night booking, do I get any dough? It looks like they changed this wording…

edited, looks better for host than I thought

2

I have always had the moderate policy, and as far as I’m aware, nothing has changed. Guest cancels 25 hrs before check-in on a 4 night booking, you get paid one night in full and 50% for the other 3 nights. I’ve only ever had one cancellation after the 5 day window, and that was years ago, and that is exactly what I got paid.

1 Like
3

In that scenario, you get paid for 1.5 nights of the 2-night booking. If you have a cleaning fee, you won’t get that since the guest never checked in.

1 Like
4

Really? That means that airbnb thinks that the ‘cleaning fee’ is for after the guest leaves, and not to prepare for the incoming guest? It is a subtle but important distinction, no?

1 Like
5

Hosts have been complaining for years about the difference between a preparation fee and a cleaning fee.

1 Like
6

I think the assumption is that the place is clean and won’t need to be cleaned for the next guest.

It completely ignores the pre arrival work you had to go through such as buying perishable items like fruits, flowers, etc.

I don’t like that but I work around that with a firm cancellation policy.

1 Like
7

I know some hosts think of it as the preparation fee, but I don’t. It seems weird to me to be charging a “cleaning fee” to a guest to make sure the place is clean for their arrival, because of course an accommodation should be clean for a guest’s arrival, whether a host charges a cleaning fee or not.

I know it can be a bummer if a host has spent time preparing and cleaning the place only to have a guest cancel last minute, but that is one reason I don’t allow last minute reservations and leave a day between bookings for cleaning. And if they cancelled within the 5 days for my moderate cancellation policy, what I would get paid for not hosting, not having a guest using up utilities or amenities, would seem to me to make up for the pointless cleaning.

8

IMHO you got a cleaning fee from the previous guest which then prepares the room for the next guest (the hypothetical person canceling).

2 Likes
9

Yes, that’s how I’d look at it. And for those of us who don’t charge a cleaning fee at all and factor it into the nightly rate, it most definitely is an amount related to the booked guest, not cleaning up after the previous one.

2 Likes
10

Thank you for all of your responses! Now, still, I’m waiting for the note of guest cancelling to come from Air. This guests 2 day stay starts tomorrow.

11

If you haven’t been notified by Airbnb then why do you think it was cancelled? My experience is that you immediately get notified by Airbnb and then your calendar is opened.

Maybe the guest told you they were cancelling and then thought you would do it.
(Don’t ever cancel for a guest - you will get penalized.)

1 Like
12

I know not to cancel any guest, and I am waiting for her to do it if she is not coming. She is the one that mentioned cancelling. Text and Air messaging communications seem at a standstill at this point. I will be ready for her to come and will get $ either way so its not a problem.

update, she cancelled on her arrival day. Too much going on pre wedding. Also 4th-party covid, but she can’t use that (ec) as I have it in writing how far removed that is from her.

13

Nice excuse. How long does it take to click on “cancel”?

14

I have a guest who has just booked using the “non-refundable” IB option which gave them a discount.
Unfortunately they didn’t read the listing which very clearly states there is no parking available. They are arriving by car and asking where they can park. [there are some public car parks in the city but very expensive. Long term airport parking is also an option].
I would like to advise them to cancel but I don’t know if they can even do that since they booked using the non-refundable option. I have replied explaining the fact there is no parking, but no response from them yet.
Any ideas on how to resolve this?

15

Non-refundable and they didn’t read. Just tell them that AS YOU CLEARLY STATED IN THE LISTING there is no parking. It’s not your fault they didn’t read. Even if they cancel you will get your money, and they won’t be able to review you.

DO NOT CANCEL FOR THEM. Tell them THEY have to cancel it, not you. Maybe they will learn to read listings.

2 Likes
16

Any guest can cancel, for any or no reason- the ability to cancel has nothing to do with the cancellation policy.

It’s just a matter of how much they are entitled to get back, in this case, nothing.

So it’s up to you if you want to give them any refund.

Honestly, I don’t know why any host would use the non-refundable option, since guests are not willing to accept the consequences if they have to cancel, and Airbnb also can and has overridden that policy when the guest gives them some sob story.

The only time a non-refundable option would make sense for a host is if the host has full control over refunds.

1 Like
17

Yes - I guess I’m concerned that they might find some expensive parking option (because they don’t want to waste the fee they’ve already paid), and arrive in a bad mood and give me a low rating. Anyway, we’ll see what happens, I’ll just wait for them to decide by themselves.

1 Like