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I use a moderate policy for much the same reason. Also, I don’t rely on Airbnb as my main source of income. I don’t use the flexible option because I don’t want to go the trouble of cleaning the room, only to have the guest cancel last minute.
In over 3 years of hosting, I’ve only ever had 3 cancellations. 2 were made enough ahead of time that I was able to rebook, and the one that wasn’t (less than 5 days before check-in) I did get paid the 50% for.
This is the first I’ve heard of this. When will this take effect in the US? I doubt I could raise my prices enough to offset that.
Of course you can, it is the same price to the guests in the end.
RR
Not been notified of this in UK yet but don’t like it much!
Is this now all US hosts?
No, not yet anyway…
I can see the race to the bottom now, hosts will be too intimidated to raise their prices 12% and it will drive prices down overall.
RR
There isn’t any for the host and if you have all the business you want as you do, no reason to change.
As a guest I won’t stay anywhere with a strict policy if I can avoid it; especially at my age and during these uncertain times.
Using flexible or moderate could offer a competitive advantage to some hosts.
I agree
I am more busy now than ever, I have raised my prices and minimum stay, although I must say I am only booked out a few weeks in advance for the most part so people are not committing very far in advance. Although I have already booked thanksgiving, xmas and new years (4 day stays) (1 of two listings)
RR
I got different results than you, possibly due to rounding. I calculated to the penny and it looks like guests will pay less, but it’s insignificant. I used the average guest service fee of 14.2% that I found here on Airbnb’s website. [Edit: Based on Airbnb’s wording, I actually think 14.2% is the median not the average.]
Nightly rate: $100.00
Host Payout (97% of nightly rate): $97.00
Airbnb Commission (3% + 14.2% of nightly rate): $17.20
Hotel Tax (10% of nightly rate + fees): $11.42
Guest Pays: $125.62
Nightly Rate (adjusted to keep host payout the same as the split fee model): $114.12
Host Payout (85% of nightly rate): $97.00
Airbnb Commission (15% of nightly rate): $17.12
Hotel tax (10% of nightly rate + fees): $11.41
Guest Pays: $125.53
@Perimaud, have a look at the numbers above so you can see why it doesn’t matter and guests will pay the same as before.
Yes I see that - as long as I raise my rates to compensate, and other hosts in my area do the same, it will not hurt me.
Maybe I’m not reading your post right, but you seem to be contradicting yourself here, KKC. You say there isn’t any benefit to the host, but then say you don’t book places with a strict policy, so obviously the hosts who have moderate or flexible policies will get your business, so it would be a benefit to them to have it.
The and is what’s confusing, but I think this means “There isn’t any benefit to the host if the host has all the business he/she wants,” which is exactly what you mean.
What I’m trying to say is that RR should use strict. He has all the business he wants or needs. No need to have a guest friendly policy. I won’t book with a property with a strict policy and I might not be the only one. But so what? RR’s policy doesn’t hurt his business.
There is no benefit to a host to use anything but strict. I use flexible as a host because it fits my rental and my viewpoints.
I’ll be flexible for you:) . Go ahead and book!
RR
I might not rule you out. 
As long as it is a direct booking, I am strict too!
I still don’t get it. If you and other guests look for places that have moderate or flexible policies and book those instead of listings with a strict policy, how is that not a benefit to the host?
Well said. If we “miss out” on any bookings due to strict, that is just fine by us. There is nothing else in our town, and no other waterfront properties. We would be perfectly happy with weekend or “all week” bookings.
@muddy - you are missing the “and” part of the statement. KKC qualified the statement with “AND you have all the business you want [with a strict policy]”
If you have all the business you want with a strict policy, then there is no benefit to a less-strict policy.
Did you copy and paste this email? It is poorly written and has weird typos. Are you sure it’s for real? Looks strange to me…