I’m a bit irritated. I get that Airbnb is trying to be “proactive” regarding parties etc. My listing is empty the whole weekend though. Can’t even have a 2 nighter because if these restrictions, despite that the str is IN my house. Losing revenue and no work around that I can find. Could really use the $ but noooo.
We’re the same, but for different reasons.
No-one can actually get to us anymore, at least not until 9th November at the earliest. The whole Andalucían region is closed off and in addition to a curfew, our city will have a perimeter cordon from midnight tomorrow night.
Nobody in, nobody out.
JF
I have (had) two direct bookings this weekend, but one just cancelled and I opened up my calendar. I had not thought about Halloween and last minute bookings… Hopefully I re-book I told the cancelling guest I would give them another weekend if I did. This is a situation where it hopefully pays off to be on multiple platforms.
RR
So an hour after I opened up my calendar I had a AirBnb guest message saying they were getting messages from Air about saying they could not book because of a party risk/halloween. I pre approved them and an hour later heard the airbnb chime on my phone for a booking. I thought it was him and did not look into it.
When I got back to my computer I saw that it was someone else who instant booked. There was another message from the first guy saying he still could not book. The instant booker had 4 reviews, the denied booker had 0 reviews. I do not require prior reviews to IB, I have no requirements other than pulse and functioning credit card.
I am sure the denied guest would have been fine, and feel bad that Air decided for me not to host him.
RR
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I had words with a CSR rep… and wouldn’t you know- I just got a 2 night “last minute” booking even though the Csr said no exceptions
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I think the difference for me is one guest was more established, 4 reviews over the first guest with no reviews.
Well at least we both filled the weekend.
RR
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Both my places are empty, I’m quite annoyed at Airbnb. At one place my guests extended their existing stay until Saturday morning so I just have the Saturday available. At the other one both Friday and Saturday are available, but it’s slow season so normally I’d just rent it out for the Saturday night. I’m out about $500 as a result of this stupid policy. Nanny state Airbnb at it’s finest!
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No, you’re out five hundred bucks due to your poor decision making in respect of marketing.
JF
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If only you’d listened to @cooperjto earlier this year. He’d have warned you that maybe it’s time to move on.
With each post it has gotten too much like someone who just won’t leave an abusive relationship.
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Empty, as well. And no trick-or-treaters. This is a sad Halloween. 
Here’s my sad Halloween story.
Back when my oldest daughter was 5, we lived out in the country on a communal property. We ate really well, and my daughter didn’t get candy, she’d barely had any in her life. But we had friends in the city with two young sons, so I thought I’d let her experience trick or treating.
When I got to my friends’ house, their boys had already gone out, so I just walked up the block with my daughter, waiting on the sidewalk as she went up to the doors. After about the 5th house, she came walking back down the walkway, looking in her candy bag, which had maybe 10-15 pieces of candy in it and said “Whoa! That’s enough candy for me!”
We went back to my friends’ place and her boys had by then come back, and had their bags of candy dumped out on the floor- mountains of candy. The look on my daughter’s face when she saw that tore my heart. It was a loss of innocence and happiness for whatever comes your way- she had been completely thrilled with her candy haul, only to then have the impression that she’d somehow missed out.
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Halloween was definitely interesting. Our governor wanted all trick or treating done before dark… uhhhh okk. I tried reaching out on out neighborhood Facebook page to try and see when people planned on being ready with candy/ going out but it spawned several political spats and accusatory comments regarding spreading covid. The people that realized I was just wanted some more cohesive plan so no kids were left disappointed all came to an agreement on times. Way less houses this year than normal but my littles were excited and happy. After the last several months they deserved this bit of normalcy.
@muddy that IS sad. Thats how it is for my kids a lot around Christmas. We don’t do a crap ton of gifts. They will see or hear about others and my younger kids definitely get a bit green with envy but my older ones get it. Definitely a different perspective and makes me glad my kids are used to “less” because they are more appreciative for the small things.
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My relatively affluent neighborhood is a target for families from poorer ones on Halloween. I have always refused to participate because parents won’t let kids accept fruit, and I don’t believe in giving candy to kids, especially when they already have a full bag. I always turn the lights off, retreat to the back of the house, and don’t answer the door. When I had tenants upstairs I let them hand out candy in the front porch if they wanted.
I think that this misappropriated holiday (the Mexicans do All Saints the right way, as a family visiting family at the cemetery) in the US unfortunately teaches children that gorging on sugar is wonderful, when it’s really a way to lead them down the path of oversalted oversweetened processed “food” that leads to Type 2 diabetes, the reason I have cut way back on carbs (and lost 25 lbs since the New Year, with blood sugar back in normal range now).
Our city suggested that Trick or Treating would NOT be safe this year, so it was a VERY quiet night in the hood. Most families had parties at home. I noticed yesterday afternoon that Costco had pallets full of leftover Halloween packaged candy, which I’m sure will be discounted heavily to move it. After 10 months of a low carb mostly keto diet, I no longer crave sugar (stevia is my sweetener of choice) and am slowly reducing my craving for pasta, rice, and spuds.
The US and Europe need to get off the sugar train and eat more veggies and whole grains, like many of us are already doing. Removing 80% of refined carbs from our diets would reduce health costs for everyone, and folks would live longer with better health.
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I agree with you about diet, but I completely understand why parents won’t let kids accept fruit. Fruit is too easily adulterated and not reliably safe. Many parents I know are great about portioning out Halloween candy very slowly to their kids, like a piece per day. I do think, on the topic of diet, that the two biggest problems are poverty and a steady diet of fast food. Halloween candy can be managed.
Stores often have lots of candy left after Halloween and Easter. Perhaps there’s more left this year. I don’t know. I don’t go to stores because of the pandemic.
And I’m not comfortable about your phrase that your neighborhood is “a target for families from poorer ones.” The word “target” bothers me the most. I’m sure that some of the trick-or-treat kids (and families) we see aren’t from our neighborhood, and I’m fine with that. If their neighborhoods are too poor to give out candy, I’m happy to include them.
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Actually this is a “thing” and was when I lived in Canada as well. Kids used to want to go trick or treating in wealthier neighborhoods not because people were too poor to give out candy in their own, but because the people in the wealthier areas tended to give out more and “better” candy. Like whole candy bars and Hershey’s kisses instead of individual pieces of inexpensive stuff.
I still don’t have a problem with that.
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You’re not wrong… I do have one place on VRBO with some success, and have been cultivating more direct bookings, but Airbnb is still far and away the biggest player in my city. It’s profitable for me to continue to list on Airbnb despite their poor treatment of hosts, and I’ll still hold them to account for boneheaded decisions.
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I’ve never been big on trick or treating at my home as an adult and it’s not been that popular on my street because I do not live on an affluent street.
At the high school where I taught students and staff were allowed to dress up and I also gave candy out to my students. By the time I got home I was exhausted. If Halloween was on a weekend I wasn’t as exhausted but I still turned out the lights and unplugged the doorbell. It would be untenable with the dog boarding anyway.
Some of my costumes over the last 10 years of my career:
Now I usually have some candy on hand in case someone comes to the door anyway. This year trick or treating was forbidden and with soaring cases there was no one out at all testing it. All that said I like Halloween and put out some modest decorations. My Airbnb guests were delighted by them.
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Some hosts had entire WEEK LONG bookings cancelled by Air - merely because the 31st was in the timeframe. They can’t even keep their own story straight.
COMING SOON: New Years Booking Cancellations … Bet on it.
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You obviously know what you’re dealing with but you continually complain and expect something to change or sympathy?
Since profit is your primary motivation, you might be bringing much of this on yourself.
While I don’t have the number of listings you have, I’ve not experienced “poor treatment” of hosts. But then I accept the contract terms I agreed to, I understand the limitations a corporation has, and I work within those.
If you put positive energy out, you might find it comes back to you.
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