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Airbnb has their own policy on “overstays”. Their policy will trump yours. They’re usually reluctant to charge unless you can prove an actual cost suffered due to the overstay.
8.2.2 You agree to leave the Accommodation no later than the checkout time that the Host specifies in the Listing or such other time as mutually agreed upon between you and the Host. If you stay past the agreed upon checkout time without the Host’s consent (“Overstay”), you no longer have a license to stay in the Accommodation and the Host is entitled to make you leave in a manner consistent with applicable law. In addition, you agree to pay, if requested by the Host, for each twenty-four (24) hour period (or any portion thereof) that you Overstay, an additional nightly fee of up to two (2) times the average nightly Listing Fee originally paid by you to cover the inconvenience suffered by the Host, plus all applicable Guest Fees, Taxes, and any legal expenses incurred by the Host to make you leave (collectively, “Overstay Fees”). Overstay Fees for late checkouts on the checkout date that do not impact upcoming bookings may be limited to the additional costs incurred by the Host as a result of such Overstay. If you Overstay at an Accommodation, you authorize Airbnb (via Airbnb Payments) to charge you to collect Overstay Fees. A Security Deposit, if required by a Host, may be applied to any Overstay Fees due for a Guest’s Overstay.
I moved my check out to 10 am because the 11 am folks were cramping my daily schedule. I wondered if I’d lose any bookings due to it but it doesn’t seem I have. My check in is 3 though. That 11 to 3 was four hours. @RebeccaF isn’t 10 to 4 six hours?
True but how many guests know this or will have read this? They are at least a little more likely to see the House Rule and be discouraged which is really the goal.
Mine is the same - 10am check out, 4pm check in, but bags can be dropped off from 10am and left with the cleaner.
Occasionally people are still there at 10am, but the cleaner just walks in and starts cleaning, because, after all, she has to finish everything to be Sparkling Clean for the new people.
I’m reviving the topic as my experience had a bit of a twist ,
Guests texted and said we’re checking out now, thanks for the stay…I was busy so went in with the new sheets, etc 25 mins later and found them hanging out on their cell phones. Asked them politely to leave now…they apologized saying they’d leave right away. I went in 25 mins later and they were still there enjoying hanging out.
I was firm this time and said you folks have to leave now as other guests are coming etc.
But, I felt pretty bad having to say that.
After reading this I think I’ll try picking up their luggage, helping them move and being the fussy old lady, or should I give them 3 mins instead of 25 after the “time to leave” message.
I also appreciate putting a late checkout fee in place as was discussed in the forum.
I didn’t re-read all of this old thread but it reminds me that one of the things I do at check out time if people aren’t gone yet is to turn off the internet. If they are using mine and just hanging back for that purpose, it helps them get out the door. Also, make sure the lock code stops working at check out time so they don’t get the idea to go have breakfast and come back at noon to get their stuff, use the restroom, etc.
I hope you let other hosts know about them staying after check out in your review.
I strongly believe staying past check out is a serious issue that warrants a 1* rating. It increases the cost of cleaning if you have cleaners waiting, and if the next guest cannot check in on time, Airbnb may give them a full refund (happened to me once).
I don’t offer these 1* reviews as my cleaners will not allow them to stay past check out time. They will start “helping” them carry their stuff outside and start the cleanign process. But this type of obstruction in cleaning deserves a 2 or 3* rating.
I think @jaquo does something similar. I rarely have late check outs and I don’t want to go in the room where guests might have their stuff. Also it’s a very small space (220sf). But if it were a whole house I might consider going in blithely and saying, “don’t mind me, I’ve just got to get started since the next guests will be here soon.”
Yep, that’s what I do. I go into the rental with all the bits and pieces I need to do the turnover then act surprised if the guests are still there.
I offer to help the guests to move their luggage and it’s all very friendly.
I do send an email on the evening before checkout thanking them for their stay, hoping that they had a great time, telling them to just ask me if there’s anything I can do to help their checkout run smoothly, hoping that they have a safe journey home and that housekeeping will commence in the morning at 11.05 am.
I appreciate reading host’s thoughts on these issues. I do in home hosting and early check in and late check out requests are becoming so regular. Today’s request for a late check out tomorrow was done in person and politely but is really pushing the limits (4hrs). There is a vast difference between requesting a luggage storage for those hours or using the host facilities, setting up at the dining table, doing meal prep and cooking, use of bathroom etc. I often consider a case by case basis based on guests known behaviour and the impact of my daily routine. With this request I will say no because of an incoming guest tomorrow and when the guest dedicated bathroom and bedroom is cleaned, do not want it used. Similarly I restrict use of my own private bathroom because of the extra cleaning and as a post covid strategy that keeps travellers separate and maybe safer. Even this concept is difficult for guests who repeatedly want to use my bathroom rather than their much more luxury allocated bathroom. I am entering vent territory now but gee, pushing back limits takes a lot of energy.
I made it easy on myself when I first started hosting (am also a homeshare host), blocking one night between bookings. At the time, I did it because I didn’t want to have to rush to turn over the guest room/bathroom in a few hours.
But it proved to be a good decision in other ways, too. My location is such that most guests fly into the city an hour away and take the bus here. (I’ve had 3 guests in 8 years arrive by car, and those rented it at the airport). Depending on where their flight is coming from, it could arrive anywhere from 9am to 6pm. Then it takes about 2 hrs to get out of the airport and bus here. And most flights out are anywhere from noon to 6 or 7.
So I have an 11am-11pm check-in, and 4pm checkout. If I don’t have a guest arriving the next morning, necessitating getting in to clean the previous afternoon, I don’t even care if a guest checks out later than 4.
So not only are guests happy to be able to check in whenever they arrive and not have to leave by 11am if their outbound flight isn’t until evening, I never have to deal with the stress of too late check-ins (I’m a night owl anyway, but most guests check in mid-late aft) or pokey guests who overstay check-out.
Of course I want to know the guests’ ETA so I don’t have to stay home all day waiting for them. But because most are flying, not driving, they never get here 7 hours later than what they told me. And if their flight is delayed, they’ve always been respectful about letting me know.
I know a lot of hosts want to maximize bookings, but no stress for me or my guests is preferable to me.
My guests almost never ask for late checkout, but I do offer it if no-one is incoming, an hour to 2 hours, ( no charge )and they are happy for my gesture even if they don’t have the time to stay.
If a guest asked for early arrival the answer is almost always no, because I’ve realized even though they think they will get here early it is almost always a later arrival than at 1st stated. I’m a pretty flexible host, I guess.
Thx Muddy, I also have a day inbetween in home hosting. And similar to your awareness of flight times etc, with train timetables here there is a 2hr gap between trains from 8am to 10am (departures from here) and 2pm to 4 pm (arrivals) most days. Given the trip takes 2hrs 20 minutes from the city, I wonder why guests cannot give an arrival time once on the train.
I appreciate hosts info on this forum hugely, so yesterday said no to the 4hr extension of check out request. I am often flexible but when guests expect too much I have to pull back some authority and autonomy.
I originally had 10am checkout and moved it to 11am but will revise that as it does impact the day. I am seriously considering putting a late check out fee on the listing like other hosts have done in various ways. Could be a clear message to guests about the importance of checkout.
My guests have all been good about that aside from the international ones who couldn’t get their phones to work here.
Even if they’ve given me their flight arrival time, it can take anywhere from half an hour to an hour and a half, depending on how many flights arrive around the same time, to work your way through immigration lineups, retrieve checked luggage, and go through customs.
I ask guests to whatsapp or call me when they finally are on the bus, so I have a heads up on when they will be arriving. I pick most of them up at the bus station here, so then they msg. me again when they arrive. (The bus also varies in timing, depending on traffic, highway construction, accidents, etc. And as the buses pass every 20 minutes at the airport, I have no idea what bus they might be on.)
I think it’s pretty rude of guests not to let you know when they’ve boarded to the train if you ask them to. Unless there is self-check in, which wouldn’t work at my place, I don’t understand guests who never consider the hosts having to stay home all day because the guest hasn’t given an accurate ETA.
Pam