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I am currently a guest in a month long stay with a 50% discount. I want to depart three days early.
Will airbnb recalculate my bill up because of the 50% discount no longer applies?
Is there any advantage in advising the host early that I want to leave?
Is there any penalty for me in terms of hidden ratings / algorithms for guests who leave early?
Thank you
It’s unlikely that there is any benefit in changing your reservation by 3 days. A monthly discount on Airbnb is for 28 or more days so if you shorten your trip to fewer than 28 days your overall price will increase because the discount will no longer apply. So unless your stay is for 31 days and you decrease it by 3 days to 28 days you’ll end up paying more instead of less. How many days is your stay?
You should definitely tell your host that you want to leave early. If you want to change your reservation, they will have to approve it (but don’t have to). And even if you don’t change your reservation but leave early anyway, you should inform your host so that the property is not unattended without them knowing and so they don’t worry about what’s happened to you. It’s always best to communicate, it’s really the least that we can all expect of one another.
There isn’t any penalty beyond losing the monthly discount (and only then if you try to shorten your reservation), no hidden ratings or algorithms for leaving early.
Just advise the host that you are going to leave 3 days early, so they know the place will be empty, and don’t cancel or alter the booking. You booked for a month, the host got paid whatever they charge for a month, it doesn’t really matter whether you stay there the whole time. Sometimes guests book for a month, but go out of town for a few days during their stay- this is no different.
Why would there be penalties? You aren’t doing anything wrong, unless you tried to get a refund for the 3 days. Then things would get messy and make the host mad.
Thanks for your reply, and 29
I thought there might be a mechanism for airbnb to warn future hosts of potentially flakey guests, even though in this case the host just gets more time to clean for the next.
Ok, there is no benefit to trying to shorten your reservation. A reservation for 26 days will cost you almost twice as much as a reservation for 29 days.
You can depart early but do not expect any type of refund. As a courtsey, you should let your host know.
Personally, I would not enter the unit until your stay was over, even if you told me you were leaving early. So please, don’t leave any dirty dishes or stinky trash or anything that would attract ants in there when you leave 
There isn’t any thing flakey about cutting one’s stay short as long as a guest doesn’t then try to demand a refund (in which case you might get a bad review). Which I wouldn’t even characterize as flakey, rather more like scammy or entitled.
Flakey would be guests who make bookings only to cancel them and make a habit of that. Flakey is changing your ETA 5 times, or asking to alter dates you’ve booked more than once. Or negotiating for an early check-in, so the host rushes to get the place ready, only for the guest to not show up until 10pm.
It’s actually beneficial to the host if the place ends up empty for days they’ve already been paid for- it means that no one is using up utilities or amenities during that time, and as you said, gives them more time to clean . Just ask the host what he’d like you to do before leaving- as JJD said, you shouldn’t leave any garbage or dirty dishes in the house that could stink the place up, or food in the fridge, in case the host or their cleaner doesn’t get over there right away, and make sure the doors and windows are secured, and heat, AC, turned down and lights turned off (although the host may want you to leave a light or two on, so the place looks occupied to thieves).
@Andrew00 as a host I’m sure you know this already but just leave whenever you want. Just let the host know. No reason to change your booking.
I don’t think there is any refund or ‘recalculation’ even allowed.
Can you cancel a long-term Airbnb stay?
If you change or cancel a longer stay: Your first payment might be nonrefundable, depending on the listing and when the reservation is made. If you cancel after the trip has started, the following 30 nights of the reservation are nonrefundable. Your Host can choose to offer an additional refund.
The most courteous thing to do is – in my view – write the host on the app and say ‘I’m leaving three days early, even though I’m prepaid until the end, you can start cleaning early if you wish. I am not expecting any refund.’
Long term stays aren’t officially subject to being refunded, but that doesn’t stop some guests from giving Airbnb some sob story or lie and having a clueless rep refund them. (Or having a rep call and try to pressure the host to refund.) If that happens, and the host pursues it, that is often reversed, like other policy-ignoring decisions, but of course that’s a time-waster and hassle for the host.