Is there an unusually large number of cancellations happening? Three out of our last six bookings have cancelled, two of them the day after making the booking. We have great difficulty cancelling a booking as hosts, how come guests can do it with impunity, don’t they have to put their credit card payment in when they book?
Do you have a flexible cancellation policy? Unfortunately, that pretty much gives a guest autonomy to cancel penalty free up until 24 hours prior to reservation (I think).
Our very first guest booked our place for six nights, stayed two, then decided she would rather stay with her family, and got her money back for the remaining two nights (Air did require her to pay for the night she cancelled). She indicated that everything with the reservation was good and she didn’t have any issues with our place, she literally just decided she’d rather stay with family. Obviously we were pissed. That’s the freedom guests get with a flexible cancellation though! The guest had asked us a lot of questions about the cancellation policy prior to booking so we figured this was her plan all along - to block off almost a week at our place and from there pick and choose which nights she wanted to stay. So annoying and inconsiderate, but she was allowed to do this per the policy. This was Thanksgiving weekend and we lost out on three nights because of it.
I think sometimes guests will book a place with flexible cancellation, find something they like better, and simply cancel penalty-free to them. When I was on the phone with Air discussing the guest I mentioned, they kept suggesting I change my cancellation policy to strict. But when they deal with guests, they love to advertise the freedom and flexibility of Airbnb!
We still have a flexible cancellation policy for our listing. It’s what the majority of listings in our area have, and despite a few cancellations here and there it hasn’t been a huge problem for us. We’ve considered switching to moderate or strict but so far we’ve still gotten other bookings for the cancelled dates so it’s worked out for us. It just depends on where you’re located and the type of listing you have. Good luck moving forward! Hopefully these cancellations are a one-off thing for you.
No.
It depends what cancellation policy you have. Sometimes guests will book with a handful of places and choose which one they really want in a few hours or so. Or so I’ve been told.
2 Likes
Not for me, but I use Moderate and currently Strict Cancellation settings especially now that it is prime season in my area.
Glad that has worked out. BUT in the future I’d suggest that during your busy season or holidays, that you use Moderate or Strict. That should help mitigate what you experienced Thanksgiving.
2 Likes
It would be nice if air had more options for cancellation policies. We pretty much need to use Strict as Moderate would leave us hanging here and there.
1 Like
I’ve been having this experience, too! Lots of cancellations for the end of the month, or folks cancelling right after they book for Jan/Feb.
I wonder what’s up?
What’s up is most hosts slash their prices for unbooked days at the last minute, so your flexible cancellation policies help those hosts book your guests at cheap rates.