My case for why hosts make the best guests

Last minute change at work meant that our 4 night trip this weekend will be cut short to 1 night. The AIR system allowed me to modify my reservation by reducing 2 nights - a $680 refund. But knowing that the host wouldn’t be able to rent Sun-Wed at this last moment I asked my nanny if she wanted to stay at the beach cottage those nights as a treat to her and her kids. (After checking with the host that this was ok with her.)

Anyway, if I weren’t a host I would have just modified the reservation, collected my refund and not really thought about it. WWYD?

Well if that host has flexible cancellation more fool them anyway.

I stayed at this place last year when the elderly host was taking her husband to chemo so it’s not just a business (they use the income to pay their taxes, etc.)

I didn’t want to screw her over - she also normally only rents a week minimum in July and let me rent 4 nights. I just hope the weather is good for the nanny and her kids!

Yes so the best thing you could do for her is to recommend she changes her cancellation policy, to protect her from the next guest who doesn’t care!

Depends on your local market. If I didn’t have IB and flex cancellation, I’d get very few bookings. We all host in different environments.

Two years ago I took a driving trip and booked up 4 airbnbs for the trip. Just after I’d booked them I got an offer for a free place to stay and that changed the middle part of the trip. All the hosts had flexible or moderate cancellation policies and I contacted them at least two weeks before I was due to arrive. One host could have kept half my money and although I urged her to do so she insisted on a refund. All the hosts were kind, no one was snarky about it. I do think I would think twice about how my cancellation affected the host and eat the losses. I’ve started buying travel insurance and making other responsible choices instead of making my host pay for my issues.