Pay half now, pay half upfront

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I was just contacted by a guest who was wondering when her remaining payment would be made for a reservation that will commence in early February. I hadn’t noticed this and so did some searching and all I could find details on how the guest is charged 100% up front which is released to the guest 24 hours after check-in.

I contacted Airbnb to ask them about this and they said the guest had elected to pay half now and half later- so half at the time of booking and half approximately one week before the reservation starts.

I queried Airbnb with regards to this- what happens if you can’t get the remaining payment? They said they will contact the guest and if the guest doesnt pay they will cancel.

This to me seems kind of ridiculous- I have been holding this reservation in good faith for this guest since October in this instance- and then if they don’t pay, given I have a flexible cancellation policy, I’ll have to look for a new guest to fill those dates? REally doesn’t encourage hosts to have a flexible policy.

Apparently it’s only for certain guests from certain locations but the guest services person said she didn’t have a list of who it applies to.

Has anyone else come across this?

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It’s been discussed here previously. Search for those threads to see what was said.

I was offered this option for my booking in early March that I made in mid November. I didn’t select it so don’t know anything about it. My parameters were that time in advance and the booking while only one night is over $300. So I assume price is one component of the offer.

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@jodes - if you have a flexible cancellation policy, why are you worried? Even if they paid all of it when they booked, the guest could cancel and you’d still need to look for a new guest.

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Flexible cancellation policy is a good way to have blocked dates and lose money. Strict is the way to go IMHO…

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Hi Jodes
I think it has been an option available for a while. I used it for a booking in Malaysia last year and booked the property about 6 months in advance. 1 week before travel the balance was taken off.

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Where would we find the guests that still owe a balance? I thought it would be under reservations, but I don’t see it

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If you were on the Strict cancellation at least you’d be paid that 50% if they cancel.

I’ll hang onto my Strict policy until they pry it out of my cold dead hands. :wink:

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The question is who gets that first payment if the reservation is cancelled for not paying the second instalment???does airbnb pocket it or does it send it to the host? @jodes if you happen to call airbnb about that reservation can you please make this question to them? :slight_smile:

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It looks like they cover this in the last paragraph:

If Airbnb Payments is unable to collect any payment pursuant to these Pay Less Upfront Terms, you authorize Airbnb to cancel the booking on your behalf. If the booking is canceled, you will be refunded based on the Host’s cancellation policy. You acknowledge that you may incur fees for cancellations pursuant to the Host’s cancellation policy.

So if the host is Strict, the 50% goes to them, if Moderate or flexible the money would be returned to the guest.

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