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I saw someone post these ideas for changes to the new strict cancellation policy - and I thought they were very good and wanted to share them here:
AirBnB definitely should NOT release the private information – home address, phone number, etc. until it is a confirmed booking.
DO NOT tie up the calendar – make it so guests have to check a box if they want the “cancellation” option – and if they check that box, leave the calendar open for other people to book who don’t need the “cancellation option”.
Charge a $15 “restocking” fee to guests who tie up a calendar and then cancel? With the proceeds going to the HOMEOWNER.
First time guests with no feedback/recommendations should NOT have the option of cancelling…it should only be available to guests with at least 3 previous reservations who have recieved thumbs up feedback from other hosts. In other words, this should be an earned privilege, not an automatic right.
#2 could actually be the idea that solves all problems. Just let guests check a “cancellation option” box and pay $15 more (or whatever amount). And leave the calendar open so if someone else books who doesn’t check the cancellation option - their booking will take precedence!
I love that idea!
#4 is also a great one - and it should be implemented no matter what they do
Love it all but they will never do it. Too much love for guests these days.
If anything, they will simply eliminate cancellation policies altogether. They have been whittling so called strict down to nothing. It’s now seven days. Anyone wanna take bets on three days?
It appears that all the various sites are picking the best and worst features of all of them and gradually cloning themselves into the same set of rules. Holding funds until 24 hours after check in, holding the security deposit, allowing easy cancellations…eventually they will all look like each other and more like a hotel accommodation market.
My impression of Air is they don’t want to be seen as the ’ cheap" option any more, which is why the ratings have become much stricter and difficult to maintain, the declines now being measured and the launch of “plus”. If a cheaper listing and a more expensive listing are the “same” amount of work and you make more from the expensive listing - why would you clutter the site with cheaper listings? I also wonder if the complaints come more from the lower end of the market?
#1 will probably happen. That’s a security issue and they won’t want the liability. #2 won’t happen. Sorry. That’s no different than not booking for 48 hours - how is it a booking if someone else can “steal” it our from under you? Would you book an airline flight if someone else could take it away from you? #3 - You can’t make that a set fee. $15? That’s less than 5% of one day for us - while it might be 50% of a day or more for others. #4 - May happen, but how does that help AirBnB get more booking fees?
I want to be an optimist, but I consider myself a realist. Air won’t do anything that doesn’t help their own pocket. They will be careful of creating a security risk - which creates a liability for them, which can hurt their own pocket…
When I left hosting in 2016, they were pushing us to drop our prices to rock bottom to grab the most bookings from a hotel. Sounds like they’re having second thoughts. Or trying to have it both ways: cheap listings and be seen as a classy company.
What about doing what hotels often do, you can book the non refundable for any reason (and claim on your own insurance if you have a legit emergency) at x price and book and room that is able to be cancelled up to a certain date at a premium. Hosts can then pick want they want and get extra $. My current guests (3 month booking) said they would never expect me to wear the cost of a cancellation ‘because you are not a hotel and shouldn’t be treated like one’. That says it all
Last year, I asked HomeAway’s management to consider Emily’s idea. It didn’t seem to go anywhere. I’m not sure why - they want us to be hotels, so why not offer the price structure of hotels?
I tried that with a guest that booked directly with us last year. Her options were $550 a night with a 60-day 100% refund, or $525 a night with a 25% cancellation fee. She decided to accept the higher price, saying “we never buy travel insurance”. She did not cancel and she arrives in a few weeks.
One data point does not prove anything, but it does support that guests look at us to provide travel insurance. I acknowledge that we never buy travel insurance, either, but we “self-insure” - take the hit ourselves if something goes wrong, or use our credit card’s travel insurance. AirBnB needs to push their credit card processor to cover Air’s accommodations along with the hotels they cover now - Air should have enough leverage to do that.
Do you have an estimate of the cost if she had purchased insurance through travel guard or insuremytrip? I would check but not sure how many days her reservation is for. Because the extra $25 she paid per night, could have gone towards the travel insurance. She’s covered 60 days out…but anything after that is on her anyway.
She paid me $125 more than if she just insured the downpayment ($1000) she would lose on the differences between my cancellation clauses. And you are right - if she had bought the insurance, she would also be covered for flights, luggage, etc. That’s why I was really surprised when she took the higher-priced option.
AirBnB did start letting guests wave the cancellation policy for a discount; I posted about it last month if you missed the thread: New feature: make your stay non-refundable
Unfortunately it probably only benefits AirBnB. I haven’t heard how this policy plays out yet, but I imagine your calendar is tied up, and if someone cancels, AirBnB keeps the money and you have to find another booking at the last minute.
This is exactly what happened to me. I ate sh*t and had to cancel part of my Christmas plans because I wrote a check so the guest could save her trip. It was so late no one else could book that prime time. It was a payout of $2028 for a booking that had been held for months.
I am mulling over ideas about what to do this year.
—require all Christmas and New Year bookings to have travel insurance and/or sign an additional rental agreement.
—state in the listing I am only taking holiday week reservations “offline,” and let them work out what that means. By then I will have my direct booking website in place.
—Block it off and have another guest free holiday. Which was frankly, quite wonderful!
Do y’all know that Abnb has a strict and super strict policy available only to the corpoarte hosts which does not refund anything for cancelletions 30 or 60 days before check in respectively.We are the ones who need that, not people with 100 properties.
And since the majority of Abnb bookings are made less than 2 months out,
The corporate hosrs will never lose a dime.
Take a look at the current cancellation policies and allow blood to start boilong.
AJMartin1
Do y’all know that Abnb has a strict and super strict policy available only to the corpoarte hosts which does not refund anything for cancelletions 30 or 60 days before check in respectively.We are the ones who need that, not people with 100 properties
The strict and super-strict are not just for the corporate hosts. Many of my neighbors have those policies for their properties, and they own one or two properties (second homes in a vacation area) You also pay a higher percent to AirBnB. I think it is 5%. I’ve heard you call AirBnB up and ask for it.
I was thinking the same, guest must be a bit dim. No idea why people travel without travel insurance. It’s not just about the basics going wrong, I think of my family having to travel to me in case of dire medical emergency or worse, transporting my body home. It’s a small price for big piece of mind.
Not at all, I’ve had claims simple as can be! You just must make sure you read policy and know what evidence you need (police report, don’t leave airport without letter from airline verifying delayed flight/cancelled and WHY etc). Also if it’s a list of stolen valuable you need to show why it’s not claimable on home contents insurance. Travel insurance pays the difference.
@PitonView That was the % they quoted last year for hosts who wantedto use the strict cancellation policy.
The new super and super super strict ones are by invitation only. Someone with 2 expensive houses to rent might well qualify.
