Thanks @Emilie yes its far more often that guest cancel. I didn't have any cancellations prior to covid. I went live on February 7th 2020, booked up really fast, with no reviews, all with the Two Week cancelation policy. No guest canceled until March, the first covid wave. And most guest cancel way in advance. I was able to use the Flexible policy but six weeks into Covid and some guest were starting to ask questions the night before check in, if I had canoes, etc, as they were bargain hunting searching for discounted listings that were marked down the night before. So I think guest would be fine with the Two Week policy as that's still enough time to cancel and not likely some emergency or covid wave will be an issue. But they think anything can happen in a month. But, yes, it didn't take long for some guest to use the flexible policy as an opportunity to keep shopping for other listings.
I think Airbnb should try an prioritize being more accommodating to both guest and host. With the new summer roll out, Airbnb chooses a random week for them, if they click on a category, it shows listings hundreds of miles away. That's just trying to squeeze as much money out of guest as possible. And with host, they took away the Moderate Two Week policy that was the most popular for both host and guest, and industry standard. So having the Two Week cancelation policy could be much more useful for host.
I think guest are also catching on that Airbnb's policy is too much marketing. For example, Its a shame they don't offer the option for travel insurance before confirming the reservation. The bad host will still find ways to cancel the reservation using extenuating circumstances, so its more important that both the good host and guest are an option. But reality is that sometimes things happen, guest need to cancel, but both need to honor the agreement. Host need to be aware that guest have scheduled this time to travel, they have taken off work, or need the wifi and space for work, have booked flights, arranged pet sitters, purchased tickets, plan to attend some work conference, or medical treatment. I have guest who are in town for surgery. At the same time some guest don't read the listing, booking the wrong location, keep canceling, rebooking, changing dates, may expect more personal attention than the listing description, and as in my case there are always plenty of other listings available in my area, and guest should always have some kind of back up plan, because an AC or pipe could break. I've had power knocked out for 2 weeks from a minor storm. I was one of the last ones to be restored, while 90% of the area was recored within two days. That's also a part of Airbnb, guest may not get the listing they wanted, because of extenuating circumstances, or in very few cases not a good fit because guest have unrealistic expectations. But Two Week option would help both host and guest.
Sorry up early again this morning! 🙂
