Cancellation

[Tom3321]

I messed up my calendar and have a family member scheduled for a visit the same time as a guest. The reservation is 16 days from now and I had promised the family member back at Christmas. What is proper procedure for cancelling the Airbnb guest. Never happened before and am quite embarrassed by my mistake. Will this impact my recently acquired Super Host status?

[Helen744]

@Tom3321 If you use Ib instant book then message the guest asap and also offer to reschedule them at another time,.Also look for a local place similar to yours that has those days open and suggest they book there possibly .You should be allowed three free cancellations with IB, but I suggest that in future you use the calendar to block days manually for family members visits. You may receive a penalty for cancelling as you no doubt realise that the coming guest will be inconvenienced a great  deal.., any residual days will also be blocked.... H

[Tom3321 · Accepted solution]

Thank you to everyone who took the time to help educate me on the options and problems with cancelling. I have been able to make other arrangements with my family member and will not need to cancel the guest. A win win!! Thanks again, nice to know there are folks out there able to offer support and guidance!

Best,

Tom

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Tom3321 Great result especially as I forgot to mention that by cancelling you would get a message in place of a review saying 'XXX cancelled 15 days prior to arrival' which would certainly put off many future guests.

[Jenny]

Hi @Tom3321 

Glad you were able to get things sorted!  You're always welcome to pop back in future if you could use any more support or guidance along the way!

Thanks to @Mike-And-Jane0, @Joelle43, @Nur785, and @Helen744 for your awesome support as always!

Jenny

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Tom3321 The advice given by @Helen744 is technically wrong as you don't qualify for an Instant Book cancellation. If you cancel you will be fined and the dates blocked (not that the latter will be an issue). You will lose Superhost status as your cancellation rate will likely exceed 1%.

Ideally ask the relative to reschedule - It will be far less damaging in the long run.

[Nur785]

@Tom3321 

I would ask the family member to book an airbnb in the same are and would pay for their booking. I think it's less of a hit to pay for the booking of a family member than to have to cancel on a guest in the long run. 

[Joelle43]

Hello @Tom3321 

So that you have the official version of what it will cost you to cancel a guest reservation, here is a link that explains the financial and personal costs of doing so:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990

There is another link that concerns hosts that have IB switched on and although you are entitled to 3 free cancellations a year, you have to have good reason to do so and cancelling a guest reservation in favour of a family stay is not one of them I'm afraid:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2022

All the best

Joëlle

[Fred13]

Glad to see your dilemma has worked out, I on the other hand have a reverse problem. I got a not-so-exciting family member that jumped on an open slot to my place (for a whole week!) to come visit and now I am trying to invent a 'phantom guest' to book the dates so they do not come to make it 'legit'. 😎