Is it possible for a host to extend guest's stay?

[Tae1]

Hi everyone,

Can anyone guide me through the process of extending guest's stay? My guest is currently staying in my room and need additional night, how can I do this as a host?

I cannot alter the reservation in reservation page since the arrival date has already passed.

Thank you in advance 🙂

[Sarah977]

@Christine1  Thank you for your nice response. I guess I did misread some of your comments, I apologize. But as far as what Steve was asking, his guest had already completed, or was near the end of a 6 month stay through Airbnb for which airbnb received all the taxes and fees it charges. The guest was interested in renting for an additional 6 months. If the host likes this person, and the person has proven themselves trustworthy, I really don't see any reason why a host should be considered to be doing something nefarious or morally wrong by making a private lease agreement with the guest. As you said, your home is yours to control and manage as you wish. 

[Christine1]

@Sarah977, thank-you for your nice response!

It is fair to suggest that there is nothing morally wrong with what the Host is asking for or considering.

It is in fact a great question that @Steve482 has posted because this is a situation that almost all hosts will face at some time. So it's an excellent discussion point. 

My only intention was to highlight a range of issues related to business considerations and the potential implications that flow from our choices.

I am a pretty cautious Host, but overall I have a great time, and I am busy enough with guests who book through the site.

I have had these enquiries a number of times from guests who book long stays and repeat visits. In all cases where I have politely explained that I only do business via Airbnb, and explain a couple of the benefits to guests and myself, guests have continued to rebook online.

One time that was not the case, and I thought a little about the reason for their alternate venue. But then the guest rebooked all subsequent stays here, explaining that my rooms were temporarily unavailable, so now they have returned to booking with a larger lead time.

Slight change in topic:

For what it's worth, I don't favour last minute discounts as I am of the view that they encourage a trend of last minute bookings across all platforms and for smaller operators that's not a helpful situation. If we want to promote ourselves as a premium high value product, then no matter what your basic seasonal price point, try to stick to it. Overall, this will demonstrate that in order to secure a booking with your listing or any Airbnb listing, it's best to book earlier as your booking will be secure and you won't save anything by waiting till the last minute. 

It takes a bit of nerve to stick to this policy as an individual operator, and certainly I speak from experience here. But at least it means that if I do get later bookings they are at the full tariff, and if not I can enjoy a short rest myself. Try to build your business over the long term. 

All hosts need some breaks if they are to protect themselves from burnout. Burnout can destroy your enjoyment in hosting and lead to resentment towards guests. This is a dangerous situation to be in. If you receive a healthy fair tariff from your guests, then you will be more philosophical about their needs and conduct at all points of the experience.

For me, I see a connection between all these issues which are related to tariffs and services. So I try to maintain and encourage a healthy balance, I avoid competing with other hosts based on price, while at the same time, if the need arises, I will educate guests to recognise and respect the fullness of what they receive in return for the payments they make to myself and Airbnb.

Get to know your target market, and be confident in developing and delivering your product and services. you will enjoy feeling successful as you see your decisions have a positive effect on your enterprise activities.

Best regards to all. 

Christine at Wombats Studio_Glenbrook

[Michal57]

Hello Tae.

I realize that this is an old thread but I just came across the same and solved it very easy way. For other hosts this will be beneficial.

One can send a Special Offer to guest on the required dates. Let's say the guest wants extra 2 days. If original checkout was let's say the 10th, then send Special Offer from 10th till 12th and choose the total price for all nights. Airbnb will then add their service fees. Be aware that no cleaning fee will be added, just the total price for all additional nights price the service fees. Vuala.

[Johanna292]

I don't see any way to send a special offer to a guest that is currently staying at the property, and who wants to extend their stay by one day. I would think this would be a fairly easy facility to incorporate and must happen relatively often..??

[Ron283]

@Johanna292  I'm kind of stuck in the same situation but on the opposite side of the street. I'm the guest and have a reservation coming up for two nights (host minimum) and need to stay an extra night now. There seems to be no functionality to do this whatsoever. Clicking "Change Dates" results in me having to select a new start and end date but as my two nights are already confirmed I cannot select them! (Airbnb programmers should be able to handle this with ease. I've been a developer for decades and it's easy.) I also can't book a separate one night (which is currently available) because of the host required two night minimum stay setting. So I'm totally stuck.

Yes, I messaged the host but worried that night will be taken before we get in touch.

[Sylvio-And-Carolina0]

The phone app is limited.  You can only extend a stay through your laptop.  Login as a host on Airbnb, go to your guest reservation details, go to Change Reservation, calendar, choose original check in date, and new check out date.  Then “send request”.

[Divya20]

You need to select the "original' check in date and the "new" check out date. 

Else there will always be an error. 

Plus, the guest needs to accept the  request. 🙂

[Alexia40]

Thank You @Divya20 , you literally saved the day. Your recommendation worked. 

You are the only one who actually said the right thing. 
Duly noted - select the "original' check in date and the "new" check out date.

Thank You So Much!!!

[Divya20]

Your very welcome! Spread love! 

[Divya20]

Your very welcome! Spread love! 

[Penny299]

I couldn't extend a guest reservation as the stay had already begun.

I tried both through the app and on the computer. It wouldn't let me pick the correct start date, and if I chose just the one extra night, it told me I had to pick 3 nights (that is my minimum setting).

I ended up just submitting a request for "other" payment through the resolutions centre. This is not ideal as you then have to manually block out the calendar, plus there is no record in the statistics of that night.

This needs to be sorted out, as this must happen relatively often.

[Aquila3]

I am in the middle of a 9 day stay and I want to extend the stay 3 weeks.  I confirmed the space is available for that time.  However, when I change the check out date to the later date, it says "check in date cannot be in the past."  And when I change the start date to the day the reservation ends it says "Reservation has already started. You cannot alter this reservation’s start date."  Why is this so darn complicated?  Shouldn't there simply be a "would you like extend" and "to what date" option.  This seems like the most basic option in the world and yet I cannot make this happen.

[Aimee187]

Here we are in 2023, searching for the same solution. 
I’d LOVE to know the reason behind not correcting this problem. There must be another side to this story. 

[Mike-And-Jane0 · Accepted solution]

@Aimee187 I am confused as we have had many guests who have modified their dates during the stay by using the change reservation function. BUT it needs to be done before the checkout day.

[Aimee187]

During the stay it might be relatively straightforward, but not so simple when the check out time has passed.