Non-Refundable Option Illogically Applied to Last-Minute Bookings

[Brina1675]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to raise an issue I’ve noticed with the Non-Refundable (NR) option that doesn’t seem to make sense in practice.

The idea of NR is clear: guests get a small discount (e.g., 10%) in exchange for giving up cancellation flexibility. That’s logical when bookings are made weeks or months in advance- the guest makes a trade-off, and the host gets more security.

But here’s the problem: guests can still select the NR option when booking very close to check-in (same day or day before). At that point, the reservation is already non-refundable under the host’s cancellation policy because the refund window has closed. So:

1. The guest isn’t giving up anything — they already cannot cancel for a refund anyway.
2. They still receive the NR discount (e.g., 10% off).
3. The host loses revenue, while the NR feature provides no additional value for these cases.

In other words, the NR option is being applied in situations where it has no logical purpose.

I think Airbnb should restrict the NR option to bookings made at least a certain number of days before check-in (e.g., 5–7 days). That way, it only applies where there is a real choice between refundable and non-refundable, not when the booking is already non-refundable.

Has anyone else experienced this? Do you agree this is a design gap that Airbnb should address?

Thanks,
Brina

[Joan2709 · Accepted solution]

@Brina1675 

Airbnb does have restrictions on when the non-refundable option appears to guests and it only does until the Host's regular cancellation policy applies:

Cancellation Policies

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2600

You must be using the Flexible cancellation policy? (not something I recommend for most Hosts). The Host's cancellation policy and selection of NR determines when the non-refundable rate is offered. The Host chooses to use both those - not Airbnb. I suggest turning OFF NR if using the flexible cancellation policy, or change to the moderate cancellation policy if using NR. 

We don't use NR for several reasons:

1. The discount "stacks" on top of other discounts we might be using

2. Many guests don't seem to realize the reservation is non-refundable when booking; they just see the lower price. Then when they realize they can't get a refund when wanting to cancel, they start making up stuff to get a refund from Airbnb - not worth it for us.

Some Hosts do use NR, but NOT with Instant Book. When the guest sends the request to Book, the Host replies and mentions they have chosen the NR rate and asks if they wish to proceed with that, as they will not be able to cancel for a full refund. 

[Emilie]

Hi @Brina1675, 

Thank you for sharing your experience with us on the community. I was wondering if the information Joan pointed to helped you understand better why this policy worked the way it did?

If you still would like to suggest changes to it, I recommend you let the team know directly as well via our feedback form: https://www.airbnb.com/help/feedback

Have a lovely day 🙂

Emilie