Cancellation penalty

[Antony97]

We’ve been hosts for over four years and really enjoy the community feel to Airbnb.

Earlier this year we lost super host status as we had to cancel two bookings due to relocating.

This week we’ve had two guests cancel at our new apartment at the very last minute, with no explanation. We choose to have the most flexible booking arrangements, because we know circumstances can change, particularly as the cost of living crisis looms in the UK. 

What grates with the current system is it is going to take us a year to get superhost status back, due to our unforeseen circumstances, but there’s no comeback on guests blocking up potential bookings and cancelling with no message, no explanation.

Are others finding this happening more?

We’ve noticed recently an increase in the number of guests who don’t give feedback too. 

It’s just not feeling like a level playing field as a host at the mo 😕

[Huma0]

@Antony97 

Sorry to hear about that, but if you choose a flexible cancellation policy, then you need to be able to deal with guests cancelling last minute with no explanation. There are several cancellation policies available and you need to choose the one that actually works for you and it sounds like flexible doesn't.

I started off with moderate, as it sounded fair to me, but I found that guests were waiting until the absolute deadline to cancel, rather than cancelling as soon as they knew they had a change of plans/changed their minds. They do not think about the impact it has on the host. Their minds are focused on their own needs. So, they keep the reservation 'just in case' for as long as it doesn't cost them anything. This would happen more frequently during high seasons, meaning I lost out on who knows how many other bookings.

So, I changed to strict and never looked back. It did not affect my bookings and, also, you always have the choice to refund the guests extra if YOU feel like it, e.g. if they have a valid reason and you rebook the nights. In those cases, I'll always refund the guests extra, but not if I'm left with unbooked nights and out of pocket or the guests behaves badly.

Believe me, once they are not entitled to a full refund, they will DEFINITELY be in touch to explain why they needed to cancel!

[Helen3]

Hi @Antony97 

As the business owner it's up to you to set up a model that works for you.

I would never offer a flexible cancellation policy as it's much too risky for me. We don't get lots of last minute bookings where I live so I would be unlikely to fill my listing if the booking gets cancelled. @Antony97 

There's only no comeback on the guests because you have chosen to operate with a flexible policy. If you don't want to be at risk of last minute cancellations I would suggest you change your policy. If the guest wants to cover themselves they should take out travel insurance.

If you want guests to leave you a review and easy way to encourage this is to leave a review yourself.