Changing the price *before* booking

[Rachel1616]

Hi there. I was looking to book a home in Tokyo for an upcoming trip. I was promoted to making a booking inquiry and contact the host with any questions so I did. After getting the answers to my questions I decided to book the next day. However; when I went to book the listing was no longer on Airbnb. I reached out to the host who told me the listing would be back up shortly...it was but for double the original price for my dates. Why even prompt people to inquire about dates if a host can increase the price knowing you want to stay during that time? It doesn't seem like a fare policy, can anything be done? 

[Sarah977]

@Rachel1616  No there is nothing that can be done.  It's somewhat rude of the host not to honor the price that was listed when you inquired, but it's not against any policy. (Did you even communicate with the host about this? If not, ask if they would be willing to honor the price it was when you inquired). What you need to understand is that prices can change at any time, and that isn't just some Airbnb thing. You can be researching airline ticket prices for a certain date and then when you actually go to book it a day or two later, the price may have doubled. Most people know this, so if they see a great ticket price, they jump on it.

Another thing to be aware of is that hosts get tons of Inquiry messages, the majority of which don't go on to book. So hosts don't assume that an Inquiry is a solid booking at all, and wouldn't base their prices or other settings on an Inquiry message.

[Rachel1616]

Thanks! I just realized this forum is for hosts...how I found myself here I don't know lol my apologies for being where I shouldn't be. I would have booked but it ended up getting late, literally the next day it was gone...I definitely tried to "jump on it" lol. I reached out to the host and they told me to try booking later...I don't even know why they would say that unless they plan on changing the price again? Ugh anyways, thanks for answering me even though I am not a host- again no idea how I found this 😄

[Sarah977]

@Rachel1616 No apologies needed- both the Help and Hosting section here are totally open to both hosts and guests. I find it informative to see what issues guests have, and I know other hosts do, too. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Rachel1616 It may be that the host has smart pricing switched on in which case the listing will automatically flex its price according to Airbnb's algorithms as other properties get booked up.