Full payment due up front

[Tracy862]

My husband and I booked an Airbnb for the month of October. The full amount of $4,000+ was immediately charged to our credit card. I called to find out how we could make payments, considering that we are senior citizens on a fixed income. I was told that the host could cancel our reservation, then we could rebook with the option to split a payment. The host agreed so I called back for assistance with rebooking. A different agent told me that split payments were not permitted unless one booked a stay for 31 days - our stay is 31 days. Two agents gave me two different answers. And...we are still out a whole lot of money for several months. I don't know why Airbnb gets to earn interest on my money while I either need to pay it off by depleting a bank account or make credit card payments and pay interest. I understand that my trip is my choice, but this seems an unfair policy. I wanted to write an email to the company, but don't know how to do so.

[Pat271]

Here are the details on bookings like yours:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/245/pay-for-a-longterm-reservation

All bookings 28 days or more are subject to the above.

So, that means you have to pay for a full month up front, and the remainder a month or so after you check in.

If I were you, I would try to change the booking to 2 bookings: One for 27 days and the other for 4 days. For bookings less than 28 days, you should be given the option of splitting the payment into 2 installments. Not sure about the other 4 days; it might depend on the dollar amount whether it can be split or not.

How long ago did you make this reservation, and what is the cancellation policy? You may not be able to cancel without losing money if the cancellation policy is Strict. You can try to cancel online and it should tell you if there will be a cancellation fee before you actually cancel.

If it looks like there will be a cancellation fee, try calling CS back and have them do the 2 reservations. You can point them to the above link for the payment details on 28-or-more day bookings. Sometimes, CS is learning at the same time as the rest of us.

I agree with you that what you are asking is perfectly reasonable, and that Airbnb should be helping you to do this. I think it just has to be set up in a specific (if unintuitive) way.