Host cancelling stays in July

[Laura2592]

Part vent, part question

We had booked a house for a family stay over July 4th weekend in February. This is on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, near the water, about 2.5 hours from where we live in Western Maryland. Place belongs to a new-ish host, not a SH. It was cute and affordable so we took a chance.

On Friday I woke up to a message saying that the host had cancelled due to COVID-19. Currently, in our state we are on a stay at home but can travel within the bounds of the state for essential business. Our governor has said multiple times that he is looking to open the state up as soon as possible and is partnering with neighboring states for a possible opening in early June at the latest estimate. July 4th is not yet in danger as an occasion to cancel intrastate travel. My trip to Copenhagen mid-May? A different story. 

So I scrambled and booked another place-- I have people who are coming to town hell or high water and we have to have something for them to do--these are folks who want to come even now as their state does not have strict lockdown rules in place. I happened to look at the original listing again and the price had gone WAY up and was already booked for July 4th. Either the host wanted to use it for their own purpose or they thought they could make extra money on the holiday (perhaps the first holiday that many will be able to travel.)

Anyone seeing guests or hosts canceling them that far into the future? 

[Lawrene0]

How do you know it is booked, and not just blocked, @Laura2592 ? 

I ask because every time someone cancels here, or I cancel them, I block the dates. Just assuming that host is doing the same?

[Laura2592]

@Lawrene0  I don't know. But this host is not fully booked and that weekend has been blocked while others are still available. The price has also doubled per night from when we originally booked. 

[Emilia42]

@Laura2592 Isn't the weekend blocked because the host canceled? That is one of the penalities of host cancelations. You said this host is new-ish. My guess is she canceled because of COVID (I am currently losing reservations in August) and she is completely clueless not realizing she should be blocking off her entire calendar. Or she should have raised her price because she doesn't want anyone to book it. A lot of guests think that Airbnbs should be next to nothing because very few want to travel.

[Lisa723]

@Laura2592 we haven't canceled anything that far out yet, but are wrestling with it. It seems almost sure that to give our cleaners a safety buffer between stays some cancellations will be unavoidable, regardless of travel restrictions. Should we wait and hope the extenuating circumstances policy is extended, and/or guests self-cancel in sufficient number? Or unilaterally cancel now to maximize their advance notice? If we do the latter you can bet the first to be canceled will be large groups with members coming from multiple locations.

We have had guests cancel even into September, because their financial situation has abruptly changed for the worse and they can't afford to travel.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Laura2592 

Many hosts are upset that guests are cancelling so it is interesting to see a guest upset that a host is cancelling. I guess there are not many happy people at the moment.

If the host cancelled I thought airbnb blocked the dates so unless they are on a second listing platform they should not be able to sell the dates again. It might be different rules under Covd - who knows

[Lawrene0]

I cancelled an April guest, @Mike-And-Jane0 , using the COVID-19 policy. The dates were blocked by the system as in normal times when a host cancellation goes through. But maybe if a host is cancelling leisure travel in favour of essential workers? Not sure how that works. 

[Laura2592]

@Mike-And-Jane0 we have actually had so many guests reach out and beg us not to cancel/thank us for not pre-emptively cancelling summer stays (and even stays in March before we were fully locked down.) I can imagine that it is very stressful for both sides of the house.

Right now we have our listing blocked until the end of the month but will not be cancelling any stays unless we are mandated to. We had hosted a few first responders this month but were getting lots of inquiries from people who wanted to come from NYC just as a change of scenery. We are just enjoying our place ourselves at the moment.  But as soon as the restrictions are listed we look forward to having our place open and booking again. 

[Kelly149]

@Laura2592 How can a price be listed for a blocked date?

[Laura2592]

@Kelly149 I am referring to the nightly price. It doubled from what we had originally booked. That date and a few other weekends are blocked but the calendar is still open for many others. And the price is higher to book per night (twice as high) as when we booked in February. 

[Kelly149]

@Laura2592  Ok, but if the dates are blocked & other dates are priced higher then that doesn’t necessarily mean that you were cancelled for the sake of more money, does it?

a lot has changed since February, it doesn’t necessarily seem nefarious to me that a host would expect a higher price to agree to have travelers in their home now given current conditions. (Risk exposure, cleaning protocols etc)

[Inna22]

@Laura2592 clearly a dishonest host who realized he/she was priced too low. Most likely got another offer, maybe not even through airbnb, cancelled you and booked them. Too bad these people give all of us a bad rep

[Ann783]

@Laura2592 I had a stay in May which the guest canceled- she was traveling from the UK and is no longer allowed to enter the US. I had to call Airbnb to cancel a stay in late May after I reached out to the guest and got no response. My home is 2 hours out of NYC and near beautiful beaches. NY has hinted that city pools and beaches may not open this summer. I’ve closed my calendar for now as the town my home is in has limited intensive care beds. I don’t want the community stressed by potential asymptomatic carriers looking for a break from city life. I also don’t want to be worried about a guest getting sick during their stay.