Partial Payment

[Trang96]

Dear community, 

If a client elected to pay half now and half later but then she had to cancel her booking (way ahead of her actually booking date), was that money already charged to her credit card or not. And if so, does Airbnb automatically refund it because the booking was cancel? 

Thank you for all your help! 

Sincerely,

Trang

[Mary996]

Hi @Trang96 

May I ask ... what is your cancellation policy? Strict, moderate etc.?

[Trang96]

Hi @Mary996, 

My is moderate and her booking isn’t until July, so I am expecting her to get her full money back. I just didn’t know if it is the same with the partial payment. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Trang96 Wether or not money is refunded depends on the cancellation policy.

If the guest has paid 50% and the cancellation policy refunds 50% then no money will be refunded (except the cleaning fee) and no further charge will be taken.

If the guest has paid 50% and the cancellation policy refunds 100% then the 50% paid will be refunded and no further charge will be taken.

[Trang96]

@Mike-And-Jane0, thank you for the explanation. I get it now ^_^ 

[Sarah977]

@Trang96  The pay less up front option for guests is just a convenience for them, so they don't have to pay the whole shot at once. It doesn't affect the terms of the cancellation policy, which is based on the total nightly rate of the booking.

Unfortunately many guests don't understand this and get mad when they don't get back 50% of the 50% they paid up front if the policy in place means they are due 50% refund.

But because you have a moderate policy, and it's more than 5 days until check-in date, your guests will be refunded in full (but likely not the Airbnb service fee).

[Trang96]

@Sarah977 , thank you so much for your detailed explanation ❤️

[Mary996]

Glad you're feeling more confident now @Trang96 . It's tricky isn't it.

If you'd like to join in with serving other Hosts here at the Community you would be very welcome its a great way to get onto the ropes!! And more participation is so helpful to all. Did you survive lockdown ok?

[Edward654]

Does anyone know if it's something we have to do on our end as host or the customers end if there having problems with trying to get the partial payment option? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[Sarah977]

@Edward654  Hosts have no control over that. Not all bookings for all guests are offered that option by Airbnb. 

We aren't privy to why that is, but I don't think it's offered if the check-in date is close to the booking date. Which makes sense- if a guest can't afford to pay for the whole booking that's only 5 days away, they likely aren't guests you'd want anyway if they live so much on the edge. 

And I think the second payment is always charged about a week before check-in.

And maybe Airbnb doesn't offer it if a guest has had a payment issue in the past, or has a low guest rating, but that's just a guess. 

So just tell the guest that hosts have no ability to facilitate that- that Airbnb is in charge of the payment end. Hosts can't even see if a guest has only paid half up front. That info is not shared with hosts.