Testing a new cancellation policy

[Debra300]

I am very excited to test a new beta cancellation policy, because it's more comparable to what's offered on other platforms and our own website.  For our guesthouse, we previously had to choose the strict policy, because the more guest-friendly moderate cancellation policy that provides full refunds up to five days before arrival would generally leave us almost no opportunity to get a space filled if a cancellation occurred within a few weeks of the arrival date.  This would be particularly disheartening when the cancellation was for a reservation had been on the books for months, and we knew that it prevented other potential bookings that would really have taken place.  Now with the beta cancellation being applied to some of our bookings, we will have a longer window of opportunity to get a replacement booking.  The impact may be that some guests will wait until closer to the arrival date, but that's probably best for most people due to the possibility of the sudden imposition of a travel restriction.

Have any of you seen it already?  Would you use it if it were available to you? @ Here are the screenshots.

@Ann72 @Ute42 @Melodie-And-John0 @Mark116 @Helen3 @Sarah977 @Anonymous @Jessica-and-Henry0 @Inna22 @Emilia42 @Lawrene0 @Cathie19 @Robin4 @Nick @Quincy @Colleen253 

[Ann72]

@Debra300  Thanks, I haven't seen it yet!

I'll have to give it some thought.  My booking lead time averages 56 days, so on the one hand, a full refund 30 days before might leave me high and dry; on the other, giving 50% up to 7 days before might be worse!  For every cancellation in 2020 I had a booking for the vacated dates in less than a day, which told me that people were saving the places or had searched those dates and got notified when they opened up.

I'll keep an eye out for it!

[Inna22]

@Debra300 I did a lot of thinking and decided against it. Here are my thoughts:

1. I have a big house that is usually booked by a big group. They plan ahead. My chance of rebooking 5 weeks before the trip is the same as a week before the trip (slim), at full price anyway. I would rather get my half guaranteed and can always rebook for half the price. 

2. If a group wants to cancel and they nothing back as far out as a month out, they will drive me nuts begging for a refund (with airbnb's help, I am sure)

3. I want people to book when they made up their mind. No place holders. Because I cater to groups and do not charge per person, they should still be able to make a booking decision even if a few people are undecided. I do not want someone booking it just in case or worse, shopping around as it gets closer to the time.

4. The quality of guests who book at the last minute is worse. I want planners who are coming for weddings, etc

I am not a marketer nor a professional operator so I could be completely off here.

[Debra300]

@Inna22, @Ann72

Thanks for your input.  Everyone host has different reasons for making their choices, and it's always insightful to hear the viewpoint of others.

As I mentioned before, it can be very difficult to get a replacement booking on short notice for the guesthouse spaces (unless it's the holidays or there is an event like Carnival or international cricket matches).

I didn't prefer the strict policy, because I thought it was rather inflexible for guests, but it was the only option to protect us from placeholder bookings.  Before we changed to the strict cancellation policy, it wasn't uncommon for guests to book several months in advance, and cancel on the last date for a full refund.  I changed to the strict policy and decided that it's better to have guests that waited until they were more confident about their travel plans before booking with us.  As a result, most of our Airbnb bookings are made within the 1-2 months preceding the arrival date, and we not had any cancellations.

I have a moderate cancellation policy for my Atlanta apartment, because I know that even if there is a cancellation it will get booked quickly.  This is fueled by the availability of a large pool of potential guests who can drive to my space.  Which is not the case on the rock.

[Cave0]

Well said

[Natalia-and-Benny0]

All very good points, @Inna22 @Debra300 .

We just experienced the new cancellation policy and we actually appreciated it for the autonomy it gives us as a host. 

The very nice guest booked 2 months and cancelled the day before the reservation. For our little airbnb in our small city, a cancellation like that on the old policy would almost certainly set us back. Instead there was a $2K payout that could make up half the loss.

Yet, we’re not unfair.  The new strict policy gave us the ability to negotiate a fair fee that showed compassion for the guest’s unsecured stay and provided us with at least some compensation as hosts. We all agreed that $500 was fair given the circumstances. The guest was appreciative and looking forward to her next stay with us. 

We think the strict policy should remain with the choice falling to the host of how to meet in the middle.  I can assure you, if it was a threatening guest who treats this service as a master-slave relationship without regard of its impact on hosts, we would allow the full 50% to be charged!

[Ann72]

@Debra300  On “the rock” - love it!

[Heather1086]

@Debra300  I got the beta offer and decided to opt in to see if it made a difference in my bookings between the two policies. Since it isn’t shown to all guests I am curious if there is an  Impact in bookings. I got a booking today after opting in and it is under the modified strict. 

I know with my property I can get rebooked within 30 days during the high season due to supply & demand.  I was thinking that if I was a traveler I’d probably be more likely to book with that policy, even though I wouldn’t continue to fish for a new place to stay.  I’m curious how it turns out and I can always opt out.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Debra300 

Since my target guest group was mainly exchange students, 3 of my 4~5 bookings per year fell under the long-term cancellation policy. While I don't think it would make much difference to me either way, I personally think the new policy will just let guests act MORE irresponsibly and use this policy as a place holder as @Inna22 mentioned. 

[Emilia42]

I am excited to hear about your experience with this @Debra300. It could be something I would use. I only wish that we were able to apply different cancelation policies throughout the year depending on the season or special event. 

[Ricardo85]

@Emilia42 

You can do this.

Just create two different listing with its own cancellation policy and block the calendar, so you do not have double bookings.

Listing A:  from Nov to Mar open and Policy X

Listing B:  from Apr to Oct open and Policy Y

Ricardo

[Sarah977]

I'll be interested to see how it goes for those of you who try it. My feeling is that as long as Airbnb has the power to hand out EC cancellations at their discretion, hosts will find that those "non-refundable" cancellations may indeed be cancelled with full refund.

My moderate policy has always worked fine for me because guests tend to book my place about 3 weeks- a month ahead, I've almost never had a guest cancel, and because I don't rely on the income, I really don't care much whether I end up with a few unbooked days. 

@Debra300 

[Debra300]

@Sarah977,

I agree that in non-US tourist destinations that cancellations are less likely when people book within a month of arrival, and I think the new strict cancellation policy will encourage people to book when they have high level of certainty about their travel plans.  Since my spaces can accommodate only small groups (1 to 5 persons), the 48 hour lead time setting that I have chosen is sufficient to ensure a space is ready for a stay. 

With the moderate cancellation policy I did experience a high rate (~40%) of cancellations that occurred less than one month in advance of arrival, and almost never got a replacement booking.  Guests were essentially making placeholder reservations several months in advance, and waiting to see if they would found something they liked better, or deciding if they were going to travel, before cancelling shortly before their arrival.  

[J-Renato0]

@Debra300 

In terms of short term rental, I think the strict cancelation policy is good to me. It is fair, for both host and guest.
The problem it was the extenuating cancelation. They fixed it.
I think I will keep on using the strict cancelation policy

[J-Renato0]

Meaning, I think the current cancelation policy is fair enough for both part, the guest and host.

Maybe in the future I change my opinion. So far I can not see a reason to consider that the new cancelation policy being tested is an improvement.