An update on changes to the Strict cancellation policy

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

An update on changes to the Strict cancellation policy

Hello everyone,

 

We recently announced that we’re updating our Strict cancellation policy. Starting May 1, 2018, guests will have the option to cancel for free within 48 hours of booking, as long as their check-in date is at least 14 days away.


In response to this announcement, many of you voiced concerns about Airbnb sharing your details with guests who may cancel. We take your privacy very seriously, so thank you for that feedback—it inspired important updates that give you more control over when your listing details and contact information are shared with guests.  

 

Here’s how we’re addressing your concerns

You can choose not to share your address, phone number, and last name with guests during the period that they can cancel for free. Guests will never see these details if they cancel their reservation during the free cancellation window.

 

To use this feature, go to Listing > Listing details > Edit location in your Airbnb account. Under Visibility for booked guests, check the box next to Share details with guests after the free cancellation period.  

 

Grace Period.png

 

 

 

This feature will be available to all hosts on May 1, regardless of their cancellation policy (Strict, Flexible, Moderate). And just in case you missed the announcement, here’s what’s changing for hosts who have a Strict cancellation policy:

 

  • Guests will get a full refund if they cancel within 48 hours of booking, as long as their check-in date is at least 14 days away. This means that even if a guest books a reservation months in advance, they’re only able to get a full refund if they cancel within the first 48 hours after booking.  
  • Guests can only get 3 full refunds per year. After that, guests will no longer be able to cancel for free.
  • To discourage guests from making multiple reservations for the same dates and then cancelling, overlapping reservations aren’t eligible for a full refund.

 

This change helps hosts with a Strict cancellation policy compete with listings that offer guests more flexibility. Guests feel more confident booking reservations that give them room to make changes or fix booking mistakes immediately. The updated policy gives guests this flexibility, but only for 48 hours after they book.

 

Airbnb is committed to the success of all hosts and we know changes impact how you work. We don’t make changes like these without extensive testing, and after we change the policy on May 1st, we’ll continue to monitor the impact by providing the grace period to a portion of guests before making it available to all guests. As we roll this out, we’ll continue to listen to your valuable feedback.

 

Thanks,

Lizzie


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Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

233 Replies 233
Steve143
Level 10
Limerick, Ireland

Hello @Lizzie,

 

For which hosts, if any, does "Manage Listing" still exist?

I know where to find the location information for my listing but why does Airbnb keep pointing people to the discontinued "Manage listing" procedure? It's confusing enough for community forum contributors trying to explain to new hosts that some help articles are wrong without having the same wrong instructions being mentioned here.

The help article below, for one, still references the now non-existant "Manage Listing" procedure.

 

What's a Guidebook?

 

Steve.

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Good spot @Steve143! I've now updated this in my text above.

 

I have also passed on your note about this appearing in the Help Center article, if you spot any more articles with this in it, please do let me know. This is a great help. 🙂

 

Thank you,

Lizzie

 


--------------------


Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

Chris959
Level 4
Bantry, Ireland

Looks like the other post has been consigned to the rubbish bin..... I can no longer add a cooment on it.

 

Basically not much listening or taking notice from on high then!

 

AirBnB love is a thing of the past. A sad but not suprising thing really.

 

 

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hello @Chris959,

 

The previous topic, is still open for comments so you should still be able respond there. Although, from my point of view, it would be handy to have everything in one place! 🙂

 

If you are unable to post there though, please let me know what you are experiencing as this should all be working as it previously was.

 

Let me know if you can.


Thanks,

Lizzie


--------------------


Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

Ben205
Level 10
Crewkerne, United Kingdom

@LizzieThis option isn't available for me (I'm on Moderate refund, but you say above it's for all hosts).

 

Your post raises another important issue that I didn't know about - how is it possible that guests can book multiple properties for the same date? They can't stay in 2 places at once (and are not allowed to book for other people), so this is clearly disadvantaging hosts and should not be allowed.

Shannon199
Level 10
California, United States

I see that Airbnb has changed the privacy settings to allow for some hosts to feel comfortable with the 48-hour cancellation period citing that Airbnb wants hosts with strict-cancellations to be able to compete with more flexible cancellations. 

 

However, I have extrodinary occupancy levels at strict cancellation policy. I have an extraordinary listing that surpasses my competition. The occupancy and nightly rates I receive reflect the extraordinary experience and service I provide. To impose this policy is an overereach. 

 

I do not want Airbnb to impose this policy on me and think it is unfair to hosts to not have a choice in the matter. 

 

This is by far the most concerning policy change, and on top of it, I am contending with local regulations being imposed. I had hoped to continue my Airbnb business, but now with all these things compounding, feel like I need to take a second look at the expansion of my business I had been plannng.

 

I am requesting, once again, that Airbnb not make a sweeping mandatory cancellation period. 

Neil23
Level 3
Ballachulish, United Kingdom

You should be aware, if you're not already, that there are many sites you can use to list and rent your property. Airbnb is only one. Other sites do not impose this kind of nonsense on their hosts. Indeed, on many sites you can manage your booking and cancellation policies however you like. For example, on other sites where I list my property, guests get a 50% refund if they cancel within 60 days, and none if they cancel within 30 days. I get lots of bookings from these sites. Airbnb needs to recognise that hosts have a choice, and we hosts need to use that choice to show Airbnb that if they keep pushing everything in their favour they will fail.

What are the names of other sites you've had good luck with? I'm definitely looking at ditching airbnb!!

I have to agree with Shannon in California. Having come from a 40 year, now retired hotel background I have seen the games guests play once they learn the cancellation game. As a small VR host and only offering two separate bungalows I cannot have a policy such as this and also jumping onto our other booking sites to block out reservations simply to learn that someone has decided to cancel when they should have made the committent before ever bookings. Hey, isn't that part of what Travel Insurance is for? I'd suggest that if a reservation is made so many months out then yes, they have 48 hours to cancel. If the reservation is made six weeks out then they have only 24 hours to cancel. If the reservation is made under the sixth week window then NO refund is given. 

 

Your wanting to change this policy might fit where you are in the UK, but I don't believe it to be globally acceptible. It is my experience that two main types of guests are out there. Those who shop based on being trifty and a bargain budget and those who shop based on unserpassed accommodations the reputation they have earned in delivering the utmost in quality and comfort. It seems to me Airbnb is favoring the thrifty budget shoppers most.  Rethink this. 

David126
Level 10
Como, CO

This not something that bothers me as I have always refunded in such situations, two weeks out is no problem but that is my business model. I can see others with different listings would find this a major issue.

 

So being able to opt out is an important feature that needs to be included for those that need it.

David
Shannon199
Level 10
California, United States

Overall, Airbnb trying to couch this in a way that makes it seem to the host's benefit, when it fact it's at the host's expense is concerning. The best option is to allow each host to make their own choice about their own business model so long as it's in line with fair business practices. 

Martin140
Level 4
Canary Islands, Spain

@Lizzie

With all respect, but out of all the issues and concerns people have brought up on the original thread, all Airbnb is willing to concede is that we will have an option to not share details for 48 hours with potentially cancelling guests.
Something that legally would have needed to be done anyway.
It is very clear that this is all going ahead as planned with complete and TOTAL disregard of your foundation, the Hosts!
I think it is a disgrace that we are getting this stuffed down our throats.
I have read so many motivations why this should not be done (any of it), but they are ALL ignored and till now I have not heard a single word from Airbnb why it should be done to begin with (apart from the ones that have been descredited here already.
The Airbnb format just got killed, welcome AirBookingBnb.com.
Anybody interested in starting a portal looking after hosts as well?
BTW, everything was already in 1 place, why create a new threat without an update.
This will turn in 20 pages in aminute.
Martin

 

Cor3
Level 10
Langerak, South Holland, Netherlands

Hi @Lizzie,

 

Thanks for the update.

As you will know (see my DM of last Saturday), this is exactly what I expected to be the outcome of the entire discussion. With the exception that Airbnb now seems to roll out this change gradually.

 

What I'm still wondering about is: Why is this change apparently so important to Airbnb?

What is the main business case to make this change?

 

I just switched on the new policy. So I can check what effect it has on our ranking, etc. (Actually half of our ‘competitors’ did already switch to the new policy in ‘our’ neighborhood – over the past month).

And also for me: I don't have the new box either (under location).

I only hope that this is not caused by the rapid change the developers had to make - in order to incorporate this additional change on such short notice.

Again this is somewhat proof for the change to be rushed in.

Ziyin0
Level 3
San Jose, CA

So if I understand correctly, the ONLY change they made after 50 pages of discussion and suggestion I see is: They made an option for hosts so we can choose to share the detail information only after the 48-HOUR free cancellation period expired. That's funny, because I'm not sure who wants to share their home details with the guest in this 48-HOUR period.

 

Not much of a change considering we disscussed for like 50 pages in the other thread New strict cancellation policy update.

 

Why is Airbnb forcing all the hosts on this 48-HOUR free cancellation policy? Like many hosts suggested in the other threadwhy not just add this one as an option?? Not every host needs or wants this, how can Airbnb not realize this after your "extensive testing"??? You have this under the cancellation policy so just add it to the drop down list, can your team go ahead and do an "extensive testing" on this? I bet you'll get a much better result and feed back from hosts.

 

You can make the "share of detail" an option for hosts, then you can make this Strict (Grace Period) policy an option too...

 

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Bertrand58
Level 5
California, United States

I selfishly hope that this grace "feature" will be rolled out last in my area, giving time to Airbnb powers to realize their mistake and ammend it. Checkbox in location section is not showing yet for me. I will monitor further this but I removed all security information from my listing as I am not taking a chance on this. 

 

-Grace should be an optional feature, or reduced to 24 hours or less.

-Double booking should not be possible

-Only one full refund a year authorized for guest.

-Cancellation by guests should show in the reviews history.

-Host should have one penalty free cancellation per year, to be fair.

 

 

I dislike Airbnb heavy handling of this and have listed my properties on other sites as a result. One size fits all is not a good strategy for such a diverse market...