An update on changes to the Strict cancellation policy

[Lizzie]

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.  

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

[Frank403]

I've read through the first 5 pages of this discussion. I see no post in favor of the change.

[Nick387]

Not sure if your new strict policy still meets the 50% refund up to one week and 0% refund after that. Our policy remains the same. The 48 hour full refund sounds fine. We can work with that. Otherwise, we need to be paid if the renter cancels. Please clarify the terms of the new "Strict" policy.

N

[Ann10]

@

Sean- I didn't fall in line w everything ABB wanted me to do and after years of being on the 1st page. As a SH who is supposed to be making 22% more, I have now been relagated to who knows where on who knows what page, However, come May 1st, it won't matter. My ABB calendar will be blocked except for last minute bookings except listings where I can have Super Strict. 

My calendar used to be full w ABB reservations even when I started my quest to phase them out, but when I wouldn't do what they were pushing hard for they pushed me back. I guess they have decided they only want people who will do IB, SP, Moderate, 48 hours, or whatever demeaning nonsense "help" they want to dish out.  They don't need the rest of us, even if our calendars were booked solid w ABB guests. 

I began taking more risks, listened to the advice of Beyond Pricing, refused to be manipulated by ABB and voila my calendar is packed w VRBO bookings for months to come except one ABB that was booked months ago. I only have a couple of days here and there that are open. I really should trust BP more. ABB really brain washed me w those  scary all in red, you won't get booked at these rates on the calendar. Yes, I will and yes I did and for even more! So, take your price suggestions and go and w*nk it. 

In conclusion, no they don't give a hoot. Hosts are a dime a dozen to them. I was just reading all of these recent complaints from guests and some hosts on the BBB site. There are all these guests that got cancelled on last minute by the host and never got their money back or any help from ABB. One man was talking about $5000. I guess you can fool some of the people w this new policy, but there are a lot of pissed guests. I don't get it. How about just doing right by hosts and guests?  How hard is that? Don't be cold, be cool! 

[Ann10]

@Jameel And Zelena-I don't think you can create a listing without putting in an address. I know that you can put like a kinda fake or nearby address on a new listing until someone wants to book. Then you should put the real address in. After, the 1st booking, it is set in stone.

You are so right! Actions speak louder than words. There are a few issues that hosts need to stand their ground on, but everyone needs to shut it all down. Back in my dad's time it was called a strike, and the table was called collective bargaining. However, my dad told me not to use those terms at least not w Americans. 🙂

[Ann10]

@

Matthew- I've always used strict and super strict. Never had a problem getting or staying booked. Why would I want to change something that I already know works. My place is a rare find. I have found that I don't need ABB. I guess some people must if they are going to stick around for more mistreatment. I'm not doing moderate or 48 hours unless I post my place on a limited basis when it's too late to cancel. However, my place is almost booked solid for the foreseeable future, mostly w another site. I only have one ABB booking in July. Less ABB, means less risk. As you said, they don't have your back. They have shown me that over and over again. To much to go into. Cheers!

[Ann10]

@Lizzie-They would have had to have protected our information for legal reasons. It's a no brainer. I have positive results with my listing as is. That's why many of us do not want the change. I'm booked all the time. I don't want headaches. ABB is enough of a headache as it is. It's ABB's loss. Like Sean, I'm almost fully booked w a 60 day cancellation policy elsewhere. I only have 1 ABB bookiing in July. I believe this happened because even though I'm a SH who was always on the 1st page, my refusal to accept the stuff that was being forced on me, IB, SP, Moderate for BR, etc caused my listings to get pushed back. So, it looks like ABB cares more about power and control, than the income from me. Their loss is my gain. Higher per night bookings, better behaved guests, moral, ethical, and competent customer service, and less stress. This whole charade has been stressful. They already made up their minds with this alleged test group and they should have admitted it to us so we didn't all waste so much time. They weren't happy with the booked solid calendar from me month after month? Really stupid in my opinion. I guess controlling the hosts is more important than money. 

[Paul926]

Like many hosts I still DO NOT want this change and am now really angry that it is being imposed.

I was initally annoyed with this new addition. Now I'm just angry that hundreds of your top hosts have said they don't want it and IT IS STILL BEING IMPOSED!!

Us hosts can now look forward to the stupid impracticality of having to answer tons more unnecessary emails about 'why can i not see the address' and 'when do I find out the exact address" - not just from cancelling guest but from ALL guests.

It's not going to work. 

It's clear to all of us that this cancellation has NOTHING to do with increasing our business as hosts and to continue to try and insist on this is just embarrassing and to be honest patronising.

Why are guests allowed cancel but hosts get penalised with a fine? This alone undermines your entire logic on this. 

It's my home! It's not a hotel, that's the whole point of Airbnb. We choose who we allow to stay in our home. And honestly as a superhost of many years, this constant push from your company for me to make my home more and more 'desirable' is getting really infuriating. Every time I am working on the site I find you always telling me to lower prices, or that I can 'do better' by accepting more reservations. As hosts we work really **bleep** hard to make our place an amazing experience for our guests, ands we choose ourselves which guests we think are most suitable. It's not a question of volume. It's about selecting the right people. 

Many times people reserve my place without asking any questions, or reading my detailed description when it is totally unsuitable for them, and then my calander gets blocked out automatically (why?? ).

Now allowing this forced imposed cancellation is just adding another whole bag of unneccessary hoops for us to jump through that only serve to make our hosting experience more difficult and time consuming. I do not want to have to deal with added work from people who cannot commit to their dates, and ultimately don't even end up staying in my home. 

If you want to describe your business as a 'community' - it needs to be more than that in just name. Wake up. You're turning your main assests and source of income from happy hosts to disgruntled people having to spend their Sunday morning writing these angry emails only to feel like we're not being listened to. My 'how likely are you to reccomend airbnb' reviews have gone from 10 to 3 over this. 

Options to host should be:

Strict with grace period.

OR Strict no grace perod. (I'm pretty sure my bookings won't plummet by keeping my settings exactly as they have been for the past 5 years).

Options, sharing, listening, learning. All part of being a 'community'.

Thank you to everyone for sharing their thoughts on this.

[Helen3]

Hello @Lizzie

Thanks for letting us know about how Airbnb are planning to introduce the 48 hour free cancellation for guests.

I think what is so disappointing is that Airbnb have refused to listed to hosts on this important issue. I was shocked that the original post I made on this subject gained nearly 700 likes - I believe @Lizzie this is the highest number of likes for any post ever made on these forums, showing the strength of opposition to making the 48 hour cancellation free for guests mandatory. And then there were I think another fifty pages of comments. I don't think any supported this initiatve.

Airbnb are still planning to introduce the policy exactly how they were planning to do so in the first place, despite the overwhelming opposition of hosts who it will affect the most.

The only area that they have made a concession on, is not to disclose contact details of hosts, who have to opt in to having their addresses hidden.

They have done nothing to address the key concerns raised by hosts. Namely;

1.  This change is being imposted on hosts, and there is no option to opt out. What next Airbnb imposes instant book on all hosts? These are our properties and we should be able to choose how we manage them. Hosts choose a strict cancellation policy because we don't want to host guests who aren't sure about their travel arrangements. Guests who aren't sure have moderate and flexible to choose from.
2. 48 hours is far too long to block our calendars for. Why not make it 24 hours. That is long enough for a guest to realise they have made a mistake.

It is absolutely pointless us providing feedback only for Airbnb to completely ignore us.

There is no transparency around their decision making.

It is clear that hosts are a disposable commodity. Airbnb knows that if hosts decide to stop hosting, there will be hundreds more to take their place.

You can see by the fact they offer different/better terms to large scale property owners their focus is no longer on the individual hosts that made them what they are today, but a corporate host with multiple properties who see Airbnb as purely a commercial operation.

[Rob-And-Gen0]

Airbnb are making the same mistake that Holiday Rentals made years ago. Getting too big for your britches, over controlling, imposing ridiculous things on hosts -- some manager somewhere is trying to justify their salary. But what are they really doing ? Killing the geese that lay the golden eggs. Look at all the super hosts here who do NOT WANT THIS to go into effect. Why are you ignoring that ? We are the only reason that people trust your website. The kindness of good hosts is what makes any site appealing. 

What a terrible company to ignore all these amazing hosts and their needs and advice (how many say what I do -- we have plenty of bookings and are happy with the quality of the people we are getting, do not force us to accept flakes who cannot plan or read a website -- we do not want them). They are far too polite and kind in their words towards what I consider is essentially a sociopathic corporation dictating to everyone what hosts should do to rent their properties. How far you have fallen from your original ideals Airbnb. Greed - let greed be your downfall. 
The very idea that someone who has solid 5 star ratings for an entire winter ski season should be made to feel guilty because we do not appeal to business travelers for example (due to an outside door that is shared with others and has no code that we can give out for self check in -- no, I do not do self check in, I meet my guests and that is part of why they like the service I give and also what keeps my place CLEAN AND NOT DAMAGED -- because I meet my guests face to face). No --- I am not in a city and no we do not get business travelers in this market of skiing and hiking in the Alps. Your business model is becoming utterly idiotic and frentic and making us crazy.

The fact that you are trying to run every rental like it is based in NYC or Paris is going to be your undoing. Just watch ... hosts will leave the platform for whomever gives them better conditions and their calendars will start to be blocked out on Airbnb with rentals going elsewhere and Airbnb becoming a filler. And gradually the next "big thing" willl take over the market that you refused to listen to ...  

Sad. 

[Ann10]

@

Helen-Thank you for your awesome post! I was wondering, what terms do they offer big landlords? I know that in NYC people are only supposed to have one listing. However, there are ABB landlords w whole buildings which is against the law. These landlords are listed in the newspaper w name and address of the buildings and the authorities do nothing. It looks like ABB is also turning a blind eye.  However, they do come around to harass the little guys. I know this for a fact. 

[Nita7]

@Lizzie

I agree with all the other hosts that have tried to reason with AirBnb and found out our concerns are falling on deaf ears.   I am a superhost currently changing over to another hosting platform and as I said in the last forum about the new cancellation policy,  this forced change will not work for me.   Can't believe you are giving guests 3 chances to cancel a year.  Just insane to think that AirBnb would do this to hosts and drive them away!  The policy that is currently in place is not perfect but it is working pretty well for all who use it, not sure why AirBnB would change it except they have some misguided information that changing it will boost bookings and revenue.  Or as someone else has indicated, maybe someone in upper management thinks they need more money in their pocket.   

My current bookings were not booked under this new policy and I am not agreeing to it!  

If you read the updated terms https://www.airbnb.com/terms   Under section 3 you will see they have stated they will have the right to change the terms at any time without host approval.   They are going to force all hosts to agree to the new terms when they send their message out and you have to agree by June 27th, 2018.   

AirBnb chose to hear that the only problem was with information being given to guests in the 48 hours before and they think having a button to stop someone from getting your personal information during that time is the fix.   But if someone can cancel at anytime without penalty, up to three times, they can use the cancellation policy to do the same thing and get your information anyway!   And then create another profile and do it again!

Has anyone checked with attorneys on how this is legal?

I was a loyal AirBnb host, I hadn't even checked into another platform until this happened.   Now I'm moving on and from what I'm hearing from other hosts, I'm going to make more money anyway.  

Hosts, take comfort in knowing that AirBnb is going to be the big loser here...

[Thomas806]

Our primary concern is this:  the policy will further shorten our booking window i.e. we often have last minute bookings, a surprising number that occur Sunday evening c. 2-3 weeks before arrival date. By offering the cancellation option Abnb will prompt spontaneous bookings, but Hosts will have to deal with the consequence of cancellations and the reduced chance of obtaining a booking for those same dates.

In our circumstances the 48 hour period is not preferable. If it is considered so beneficial to Hosts, why are Abnb not allowing Hosts to make individual assessments and simply make this an optional check box.

Are we the only ones in this position?  

[Jeff158]

Its all about money.

My place is a cottage sleeping 4 with most bookings 1-3 months in advance, Min 3 nights and 7 nights July/August. My occupancy rates are the same each year.

I’ve had the 48hr grace period on my listing for nearly 5 months and these are my observations based on number of bookings, not nights booked:

2016 Airbnb and TA bookings were about the same.

2017 TA was my most popular booking engine with a 24hr grace period.

2018 Airbnb is my most popular booking engine with the 48hr grace period

I’ve had no cancellations within the Airbnb 48hr grace period and no cancellations within TAs 24hr grace

Period.

I can only conclude, this is the big boys toying with each other trying to find the best place in the market. It makes absolutely no difference to my occupancy rate but a big difference to Airbnb’s profits.

Whilst the 48 grace period has not effected my business yet, I’m 100% behind those it will effect and would be a lot happier if it was the same as below.

Airbnb already operates a “24hr grace period at least 30 days before arrival” it would be so simple to not discriminate against some HOSTS and use the same policy. We are supposedly a community of hosts.

 An experience is fully refundable if:

You cancel within 24 hours of reserving it.

You cancel at least 30 days before it’s scheduled to start.

You cancel due to an Extenuating Circumstances.

 what-is-the-experiences-cancellation-policy

[Ann10]

@Lizzie- Please can you provide a link to the old thread about this topic. I can't find it. 

Thank you so much!

[Sean119]

@Ann10 Re: New strict cancellation policy update