Guest Cancellation Policy Update

[Lizzie]

Hello Everyone,

A few weeks ago Airbnb made changes to what guests see when they book and what happens when they cancel a booking, those changes were discussed here on the CC.

You can read more about the changes in this Help Center article. We also want to open a thread here on the Community Center, to continue the conversation. We appreciate how important it is that our host community is informed when changes happen on Airbnb, even when those changes are for your guests.

What changed for guests?

The names of the cancellation policies themselves haven’t changed, so the policy you set—Flexible, Moderate, or Strict—will still show up for your guests. However, now when a guest makes a booking, they’ll see more information explaining the terms and refund cut-off dates for the policy you’ve chosen. We also changed Airbnb’s existing policy so that we now refund Airbnb guest service fees for cancellations, up to 3 times per year. This way, if a guest cancels within a fully-refundable window, the reservation—including guest service fees—will truly be fully refundable.

How will this affect me as a host?

This additional messaging for guests is meant to eliminate confusion about our cancellation policies and, ultimately, to encourage more bookings—especially for more flexible listings. The changes won’t affect refund cut-off dates, your payout, or your host fee. Guest cancellations are rare and we’ll continue to monitor this rate in light of the new changes.

Why did Airbnb make this change?

Through feedback and research, we’ve seen that guests often overlook the cancellation policy terms of the listing they book. This leads to confusion and frustration in the rare event that their plans must change. This added education is meant to help align guest and host expectations going into each booking.

I hope you find this information useful.

Thanks for your time.

Lizzie

[Queen-Sheba0]

This definitely helps a lot. Currently I have had a lot of last minute cancellation and overall my guest have been unaware of what the policies were when it can to cancelling. 

[David969]

How does this help a lot?  You could always set your cancellation policy to allow free cancellation at any time.  All this changes is that it forces all hosts to accept a more relaxed cancellation policy.

[Yvonne185]

I'm really delighted to read all these posts and larn that I am not the only one aggrieved by airbnb's support of the guest in 99% of instances.  Despite having hosted for over 4 years and maintained a great standard of reviews I often get the odd difficult guest and find myelf battling with airbnb to ensure that I am not left out of pocket due to cancellations/bad reviews. In light of all of the above comments, whilst it is no consolatioon that airbnb can be unerasonbable at times, it is consolation that this beheviour is not isolated. 

[Maggie219]

I am wondering if the cancellation Policy applies to 'Experiences'  as well as hosting, because I just had someone cancel an 'Experience'20 minutes priorto the start of the workshop. I need to know what the refund policy is and how I can ammend it, edit it, and embed this new information into the blurb for my 'Experience'.

Maggie

[Leslie174]

Can some one shed some light on how the canceled guest gets refunded?  I've a cancelation that is about a month out, I haven't been paid any money yet, I am a flexible cancelation policy person so they should get it all back but when I go to the reservations part to "pay guests" it looks like the payment comes out of MY checking account, not funds credited back from AirBnB.  

Can some one help me understand how crediting back funds works when you haven't received a dime?

Do I need to wait until their check in date to give them a refund?

Thanks,

Leslie

[Jeanette61]

Who cancelled the reservation - you or the guest? Hosts generally do not get paid until the guest checks in - ie Airbnb is the third party that holds the money and dispurses it when all of the appropriate conditions are met - both at check in and at cancellation.   In circumstances where there is a cancellation - within the perscribed limits set by the host,  it is always Airbnb who refunds the money not the host.  

[Barbara540]

Jeanette's response brings up an important point...I learned very early to NOT cancel a reservation for a guest if I am hosting. You will likely not get paid. Always insist that the guest do the legwork on any cancellation. That way, all your set policies will apply. If you cancel as a host, you are basically indicating you do not have accommodations to complete the contract for the date requested.

[Brenda122]

I made the mistake of canceling on behalf of a guest early on another conciquence was the dates were blocked by Airbnb on my calendar so I could not rebook these dates and they were in August always the guest should cancel themselves 

[Thomas391]

Hi Barbara...you are spot on with the ethic of making the guest do the "legwork" as it keeps your record clean. It's a black mark (my humble opinion) against any host who initiates the cancellation (other than in extreme circumstances).

[Maria730]

And, it could affect your "SuperHost Status", even if it was at the guest's request. Good point Barbara!

[Sarah3909]

We run experiences and I can't see how to set our cancellation policy for listings? In the 'Help' article it says: 

To change your cancellation policy:

1. Go to Listings and select the listing you want to change
2. Click Booking settings
3. Under Policies, go to Cancellation policy and click Edit
4. Select a policy, then click Save

but under Booking Settings there is no 'Policies' option and nowhere to choose which setting we have. Can anyone help please?

[David969]

When I choose listings I see my AirBnB listings.  If I choose one of them I have two top level menus: Listing and Booking Settings.  Under Booking Settings my third option is cancellation policy.

[David969]

 

[Thomas391]

Personally, I love the new approach to informing possible guests of the cancellation policies. I have had a few issues with some that play the "I didn't know" game, and being lucky to have a popular venue, I remain on the side of the "strict" cancellation policy. This way all parties understand the playing field and the rules right up front. Best to all of you!