How to avoid cancellation fees and penalties!

[Andrew90]

If you cancel a confirmed reservation or Instant Book reservation the penalties can be significant ($100 Penalty, Loss of SuperHost eligibility for one year, impact to search results ranking, blocking of days on your calendar so you can’t re-book those dates among others.  In a few limited situations AirBNB will allow you to cancel without penalties due to extenuating circumstances.

The best way to not get hit with any cancellation fees is to NOT CANCEL. Here are some options to deal with that double booking, or other situation that does not fall into the “extenuating circumstances” bucket and or encourage the guest to cancel.  I ranked them in order of the best options to least attractive.

1. Contact guest and offer alternate dates. Offer discounts on future booking or whatever it takes!
2. Find alternate accommodations on AirBNB; by working with AirBNB you will avoid having the guest have to pay the AirBNB fees if they agree to cancel. I had no problem transferring the reservation the one time I tried this trick and there were no cancellation penalties of any kind. 
3. If guests travel plans are not flexible, and you can’t find a comparable on AirBNB, explain the situation to them and they may be willing to cancel and find other accommodations. Again the carrot (bribe) of future discounts may be an incentive and could cover any AirBNB fees.
4. Find alternate accommodations outside of Airbnb and work with the guest to HAVE THEM CANCEL the booking with you.

Last Resort if you must cancel, DON’T CANCEL USING THE ONLINE CANCELATION PROCESS as documented by AirBNB. I recommend ALWAYS CALLING AIRBNB so if you have a sob story and/or will be hoping for a one-time exception you will get it considered immediately and you will get a support case open that will allow you to communicate with AirBNB resolution team via email till things get sorted.

This is based on current cancellation policies AirBNB is changing things up and next year the cancellation policies are epxected to be changed and the penalties could be much worse.   However, one fo the changes is that guests will be refunded the AirBNB booking fees if cancelling more that 30 days out. this will make it much easier to implement options 2-3 as there will not be any penalties for guests cancelling and you want need to get AirBNB involved to faciliate the transfer to another property if you go with option 2 and it will make option 3 an easier sell with your guests. 

Hope this Helps!  Following these tips can keep your guests happy, AirBNB Happy and avoid any nasty host penalties. 

Happy Hosting

Andrew

Related Help Articles

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990/how-do-host-cancellation-penalties-work

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1320/what-is-airbnb-s-extenuating-circumstances-policy

[Scott-and-Sherryn0]

Posting tip on how to get around Airbnb policy on an Airbnb site forum? Next time you ring them with a sob story they may not be so gullible.

[Andrew90]

@Scott-and-Sherryn0 there is absolutely no violation of Airbnb policy or TOS. Just common sense on how to avoid cancellation penalties by working with your guests to find a solution other than leaving them in the lurch. 

[Scott-and-Sherryn0]

I don't see it that way, I would never ask a guest to cancel because I made a mistake and double booked especially as they don't get a full refund if they cancel. It's just unbusinness like IMO.

[Lisa293]

@Scott-and-Sherryn0 @Andrew90

This is my second post here.  We actually had this happen and followed these tips and came to a good resolution.  We started working with a new channel manager and there was a glitch that removed one night of a booking when we clicked on it.  That has been our only double booking since 2012.  

We contacted the guest and found them alternate similar accommodation and asked if they wanted to spend the 2 nights at the other property or come for the second night.  We offered them a free night either on this visit or on a future booking.  They came for the second night for a free stay and were so appreciative!

Either way this makes good business sense as you receive a payout equivalent to the penalty fee for hosting them or they come for a return visit and likely book additional nights at the regular rate with one night free.

This is a win win for both parties.  They have since referred another family member to stay with us.  I think they could see how hard we were trying to make it up to them and they had nothing but good things to say about their stay.  Is this not what we are all aspiring to acheive?

I think Andrew is trying to show some creativity in the way that we manage cancellations by trying to spin it into a positive circumstance for the guest.  Whatever it takes to make them happy.  There has to be some incentive that makes them feel like this was a "win" for them.  That may be the point that you are missing???

[Lisa293]

These are excellent tips to follow and seem to all fall within the airbnb guidelines.  It does not infer that the sob story is a lie so not sure how posting tips to be proactive in sorting out an unfortunate situation would not be seen as a positive for all parties concerned.  I think airbnb and the guest should both appreciate the extra effort that is being taken to find them an alternate place.  Hosts should also appreciate the opportunity to rectify their mistake.  Time and again hosts say how bad they feel about cancelling and these suggestions give them an opportunity to proactively fix their mistake.  I think the big point here is that it is better than just clicking "cancel" and leaving the guest in the wind.  Well done Andrew.

[David-and-Fiona0]

Good post @Andrew90. Thanks for taking the time. 

[Tracy-And-Blake0]

HOW DO I CALL AIRBnb???  I'm a super host and this is the first time I've needed support.  I've spent 30 minutes trying to find the dedicated phone number we are supposed to have!!!  What's the number???

[Lisa342]

Hi @Tracy-And-Blake0

I found this by googling contact airbnb usa 

1-855-424-7262

Local Numbers

United States +1-415-800-5959 +1-855-424-7262 (toll-free)

I don't think anybody will post the superhost number on a public forum.  If you can find your email notifying you of your superhost status you may find the number there.  I have found their response time on the phone to be excellent so perhaps the main lines will do just as well.