New strict cancellation policy update

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

The Airbnb team heard feedback from you and the host community about the upcoming change to our Strict cancellation policy. In order to address your concerns, we’re delaying the change until May 1, 2018.

Before the change goes into effect, we’ll share more about what we’re doing to address your concerns, particularly around protecting your listing details from being shared with guests who cancel. But for now, we’d like to clear up some confusion and help you better understand the new policy and how it will benefit the whole community:

Here’s how the new grace period policy will work—and some of the protections we have in place for hosts:

Limited-time refund within 48 hours after booking when the check-in date is at least 14 days away

Guests must cancel within 48 hours after booking and can only cancel if their check-in date is 14+ days away. This means that no matter how far out your guests book, they only have 48 hours from the time they book to cancel for free. We want to make sure that if guests change their mind, you have enough time to get another booking.

Three refunds per year per guest

To prevent abuse, guests are limited to three fully refunded cancellations a year.

No full refunds for overlapping bookings

To make sure guests are not making multiple bookings and then cancelling, any booking made by a guest when they already have an active booking for those dates will not be covered under our grace period policy.

Your hosting success is top of mind for us, and tests of this policy—including among hosts with strict cancellation policies in place—strongly suggest the change will result in increased bookings and successful stays. With this grace period, not only do guests book with more confidence, but they also have the ability to resolve booking mistakes without requiring your valuable time and intervention.

We value your feedback, and will follow up shortly with more insight into how your ideas are shaping this policy.

Thanks,

Lizzie

----------Update April 24th, 2018----------

Hello everyone,

Just to let you know there is now an update regarding protecting your listing details, as mentioned above. 

Here is the link to take a look: An update on the Strict Cancellation Policy

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Naomi130]

Can ABB explain WHY is 'Strict + 48 hours Grace' applies to the whole world, but not to guests from South Korea? 

I spent 10 days negotiating a special guest  price and answering endless email questions, then accepted a booking. Only after they cancelled did I discover that for SOUTH KOREANS 'Grace + 48' is in fact "Grace + 30 DAYS' ?! 

If I had known, I would not have bothered. Only as far as I am aware, ABB don't give you any means of knowing what country your potential guests are from.

Forewarned.

[William523]

In my opinion the host should have equal rights as the guest. if the guest can cancel without penalty for 48 hours then the host should have the same cost free right to cancel for the same period.

Also, if the host has to provide a photo then the guest should also.

[Linda135]

I could not agree with you more, William. In the recent Q&A with President/CEO, the panel participants as well as the questions were obviously carefully planned, as was the conversation permitted on this topic. There are almost 1,000 comments in this chain of conversation which reflect such concerns as yours, yet ABB ignores this topic. Brian is on a mission to get ABB's value up for the 2020 IPO. The ABB expansion into the luxury hotel market & ABB Plus program requires hosts to compete with that model, or go to the lower category of price/visibility.

[Mechelle1]

Well done.

Brief summary of remarks made:

.... being honest... change they way I interact with my guests. ....grace period stands to place MORE demands on my  time, .. responsive and invest time with guests who then cancel. As it is, I quickly reply...  to help guests prepare for their trip.... generous with my time,  part of my entire hosting philosophy. (I have even chosen to spend hours with guests BEFORE they book, sharing answers to their unique questions and circumstances.) ....I may feel compelled to be more scarce with a guest ... a sense of mistrust, and inadvertently encouraging hosts to adopt an arms-length 

I especially liked and agree with the comments about guest services. I spent untold amounts of time with four young ladies coming from the Dominican Republic. I wanted to know what they needed and how to best accomodate them on a work study program. I want to treat people as though they are family and help them have a stress free stay in what ever ways possible. Consequently after talking with each of the four young women and recieving an enormaouse phone bill they did not book. My calendar was opened to them for a four month period of time. I felt a little frustrated and most likely will not intertain this type of agreement again, due to the ages of the women and their purpose for being here. This makes me a bit sad because I see myself not only as an ambassador of the US but as someones great aunt will to help them have a wonderful stay in Texas. Lastly I want ALL airbnb guests to be verified, not just the one who is making the arrangements. It is important to me that I have information about each individual person. But that is another story. I will continue to trust by faith that is where I am suppose to be serving at this time. I am thankful for the dialog and the changes that make the playing field fair to both parites involved. The Tetons of Grapevine

[Carolyn-and-Alex0]

I've been following this conversation for months and have empathized with a lot of the Airbnb hosts' truly valid concerns. With nearly 1,000 comments, many of which are against this policy change, it's surprising to me that Airbnb is still moving forward as originally planned. I recently changed my policy from strict to moderate since there isn't much of a difference between the two and have seen a large uptick in cancellations due to "travel plans changing." I hope Airbnb will begin to understand that their hosts are their customers, not their travelers, and when a guest cancels a booking right before their intended stay, it effects us financially and personally. I've had two cancellations within the past month which equates to over $1,000 that was accounted for but not collected. It also leaves us with empty bookings on our calendar that we're rushing to fill up. I'll be moving back to a strict cancellation policy but unfortunately, I know it will do little good. I love Airbnb and want to continue to use it both as a host and as a traveler but it's important that Airbnb listen to its customers and ensure their feedback is heard. 

[Katharine12]

I am now being harrassed for a 100% refund for two weeks at the end of August that were booked months ago and cancelled a week ago.  Even if I felt inclined to refund,  I could not, as Airbnb still has this money.  And I don't feel inclined.  I've lost money myself as an airbnb traveller when I had to cancel,  and furthermore I've not had any further enquiries for the dates that were cancelled as most people booking in August do so well in advance.  Enquiries at this stage are not likely to be from the type of bookings I normally get in August - at least a week, nice people who plan weeks in advance.   My response has been to reduce my maximum booking time to 8 nights as it reduces the risk of another Mr. A. who casually books 2 weeks and then just as casually cancels at the beginning of August.

[Patricia1008]

Cancellation issues are a nightmare making for sleepless nights for hosts who are forced to " wait up" for inconsiderate non communicative guests who don't show up when they have said they will.  My hours for checking guests in are clearly posted on my listing.  I can be flexible about those hours on a case by case basis if the guest communicates 1. A reasonable request. 2. An unexpected /emergency delay. 3. An attempt to plan with me for an arrival time outside my set perimeters.  When a guest contacts me with a request or an instant booking I ask they provide a projected arrival time, give or take one hour either way.  I also ask them to call when they are 30 minutes or 30 miles away. If the guest does not arrive within the stated arrival time frame I contact them.   Twice this last week, the guest did not respond for several hours. In my text and voice mail messages I state that failure to respond in 30 minutes from this time may result in cancellation, loss of their payment and other penalties. ( This message evoked very rapid responses from the recipients, one called to say they be here in 20 minutes, the other put out a missing persons report for the guest, for whom they'd booked )  I am also adding this notice to my listing. When the guest does not appear an hour after check in time. I am calling Airbnb support to have them track them down and if need be begin processing a cancellation and payout without penalty to me.  

[Sarah1495]

As a host I fully understand and agree with these terms for bookings that are only 14 days to 30 days away. As a guest, and as a host, when a booking is more than two months away It is not at all unreasonable for a full refund to be given, there is still plenty of time to take another booking.

I recently booked with friends a villa in Greece. We live in Australia. We have to plan far in advance.

We made the booking 4 months in advance. Illness, marriage breakdowns and business problems meant that 3 of 5 could no longer make the trip. So it was  not viable to go. We had to cancel. We lost our deposit. It is quite reasonable to expect that the host has received a new booking, as he/she had 3 months in which to get another.

There needs to be different refund terms for bookings made more than two months out. I will now be unlikely to use Airbnb for any future European trips.

[Mawali0]

Agree totally with cancellation policy as it is too easy for guests to cancel, having made multiple bookings, and it is too hard to replace cancellations.

Very good policy that is fair to both sides.

[Renee69]

This policy may cause us to drp ABB totally.  We are generally booked 3 to 9 months in advance, and have virtually no requests for last minute bookings...meaning within 2 weeks.  It simpy does not work for us.  And I agree with others that 6 to 12 hours would be more appropriate than 48.  We are not hotels with multiple income streams, we only have one chance to book the home.

Warmly,

Renee

[Winter-S-Hope0]

We are primarily a seasonal rental.  With the new policy we have the potential to having our calendar held hostage for primary dates, until guests decide to cancel and then we will be scrambling to find new renters, probably at a discounted rate.  The policy does not see to me to be advantageous to the owners at all.  When we were listed with another rental agancy, we had a 30 day cancellation policy and it worked wonderfully for all.  We also did not give refunds do to weather, which is way out of our control.

I do not like Airbnb giving out personal information until check in is completed.

Please, please reconsider this cancellation policy.

Thank you.

[Papa-Jay0]

We stopped hosting our three listings  after this year's changes.  The changes keep making it worse for hosts.  We previously stopped our fourth listing after guests made drugs, started a forest fire, and threatened neighbor with assault rifle.  It just isn't worth it.

[Andrea1760]

They are evil?

Airbnb had to be listed on the stock exchange IPO at the end of 2018 but they moved all of a year because now the numbers are too low (debit) to make a monstrous collection, so they need a surge in bookings and receipts and only playing "dirty", as they are doing now (causing damage from lost revenue to hosts), they can get there even if for a limited period. Meanwhile, the best hosts will run away or do a class action but it will take at least a year or more.

The listing on the stock exchange has been postponed to 2019, once the three Scrooge Mcduck are completed they will run away with the loot, several billion dollars, and end of the worries! They will dedicate themselves to something else

 ..... the cow has been milked ... no longer their problem.

By now Brian Chesky has lost his credibility and genius, he is no longer considered (by financial expert) able to drive the toy he has created that has become too big for him.

I have too much imagination?   🙂

[Joel108]

I  had instant booking on in Jan . Someone booked in July 4th weekend here in USA . I had neglected to change the prices . I cancelled the reservation . Air  B and B then blocked me from  rebooking those dates . . This was the first and only time i had ever cancelled . Lesson learned .

[Adrian255]

This year I've been innundated with  cancellations (all from organisations who have a lenient policy.. ... and all far too late for any alternative booking).  There are no warnings that they have cancelled, so unlike bookings where you get a notification, you find the cancellation just appears.

I even had one person openly admitting  that they had booked two places and were now trying to decide which to cancel. Perhaps they were looking for a "refund" or "incentive" but you can't even be sure they will arrive even if they do book! 

I am not impressed.