@Vanessa496 As far as I know, some guests are given the option to pay half up front and half about a week-10 days before check-in. Why some guests are given that option and not others isn't known, except to Airbnb, at least I've never read any explanation. It may have to do with whether they are new to the platform, or whether Airbnb has had trouble charging their card before, or the nature of the listing they are booking, or how far off the initial booking is from the check-in date, who knows.
Guests are given the information as to when their second payment will be charged- it should be somewhere in their reservation confirmation. If guests ask questions about the ins and outs of payment, just advise them that hosts aren't privy to Airbnb's payment options for guests, that hosts don't have any input into that, and that if they have questions about that, they need to contact Airbnb.
I know the pay half up front has led to some upset and confusion on the part of guests who end up having to cancel- they assume that the cancellation policy applies to what they have so far paid, rather than the entire amount of the booking, even though it's pretty clear in the wording of the cancellation policy. For instance, if they cancel a booking that would allow them to receive 50% refund, they think that if they paid only half up front, they'll be refunded half of the half they already paid, which is of course incorrect. But again, any payment or refund questions or disputes are between the guest and Airbnb, not the guest and the host.
