Can I refund a guest fully instead of using the preset cancellation policy

[Dee164]

Hi, I have a guest who wishes to book my property for 5 different sets of dates....5 sets of 4 night stays over a period of 5 months. (one stay each month)

I have ticked the strict cancellation policy to protect from last minute cancellations which can cost me money and blank dates in my calendar...as I generally cannot get replacement guests in just 5 days.....my property is not in a popular city location.

Howevery, my potential guest is concerned that if they need to cancel the dates they have booked months in advance they would have to pay 50% of the booking fee. I agree this would be unfair but need to know if there is a way I can refund the guest if they have to cancel and if they give me a fair notice period.

I still need to keep my cancellation policy as it is for all other bookings.

Any advice please on how I can do this? 

[Lawrene0]

You always have the option to refund more fully than your policy states,  @Dee164. The guest must do the cancelling (don't let them talk you into doing for them), and then at the top of the message thread you will find a box that says "Reservation cancelled by [guest]". In that box is an "offer refund" button. Just hit it and follow the prompts. 

[Dee164]

Hi Lawrene,

Thank you so much for your reply.

I've only just seen it now (my error....I'm not very good with navigating my way around on here).

I did think the guest would have to do the cancelling otherwise I will get penalised.

But thank you for confirming that.

I'm delighted to see I can refund the guest.....that's is great information.

One other thing, do you know if Airbnb charges the guest any fees?

[Sandra856]

Hi @Dee164 🙂

 If you press the cancellation policy on your profile you will be directed to the different policies also you will be able to see when and under which circumstances the guest will get the airbnb fee back. 

Best, Sandra

[Sandra856]

@Dee164 I can also recommend to check out this community. I have learned a lot myself + under the "Help" section on your airbnb dashboard. It is much easier to navigate through the website not the tablet/mobile app.