Hi @Ken436 (@Kenneth201),
I hope you haven't really already left the community forum...
If you are still here, there is one thing you could do to maybe get your money back:
Message the host you booked your accommodation with and ask if they could give you a refund. Sometimes hosts get a new booking for the cancelled dates and have no problems to refund you the rest - at least that is what I do.
Asking never hurts 🙂
But otherwise, it is true what others say - Strict policy means you only get refunded 50% of the total amount, and not 50% of what you have paid, if cancelled.
With Strict cancellation policy, there is grace period of 48 hours after booking when you can get 100% refund if cancelled, but only if the booking was made more than 14 days from check-in. After the 48 hours, you are charged 50% of the total amount, and within 7 days from check-in you get no refund.
Airbnb is also not at fault for the cancellation policies (except that they designed them) - that is the choice of each homeowner, which policy they want to use - Flexible, Moderate or Strict.
I hope you have luck contacting the homeowner about the refund!
All the best,
Šarka