Hosts raised the prices over 100% after sending him a reservation request

[Francisc0]

Hi guys,

my name is Francis and I wanted to ask for advice.

We have tried to book a room for a week and the reservation price was 840 euros. After we have requested the reservation, the host replied and said that the price would be Euro 1500 instead, because it is high season.

What can I do in this case ? Why is a certain price shown when we are doing a research and try to book, but then it goes high.
Is this normal ?

Thanks for your guidance,

Fran

[Vu18]

Hello,

My host has sent a request to change my confirmed rate from $132 a night to $496 a night.  I have already made a payment of $66.  Has anyone had similar experience before?  Would appreciate any suggestion on how to move forward.  Many thanks in advance.

[Emiel1]

@Vu18 

The host is not allowed to change the confirmed price (unless booking options have changed, like more additional guests coming, other dates etc.). As mentioned already in this thread: such behaviour is a violation of the Terms of Service. So do not accept and message the host it is not allowed to change the price. You can also contact Airbnb: Contact Airbnb - Community Guide [Updated] 

[Luisa373]

I just got an email this morning where my host is asking  an increase   (even though i already paid an initial dp) saying, since there is an international event on the days i have booked ,and all nearby hotels and air bnb places have  gone up on their prices  they decided to increase the price as well,They did not honor my paid reservation. What protection do i have as a guest? Any help is appreciated

[Sarah977]

@Luisa373  What exactly do you mean by "did not honor my paid reservation?" Did they cancel your booking? If the host doesn't cancel it, it is still a confirmed reservation and they have to honor it. They can't change the price on it after you've booked.

You say you got an email from the host-do you mean an Airbnb message, or an email to your email address? Try to keep communication with the host on the Airbnb messaging system, so Airbnb can see what has transpired.

I would suggest you contact Airbnb to tell them what the host is doing and ask for help on this. 

[Joan-and-Keith1]

Superhost  here. Us hosts have the right to change price whenever we want until rental occurs. Then we are locked in. EVERYONE does this. Example: the airlines and travel sites constantly change their pricing - if you see one price from United and the next day its higher do you complain? Of course not - that's crazy talk. Having said that, Europe is a cesspool of bad AirBnB hosts. For a variety of legal reasons, European hosts are able to just cancel their account or be banned by AirBnB,  and they just open up a new account under a new bank account. 

[Мария15]

Europe is a cesspool of bad AirBnB hosts

Really? (☉_☉)

[Jim606]

Your analogy is flawed, and not relevant to a single air bnb listing.

Yes, airlines do change prices for AVAILABLE seats (re: those for which a passenger is not holding a reservation).

As a future flight’s seats  are purchased  at price x, the airline sees that flight is in demand and starts asking for price y on  FUTURE reservations for that flight.

The airline is not able to go back to passengers who already have a reservation and tell them the flight is more popular than expected, so they need to pay the difference between x and y, otherwise their flight at x will be cancelled.

A unique air bnb listing is much different than the airline scenarios you gave where the airline has many seats to sell on the same flight, and can change prices asked for yet unsold seats.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

Slightly different view here....... as a host, when I get an inquiry from a potential guest and my gut is telling me to DECLINE but the only reason I can give is "makes me uncomfortable"...... I will send a special offer that is way~ higher than my normal rate ON PURPOSE so that I don't have to waste a decline. 

I am letting people come stay at my home...... sometimes it's not just about the money. If I can't get a good vibe from an introductory message, why would I want that person in my home? 

Unfortunately, Airbnb doesn't accept "bad manners" or "not a good fit" as an acceptable reason for hosts to  decline. 

[Kat84]

Finally someone wrote the real truth. I did exactly the same thing when guest asked if she can sneak in 5 additional people. When I saw the message, I couldn't believe that that's exactly how she wrote "sneak in"... My goodness, she is telling that to the host 😅😂🤣

Unfortunately, Airbnb doesn't accept "bad manners" or "not a good fit" as an acceptable reason for hosts to  decline.

Yes. The only solution they gave me "we can only tell him not to shout at you again, but he has to stay" 

[Joseph1202]

I booked a house in Indio. It just happens that it is the same weekend that coachella moved to. The host said the house is not available anymore and cancelled our reservation.  Now they relisted it for 5 times more and all the other houses are now super expensive.  Do I have any ramification? This is so unfair!