Hosts will not accept a date change from May to July 2019

[Lianne24]

I am feeling so distraught and despondent.  I have two reservations where the hosts are unaccommodating despite me explaining my situation.  We have a reservation 2 - 4 May in accommodation near Disneyland Paris.  Another in Interlaken 10 - 13 May.  We currently live in Dublin, Ireland and are on South African passports, we were unable to secure a visa appointment in time because the Austrian embassy here processes both Austrian and Switzerland Schengen visas.  I changed the dates on Airbnb and booked flights accordingly to what was available on the accommodation for both the Disneyland Paris and Interlaken accommodation.  The host at the Disneyland Paris accommodation declined because she said her stay is minimum 4 nights in peak season although it doesn't stiuplate that at all when I looked through the accommodation details and also the calendar showed the dates as available which I requested, 19 - 21 July.  The Interlaken accommodation I requested 22 - 25 July which is also available, the host at the Interlaken accommodation has given no reason whatsoever for declining.  I'm losing money for nothing and I'm bitterly disappointed that hosts are allowed to decline new dates at will when their calendars display they are available.  I will be losing a lot of money 1 euro is R16, so whatever the accommodation costs are I have to multiply by 16.  May is a couple of weeks away and July is a few weeks too.  What do I do?  I have contacted Airbnb for help.

[Kelly149]

@Lianne24 you seem to not recognize that these properties have cancellation policies (you say it is a change, but really you are cancelling first dates and re-booking new dates). and those cancellation policies exist for a reason.

Changes such as yours are a reason why 1)some guests would buy trip insurance or 2) some guests would be sure they can indeed travel before they book travel or 3)some guests would make sure that the cancellation policy of the place matches their needs.

As it is now, you booked a place and prevented that host from taking other bookings from other guests during those dates. Now that some part of the travel that you are responsible for is now not available you would prefer that the host be inconvenienced rather than you being inconvenienced. 

How is this right??

The host offered something: certain dates at a certain price with a certain cancellation policy and you chose to buy it. Now later you would like to change the deal.

No one likes to "waste" money, but in this instance you seem to think that the host should be out more than you and that doesn't seem right.

[Sarah977]

@Lianne24  I had a guest book in February for a week's stay this last March, then 3 weeks later she put in an alteration for April, which I approved. Then she cancelled the new dates 2 weeks before arrival. She tied up my calendar twice in the middle of my high season and I wasn't able to rebook those dates on such short notice, as most of my guests book about 3 weeks to a month or more ahead of their travel dates.

So this guest lost me 2 weeks of bookings, which would surely have been filled, as were all the other dates in March and April. I was out $400 in lost bookings and she was fully refunded, as she cancelled within my moderate cancellation window. Think that's fair?  

It's not the host's responsibility that you booked before knowing you had your visa requirements in place.

[Lawrene0]

I can add a little to this, @Lianne24 . I have had guests request changes here, and what happens is that all our (hosts') rulesets go out the window with an alteration. Blocked days magically open up, minimum stays don't show. You see the dates as open and without minimums, and often without peak pricing, where we see the rules and prices we set. It is a known glitch. I have reported it twice myself in the past year and was told the developers are working on it.

So your hosts may be dealing with that. As @Kelly149 points out, they can say no to changing the deal.  

Absolutely talk to your travel insurance provider.