How much of a cancelled booking does host (with moderate policy) get?

[Lee143]

My cancellation policy is moderate. I can't seem to find in the help section the fine print/exact details as to what portion of a guest booking I keep when the guest cancels less than 5 days out. I found an old help thread here that said the guest loses the first night and 50% of the rest. Is that still true or has it changed?

I am also unsure how to handle my current situation:

I have a guest that messaged me last evening that she has to cancel her upcoming stay, checking in Friday for 4 nights, leaving Tuesday. I might be able to rebook two nights, just the weekend. But it's highly unlikely I will get the weekend plus 2 days into the week, which fouls up my calendar.

Usually I'm not bothered by a 2-day weekend cancellation and will give a refund if I can rebook. But because a longer string of days has been blocked, I feel like I should get every penny I can. It is highly unlikely someone will book with me for Sunday night and Monday night.

My listing is in a resort area. I have about 90% occupancy. It's pretty straightforward... I have people who come just on the weekend (spur of moment booking), or for a long 3day weekend (advance booking bc they must take off from work), and then I have people who only book 4 to 5 days mid week because my rates are cheaper then. My weekday bookings are always booked well in advance, and then the weekends get picked off randomly.

I'm getting a little frustrated because the guest actually hasn't even canceled yet, so I'm losing precious time for rebooking since the calendar is still blocked. I don't want to get dinged for cancelling her reservation either.

[Helen3]

Have a search on Airbnb Help Centre. It outlines host cancellation policies and percentages owed on cancellation by your guests.

[Lisa723]

https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies

[Lee143]

Thanks, I appreciate the link,  but that is the only bit of information I had already found. It is very vague and incomplete. It only says what happens before the last five days. There is no breakdown  more details on  what the guest loses and what the host keeps.  Besides, I'm trying to find out what happens AFTER the deadline has passed. I have searched words, phrases, both yesterday and today -- finding nothing.

[Lisa723]

@Lee143 "If the guest cancels less than 5 days in advance, the first night is non-refundable but 50% of the accommodation fees for remaining nights will be refunded."

What other information are you looking for?

Definitely don't cancel for her. You could tell her you will additionally refund if you can rebook, which gets less likely as she delays her cancellatioin.

[Letti0]

@Lee143  Well by not canceling yesterday before check in time, she will now be charged 1 full day and 50% of the other 3 days. Unless of course she claims extinuating circumstances.

[Lee143]

Thank you @Letitia0. I finally got a response through Twitter with the same information. So basically I will get to keep 2.5 nights worth. Fingers crossed I can rebook the wkend at least at the last minute, and basically come out even. But the booking is still active!

I have messaged the guest asking whether she was going to cancel or not. She responded that she would wait to hear from me! Huh? In the meantime Airbnb help on Twitter indicated to me that she was too ambiguous and to just sit tight and wait for her to cancel. So that's what I'm doing!

[Letti0]

@Lee143  Remember this: 

DO NOT CANCEL this reservation, DO  NOT ACCEPT any message about cancelling or refunding DECLINE it a loophole that comes back to bite you and gives guests back their service fees. DO NOT  REFUND anything until actual cash has been given to you by AirBNB. If you refund they will take the money from you and a lot of times they get refunded from both AirBnB and you if you this, then you have a fight to get your money back. Tell the guest you do not deal with the booking funds that is all on AirBnB's end.