Weird questions from guest re: payment and canceling

[Theresa279]

I had a guest book many weeks ago.  About two weeks ago she emailed me through my private email address, which I had given her, and asked me if she needed to pay me by May 21.  I responded to her through the Airbnb messenger system because I felt that it was suspicious.  I told her to check with Airbnb.  Does Airbnb have payment plans for people???  Then, today she asked me how to cancel.  I told her how to cancel.  I waited several hours before sending her another message and asked if she still wanted to cancel.  She replied, "I'm not canceling."  So, I told her I was happy to hear that, but I also asked why she inquired about canceling.  The whole thing seems a little sketchy.  

Does Airbnb have payment plans?

Does Airbnb verify a guest's credit card before they arrive to your home?

What happens if the guest's credit card is declined?

Thank you in advance for any information and advise you may have.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Theresa279 Airbnb sometimes charges guests 50% of the price at the point of booking and then collects the rest later on. This is all invisible to hosts (and arguably irrelevant as there is always supposed to be enough money to pay any cancellation fees due).

If guests ever inquire about this hosts should always refer them to Airbnb explaining hosts just do not have the details regarding payment.

If a credit card is declined the stay will end up cancelled by Airbnb.

[Kate867]

@Theresa279   I had a similar thing happen just last week.  A future guest (August) emailed me asking for my bank details so she could make another instalment for her stay.  I had never had this before and wondered if perhaps Airbnb had changed the way and timing of payments.  I explained that she should pay via Airbnb and sent her the link on Airbnb messages to advise her how this could be done.  The following link explains Payment plans and may answer some of your questions.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/2143/payment-plans