our superhost has asked us to cancel the reservation - should we?

[Jenny1066]

hi everyone

We have booked a trip 8 months in advance as we wanted to visit a small town during a very popular festival. We chose a super host as we wanted to be sure of the booking. Now 4 months out they have contacted us and asked us to cancel the booking saying they are leaving the country and don't want to pay the financial penalty for cancelling. Is there any downside for us if we cancel the booking? Will we get a black mark against our profile on Air BnB?

Any advice appreciated

cheers

Jenny

[Mike1034]

@Jenny1066  Depending on the cancellation policy, you will be charged unless the host agree to refund you fully. However, you will not be refunded for Airbnb service fee which is about 12% of your booking fee total.

Who wants to stop the contract who should cancel. In this case, you do not the responsibility to cancel. The host has to cancel if she cannot fulfill it. 

[Yadira22]

What @Mike1034 mentions is very true and will most likely happen given the new changes they have implemented with “grazing periods” but if you do cancel you can also contact Airbnb and ask them to refund you their admin fee (available up to 3x per calendar year). Either way good luck to you @Jenny1066 🙂

[Mark116]

@Jenny1066   I don't think you should cancel, if the host has made changes in their schedule then, even though there are penalities for hosts, that is their fault.   You should probably contact airbnb directly and inform them of this to see if they can assist you in booking a different place, they will usually also give a 10% or so 'bonus' to cover the likely increased cost of another listing.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Jenny1066 

in theory, your host should cancel but... if he is leaving the country and close all his accounts then Airbnb will not be able to charge him penalties. It is 50$ per canceled booking and if he has many future bookings to cancel then it could be pricy.

More you wait - the higher the price you will pay for your next accommodation. If you book another property before you cancel this one you will not be eligible for any refund.

The money you paid is still on Airbnb account and Airbnb is the one who will refund you.  So yes, you should contact Airbnb and ask them to cancel your stay and give you a full refund including their service fee

[Helen3]

Of course you shouldn’t cancel @Jenny1066 .

There are penalties for you doing so and as a superhost they will know this so are being completely out of order.

more likely they have realised about the festival and want you to cancel so they can make more money.

call Airbnb and tell them what has happened.