Because cancellations disrupt guests' plans and impact confidence in the Airbnb community, the following penalties will be applied for host cancellations.
Cancellation fee. The fee will be waived for your first cancellation within a 6-month period. After that, the following fee will be deducted from your first payout after a cancellation. The amount deducted will depend on when you accepted the reservation and how soon before check-in you canceled it:
- More than 7 days before check-in, we’ll deduct $50 from your next payout
- Less than 7 days before check-in, we’ll deduct $100 from your next payout
Automated review. If you cancel before the day of check-in, an automated review will be posted to your listing's profile indicating that you canceled one of your reservations. These reviews can't be removed, but you can always write a public response to clarify why you needed to cancel.
Guest review. If you cancel on the day of check-in or later, guests can leave a public review on your listing’s profile.
Unavailable/blocked calendar. Your calendar will stay blocked and you won't be able to accept another reservation for the same dates of the canceled reservation.
Loss of eligibility for Superhost status. You won't be eligible to earn Superhost status for one year after your most recent cancellation.
Account suspension. If you cancel 3 or more reservations within a year, we may deactivate your listing.
Unless there are extenuating circumstances, there will be no exceptions to our updated cancellation policy.
(Source: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990/i-m-a-host--what-penalties-apply-if-i-need-to-cancel-a-reser...)
See if you can salvage the reservation by requesting the potential guest to change their dates of travel. Otherwise, if they are still interested, BLOCK THOSE DATES NOW, or have them complete the book, while you are searching for a resolution.
Here are some additoinal sources that can help you with that:
Airbnb Help Center: https://www.airbnb.com/hosting/help
Airbnb Help Board: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/bd-p/Community-Help-EN
Moving forward, if you receive an inquiry from a potential guests who has not yet booked, or you would like further information on, block the dates they are requesting and notify them that you will only hold these dates for a certain period of time before putting it back on market, usually 24 hours. This is also a way to influence faster booking.
Change your setting to "Instant Book." Personally, I find the "Instant Book" feature very useful for me, and our listing. However, in some cases, such as yours, this may be best left inactive. Here's how:
How do I turn Instant Book on or off?
You can turn Instant Book on or off from the Manage Listing section of your account under booking settings. To turn Instant Book on or off:
- Go to Manage Listings on airbnb.com
- On the listing you want to edit, click Manage Listing
- Above your listing's photo, click Bookings settings
- Under Who can book instantly? make a selection for which guests can reserve your listing using Instant Book
(Source: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1510/how-do-i-turn-instant-book-on-or-off)
Hope this is helpful. Please let me know if you have any further questions. Happy to Help!
Happy Hosting!
Izzie, Co-Host
LOV Puerto Rico
