How Do I Get Invitation To Super Strict Cancellation Policy Group?

[Jennifer62]

Given the recent changes, would like to know what the criteria is for selection/invitation. Sounds very dodgy to me from what I can read on the boards, elitist and possibly discriminatory, all things AirBNB is supposed to be against.

[Aleta3]

My house is in a highly desired vacation area, Washington DC. People generally book our house 60 - 90 days in advance. Therefore, a 30 cancellation means that the cancelled dates do not get get booked.

Therefore, I would like to require 60 days for full refund and 30 days for partial refund.

If the guests get cancellation insurance then they are in a good position, and I have a better chance of re-booking the cancelled time.

The way it is now, I am stuck with a vacancy.

[Franca23]

I tried to apply for Super Strict and was told I had to have 7 units. This is, of course, absurd. What does the number of units have to do with anything? I've been a professional host for nearly 20 years now. Our policies have evolved out of trial and error, out of decades of experience. 

We simply cannot list our 3 units on AirBNB during our high season due to this policy. Which sucks, because we're trying to get away from Expedia/Flipkey, as they are simply impossible to work with now.  

We are a tiny beachfront town, and people book months in advance, sometimes a year in advance. We require Super Strict, because re-booking is extremely difficult. Very few people do last minute trips around here. We have worked this way without problems for years. Guests understand because it's clear up front, and that's the way it is in our area.

We recomend travel insurance and we offer to refund whatever we can re-rent, minus an administrative fee.  We are not trying to earn double bookings, just to protect ourselves from guest vagaries. An event in a guest's life should not translate into a loss in ours. (Even if such things were verifiable.) We uphold our end of the bargain, and feel guests should do the same. We hold the space for months, turning away multiple potential guests. So it's simply not fair that they can get out of it two weeks before and we lose money. 

I am still trying to get ABB's attention on this. It's not fair to hosts. I personally do not understand why ABB will not let their hosts (the providers of the product they sell) choose their policies. I don't think number of units should matter, but at least those of us who are renting multiple units as a full time business should have that freedom of choice. AirBnB Pro. Why not?

Anyway, we are proof that Super Strict works. Very few people opt out because of our policy. And we have hardly any cancellations. Guests know up front and can choose a different listing if our policies seem too strict.

Adult decisions all around! Protected hosts and protected guests. Win-win!

This is a question of differnt hosts being offered differet levels of protection for arbitrary reasons. I hae yet to be given a good reason. 

This policy hurts hosts economically, period. And why should property managers get extra consideration? Why should they be more protected? We built this place from the ground up. It deserves protecting, too. All of our places do. 

Come on, AirBnB! Hear us. 

[Jennifer62]

AirBNB is now sending out emails urging people to book their stays in Santa Fe 2 months ahead. 

AHEM. This is why we didn't like the new policy.

[JoseMaria36]

I am fully with you. In fact if they don´t allow me to have a super estrict policy I will look for othe channels to market my property.

It´s absolutely preposterous that Airbnb wants to establish their own policies against host´s interests.

We, hosts, are their mean to make money. Without hosts, there´s no business at all  

[Letti0]

@Franca23   AirBnB changed this out some time in 2016. More than 6 units or you are a very remote place with passport and/or visa's issues involved and could not be rebooked in that time frame left due to these issues, they will sometimes make exceptions for this. Otherwise you cannot qualify, for the most part it's property managers that get it, wiith the odd owner here and there based on their situation. 

[Franca23]

Thanks @Letti0,  I understand this.

This is not a reason for a policy that hurts hosts. And why should property managers be accorded special treatment?

We built this place from the ground up, and yet we can't protect our income with AirBNB? 

All hosts need to be able to protect themselves economically. We should all be able to choose the protection we need based on our market. Different areas need different rules. 

I have yet to be given a good reason for this preferential treatment. This is a question of protecting our incomes. And of fairness to both host (again, the provider of the expeirence/product) and guest. Both, equally.