How has anyone been 'invited' to the "Invitation Only" Super Strict Cancellation Policy?

Eva26
Level 1
New York, NY

How has anyone been 'invited' to the "Invitation Only" Super Strict Cancellation Policy?

Like most other hosts, I've had last minute cancellations during holiday periods which have cost me LOTS of money, especially around holidays. 
Does anyone know how the 'Invitation' might be procured that would put a quick stop to this costly nonsense??

 

 

13 Replies 13
Clare0
Level 10
Templeton, CA

@Eva26 Airbnb should substitute the wording "by invitation only" to "by permission only".   The only listings I've seen that have been granted this cancellation scheme are ones where the pricing is in the $1,000's (usually greater than $4,000) , run by very exclusive resort vacation rental companies with lots of listings and have minimum stays of 7 days or more.  Matter of fact I read somewhere that they are no longer granting new Super Strict Cancellations at all. 

on invitation . What does this mean??

on invitation and cancelation??

 

I look for: 

if cancelation is in a time less then 60 days before check-in  there is no refund.

 

Richard385
Level 2
Excideuil, France

Yes we are in the same boat - cancellations for week or fortnight holidays and no refund, or 50% if close to arrival.  This "strict" cancellation policy is not designed for our self-catering lets of minimum 7 nights during peak summer. Please airbnb can you design a better policy for us?

Richard385
Level 2
Excideuil, France

Re: How has anyone been 'invited' to the "Invitation Only" Super Strict Cancellation Policy

 

Yes we are in the same boat - cancellations for week or fortnight holidays and no refund, or 50% if close to arrival.  This "strict" cancellation policy is not designed for our self-catering lets of minimum 7 nights during peak summer. Please airbnb can you design a better policy for us?

Tammy70
Level 3
Port Angeles, WA

 

 

 NO I've not but I did receive an "invitation" from a Mia in Anacortes, WA that started my query for more information and led me to this conversation.   We've been Airbnb hosts for less than a year, have 5 star ratings, and all is going far better than anticipated. We switched to the strict policy a couple of months ago. It's worked well for us in these summer months but we might or might not change it for slower winter months.  Our sense at this point is that the strict policy let's us know if guests are committed or not, or even perhaps just fishing.

 

We definitely do not see the far out reservations coming in as strongly as when we had the less strict policy.  But at this point it does not seem to impact us.  If we detect it does, then we'll adjust seasonly. However, it's worked quite well during the busy summer months. 

 

Hope this feedback helps you.  After the email from "Mia" I am curious how she was able to accomplish it through Airbnb.  It definitely has an airbnb.com address behind it.  Do you have knowledge of how that's done?  Best! from another Airbnb host.

Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

I wasn't invited per se, but allowed, when applied for it. I am under Super Strict 60, used to be Strict, which wasn't working. My offering is in a foreign country requiring many months for quests to coordinate, when one considers the requirements of foreign travel for passports or visas, airlines, etc. The place is in a secluded part of the world, an island in the Carribean. In fact, I am booked years in advance by guests because of such real-world logistical requirements.

Few people are in a position to fill a cancellation in such a place with only 7 days advance warning. To put it another way, I wouldn't be with Airbnb without it, because of our particular case.

Caribbean*

Hi Fred, We are in Las Terrenas which has a lot of the same issues that Placencia does.  No one re-books a vacant property within a month.  How exactly did you go about applying?  We just lost a guest for a two week booking in January (high season) and Air BnB refunded 100% of their rental.  We'll never see that money again...  Thanks, Bill

Lisa658
Level 10
Hervey Bay, Australia

You can also get super strict if you have 50 or more listings.

^^^ Ah no wonder big hotel chains qualify for it, always wondered.

Nicholas110
Level 2
Kuala Lumpur, MY

I am on a Strict Cancellation policy which, after the recent change in cancellation rules unilatrally imposed by AirBnB, is not strict enough. I applied for and was declined Super Strict 30 or 60, they say that it is offered only to remote non-urban properties, which mine is. 

 

Somewhere I read that only seasonal properties qualify. If my bookings are all concentrated April to October then is that not seasonal enough?

 

Anyway after several exchanges they confirmed they would not offer me that status. I asked for clarification as to criteria for eligibility and they closed the conversation. I am not happy at the lack of transarency.

 

Does anyone have any idea of the eligibility critieria? 

 

Like one other host, having a reservation in place for one year and then receive a last minute cancellation with little or no compenstion is not acceptable. It is particularly painful if you have only the one property, it is either full or empty..feast or famine.

I get the impression it is on very much a 'case by case' approach by Airbnb, but one thing that has proved interesting. The few times some guest have succesfully been able to cancel within the 60 days, without penalties, always for definitely a legitimate reasons (i.e. medical issues), everytime I have filled the spot by people that have inquired in the past and let me know that IF I get a cancellation to let them know, especially those that have informed me that they are able to travel 'on a moments notice'. I keep a list of those inquiries. Always been able to fill the spot with those Airbnb inquirers. Yes, 7 days notice would prove too tricky, I would think. Just a wild thought.

Scott46
Level 2
Casper, WY

There needs to be a "variable" cancellation policy for airbnb hosts.  We all have certain weeks that are expected to earn us much more than others.  For me in the Black Hills this is the week of Sturgis Rally.  This year a guest held the reservation for 2 months only to cancel the week before, leaving me with no revenue where I had expected my best revenue.  It would be helpful to be able to designate certain times of our calendars as "event weeks" and be able to have a differentiated refund policy for only those weeks.  This could insure us against such behavior that now leaves us poorer.