If a guest extends by a day and offers to pay cash, does AirBnB frown upon that?

[Jiw0]

Suppose a guest is booked for 4 days, and the day after that is available and the guests ask if they can check out a day later and just offer to pay cash, holding it right in front of me actually.   How much of a no-no is it at that point to just say 'yes' to the guest and block the day?

I like saying 'yes' to guests when at all possible, as opposed to forcing him back on the site to process a change.

I'm not personally looking to get out of any fees, I think the fees are very reasonable and  I would actually prefer it if the guest did a booking change request.   But.. as in the above case, it does happen where it's just easier to just say 'sure, thank you very much.' and be done with it.

[Marit-Anne0]

What if he stays beyond the extra day ? Then you have no support from airbnb as according to their files, the guest has checked-out.  

Simply make the change for your guest - then the only thing they have to do is press the accept button.  

[Todd-and-Jessy0]

I would never take cash because then you no longer are insured, no assistant from Airbnb, basically you'd be screwed if they got hurt, decided to never leave, who knows what could happen?
Absolutely don't do this. Adjust the reservation.

[Helen3]

As long as you're happy not to be protected by BNB when something goes wrong - then go ahead.

If the guests are right in front of you. Just log into the booking - send them confirmation of the extra day. They click on it to accept  while you are there - simple 🙂

[Jiw0]

Don't get me wrong: I have a preference for updating the booking too.

Although I also think some of you may have unrealistic expectations of what AirBnB will do in terms of insurance and assistance.

"What if the guest doesnt' leave after the extra day:  right; what if _any_ guest doesn't leave after their stay.  Is AirBNB sending their squad van around to evict the guest? 🙂    

And in terms of insurance the only reports I've heard is that it requires an act of God to actually qualify.  Perhaps very high-profile cases that would otherwise turn into a PR nightmare.  So yes, if some ISIS guys rent my listing and make bombs there and the place blows up then yes I'm quite sure to get some money out of that host guarantee.   Any typical little damage though:  not happening.

[Lawrene0]

I like to keep it all in the platform, too, as everyone has said. Nothing pithy to add to that. But I love the image of the squad van coming around, @Jiw0.  Laughed when I read it. Thanks for that. 

[Teresa791]

Yep that sounds about like it’s the truth and if you don’t take the cash the guest lowers your 5 star rating after check out and Airbnb says they can’t do a thing about it because the review is all about the host and guest experience.  So with experience we all learn that it’s Everyman for himself.

[Helen-And-Mario0]

If you are seasoned landlord/host, it is certainly not a big deal to accept payment after booking ends. But if you are new and not sure how to deal with possible trouble(like 1% chance, but really it is your gut feelings about the guest), then you may want to stay on airbnb for the peace of mind. Agree with previous comments, airbnb doen'st really guanrantee you anything, except extreme rate cases. 

[Cynthia-and-Chris1]

I'm not as big a fanatic about keeping everything on the Airbnb platform as some people are.  I take everything on a case-by-case basis with my guests.  If I really get along and they have been great guests during their stay, I absolutely would say yes to one additional day paid in cash.  If they were iffy or I didn't get a good feeling from them, I would probably be more inclined to go through the platform.  (Why, I'm not sure - as we've both agreed the Host Guarantee probably isn't going to do much).

Airbnb obviously frowns on this because they wouldn't be getting their cut of the additional day - but I say follow your gut.

[Marit-Anne0]

Nah - no squads lol.  But they might assist should your guest linger and hinder following guests take occupancy of their paid accomodation.

[Jiw0]

> "Airbnb obviously frowns on this because they wouldn't be getting their cut of the additional day"

Right, but frowns on it to the point of kicking you off the site?  

It wouldn't be a structural attitude of trying to circumvent the rules, but it could happen a couple times a year, when a guest asks.

I looked at the Terms of Service text but most of it is written in serious Legaleze. (Exception is the anti discrimination section which uses actual language. I liked that part. 🙂

[Sandra126]

I would be worried that the guest would say ''thanks for letting me pay cash for the last day, really helpful'' in their review.

[Lisa36]

I too prefer everything to go through Airbnb but recently I had same issue.  Guest wanted to extend and could not work out how to do it on their app.  Guest is from OS so I could not ring and talk him through and I felt it was too late to email instructions plus wasn't sure what platform he was using, so I said I would do it in the morning from my computer or he could just give one nights cash.  I had plenty of time the next day but could not work out how to 'extend' the booking, maybe because the guest's stay had already expired.  I had to make him an offer for the night, which I did but he could not accept because I had 2 nights minimum (although I was able to send the one night offer!)   had IB on and was afraid it would get booked in that time we were messaging! So it did turn out more complicated than need be.  I am now going through online help and this centre to work out where I went wrong.  In the end I had to change all my settings, take off IB just to send the offer for the third time!  I think cash would have been the quicker option especially for the guest as he's on holidays!

[Jiw0]

I have very little patience with even very milld site/app/settings challenges that cause a guest to fail in extending their stay.    

The guest is both my personal guest and customer and at the first sign of trouble I choose to not further inconvenience the guest and tell her I'm blocking the day for her and she can pay in person if she prefers.

Much better than endless time wasted in making a guest jump through hoops.

[Teresa791]

Also if you don’t accept there cash they only give 1,2,3,4 stars never 5