There's a new filter to guide Guests in their search. [Though maybe not so new, given that it wasn't announced except in that elusive newsletter that some get and others don't. And yes, I've ticked the box. I've ticked all the boxes ....] Apparently, as of sometime recently, Guests can now filter their search by cancellation policy.
The knee-jerk response is that it'll hit Hosts with a Strict policy hard. Personally, I don't think it's going to make a huge amount of difference.
Most Guests probably think that they're not going to be the ones to cancel; they're more worried about the Host flaking on them. My guess is that Guests are probably pretty much indifferent to the different levels of cancellation policy at the point of sale. They don't even think about it unless they actually need to cancel, and by then it's too late anyway. If there's any empirical evidence at all that making this term a filter adds any value for either Host or Guest, I've yet to find it.
What DOES engage them at the point of sale is price. Wouldn't it be useful if we could do what hotels and airlines successfully do, and explicitly link price to cancellation policy? We could charge more for looser terms - eg I'd charge $300 per night for my current Strict cancellation terms but, bump it up to $400 for Moderate amd $500 for Flexible. My guess is that most Guests would opt for 'Strict' AND they'd feel like they'd been rewarded for good behaviour. It would also have the extra benefit of ensuring that Guests are aware of the different levels of cancellation policy and their ramifications; a Guest who deliberately sought out the 'bargain' price attached to a Strict cancellation policy is surely less likely to complain about the outcome if the worst happens.
