Booking made unfairly more expensive if extended by 3 days

[Oonagh8]

This is message for Airbnb. I'm a super host based in Ireland. I recently booked a house in Pollença, Mallorca for a week. When I look into extending the booking it wants to charge me almost €40 extra per night. We have paid €260 per night for a week long (7 days) total of €1820. This is above the average cost at this time of year, but the place looks nice. Our holiday is for 10 days so I looked in to booking for 10 days - however I was only offered a rate of €272 per night. Therefore I only booked for the week. I am an Airbnb super host myself and I find this concerning as usually one is rewarded for staying longer. We are still wanting to stay but I hope you understand why this concerns me. I would like it to be resolved and pay a further €780 (3 x €260 per night) to extend the stay if we are to keep the booking? I have until tomorrow to cancel the entire stay free of charge which I'm considering as I find this additional charge that ups the amount for every day, both senseless and unfair. 
Many Thanks,
Oonagh

[Joan2709]

Hi @Oonagh8 

Have you contacted the Host and asked if they would provide a discount for the days you want to extend? Many Hosts would be willing to do that if you ask? If you are extending your dates into a holiday or other special event in the area taking place over those dates, the Host might not be able to provide a discount, as most likely they would be able to book those dates at a higher rate.

[Alex1485]

 @Joan2709  raises great points for you to consider.

I would also mention,  if you are already describing the hosts’ business practices as  ‘concerning, senseless and unfair.”  &  furthermore mention the place is  “above the average cost” you should cancel immediately… a holiday is meant to be a place you rest, relax, and not a space where you feel like you are being taken advantage of?  

[Jennifer1897]

@Oonagh8   Hosts can allow Airbnb to set their nightly rate with recommended pricing or they can manually select a rate for each night. Prices depend on many factors. 

One of two things likely happened. These nights simply cost more or when booking the original 7 nights you received a discount for the length of stay. As you likely know, given that you are a host as well, many extend a discount for longer stays. A short add on of three nights likely would receive this discount if it was in fact applied to the original reservation.

I don't see anything about this being unfair or senseless. As a host yourself you have a right to set your prices and discounts as you see fit, as does this host. If you are unhappy, you can cancel and find a place that suites your budget. 

[Joelle43]

@Oonagh8 

Another thing to consider as to why the cost is higher for those three extra days, is that there is a special event in town and demand is high pushing the price up?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Oonagh8 

Surely, as a host, you should realise that the host can charge whatever they want for their listing.  Equally you, as a guest in this case, can choose to pay the requested rate or cancel and go elsewhere. I am really not seeing what the problem is here.

[Pat271]

@Oonagh8  Depending on how far in advance you are booking, it’s possible that the host might not even be aware that those nights are being bumped up to that degree. Many hosts use an automatic pricing product that sets prices based on certain criteria. Although these products are good, they occasionally bump up prices beyond what a host might think is reasonable. I know, because I use one myself.

To allow for that possibility, contact the host and explain nicely that the bump-up is occurring, and ask nicely if they happen to know why. I did this once when the price for the week I wanted was double the price of the week before. The host did not see a reason for this, and so they matched the price. Of course, it helps a lot if your stay more than a day or two, the stay date isn’t too far in the future, and the host thinks you would make a good guest. So be nice. 🙂

By the way, I don’t typically recommend approaching hosts for discounts. Hosts work hard to get their pricing right, sometimes even paying for a service to help them do so. But in this case, it’s enough of a head-scratcher that I don’t think a host would mind if you just nicely asked about this pricing behavior.

[Oonagh8 · Accepted solution]

Thank you all for taking time to reply. I contacted the host and she was unaware of the price difference. It actually went back to the time of my original booking. When I went to book for a week it was 260 a night. If I went to book for 10 days it was 272. That is why I booked the week. A few weeks later, when I decided to extend the holiday booking to see if price would remain at 260 to match week booked,  it increased to 298 for 3 more nights. I told the host about the hike and she was very accommodating. The reason for the increase is an automatic hike due to entering Easter holiday season. Tbh I still find this to be flaw of the system - as surely if extending a stay when those 3 days cannot otherwise earn her money, it should be encouraged. To be clear, within a 10 day window of availability, I  booked a week. She requires a minimum of 7 days for this house. So the only way to book out those 3 days would be if I extended my stay or the people staying after me decided to come 3 days early. Yet I was strongly disincentivised not to do this, from the get go. Anyway it is now sorted, holiday booked for 10 days at 260 per night. 
best wishes, 

Oonagh