Can I ask a guest to cancel?

Answered!
Patrick802
Level 3
County Dublin, Ireland

Can I ask a guest to cancel?

Hi, I have a personal family situation in 3 weeks time that has come up and I simply can’t get out of it, I am going to have to ask a guest to cancel their visit of a few days as I’m led to believe its an easier process if the guest cancels rather than the host? As a host gets penalised etc.

Does anyone have experience of this and will a guest usually agree to cancel with a few weeks notice or will the host (i.e. me) end up having to cancel it themselves and any penalties that incurs?

 

I have a moderate cancellation policy in place and I believe if a stay is canceled 5 days prior the guest gets a full refund or do they have to pay service fees at all?

 

Top Answer
Helen3
Top Contributor
Bristol, United Kingdom

Hello @Patrick802 

 

You cannot ask a guest to cancel because you can no longer host them.

 

If they cancel they will be penalised; they will lose their fees from Airbnb, one of their three cancellation opportunities and they are in the unfortunate position of having to find an alternative within three weeks of their stay.

 

I am sure you wouldn't want to put your guests in this situation of being penalised because of a host cancellation..

 

As an alternative could you not ask a friend or family member to manage the listing while you are away - as this means you won't inconvenience your guest as you will still get the income.

 

Alternatively you will need to cancel the booking. Airbnb will then give your guest a 10% credit to help them find someone else.

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15 Replies 15
Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

 

Is it necessary that you are in town for the reservation? Could you set everything up before the guest arrives and ask a friend or neighbor to check on things for you? In my experience, guests are pretty self sufficient and I usually don’t need to be there at all.