Guest wants to change reservation dates

[Biljana35]

Hello!
I need some advice. A guest who made a reservation in November for the period from February 6th to March 6th now wants to change the reservation for the period from March 11th to April 11th. I don't feel comfortable about losing the reservation in low season, and removing it for high season when I assume I can rent it out easily. Can I refuse the request without incurring any consequences? Also, I am afraid that after changing the reservation, the guest will cancel it within 48 hours, because that way they will get a full refund (My cancellation policy is strict). Is there any protection from Airbnb in that case? Could you please advise me on the best thing to do?

Best regards,

Biljana

[Jeff89]

Based on those dates, the current booking is for 28 nights so they come under the long term policy. They are also inside the 30 day cancellation period which means they would lose the rent for that first month if they cancel.   The new dates are for 30 days and if you have seasonal pricing they will be paying more,  but as the proposed new booking dates are more than 30 days out I have a feeling they can cancel without penalty.  I recall some would-be guests have used that as an escape route from a booking.  You could block some of the proposed dates so they become temporarily unavailable and use your discretion about a date change so that the booking start date is less than 30 days away.  Other hosts might have different views and I'm happy to be corrected.  I'm rarely on the forum but I saw your post in an email and I'm often asked by guests to change their booking dates.   Hope this helps.

[Biljana35]

Thank you so much! You helped me a lot 😊

[Huma0]

@Biljana35 

Here is the Airbnb help article on the long term cancellation policy: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/1361

I host long-term stays and personally, I find the policies on alterations really confusing. It seems the deadline for making alterations is governed by the check out date (not the check in date as with other policies). 

I really don't know about your case, because the guest is not just altering their check in or out date/length of stay, but asking to change the dates entirely. I wouldn't be happy with this. If they had asked back in November, fine, but it's a bit short notice now.

And you are right to be wary of them then cancelling once the dates are changed.

[Biljana35]

Thank you very much 😊 I have never had a situation like this before, so it was difficult for me to decide what was the best thing to do. I did not accept the request to change the reservation, and if they decide to cancel it, I will offer them a refund only in case I rebook the canceled dates, and only for the rebooked dates.

[Huma0]

@Biljana35 

Well, that is normally what I offer guests too, i.e. "I will refund you extra if the dates get rebooked, but I can't promise that they will with a last minute cancellation. The sooner you cancel though, the more chance there is that they'll get rebooked."

[Ricardo85]

@Biljana35 

The guest's booking caused these dates to be blocked exclusively for him, making it impossible to book for other guests. And now he doesn't want to pay for it?

One option would be for him to cancel the current booking and claim reimbursement on his travel insurance.

Ricardo

[Biljana35]

Thank you! 😊

[Flavia202]

@Biljana35 ,

They're asking that now? Oh well, could be a genuine reason but I agree with you not to cancel the booking yourself.  If they genuinely want it, they can cancel and rebook.

Always good advice from the hosts here. I especially like the suggestion by @Jeff89 

[Pat271]

@Biljana35  Whenever a guest has asked to move their dates outside of the cancellation policy window, I always just call Airbnb and have them do it. I ask them to do it in such a way that the existing cancellation conditions still apply to the new reservation. They have always been understanding and happy to do this for me. This pertains to short-term stays, but I assume they would also help reschedule long-term stays with the original policy intact.

As far as allowing/disallowing the change into lower season rates, I would just change the rate for their desired stay into the rate they had previously, and I would only do this if the chances of booking the old dates are relatively high. I normally don’t allow changes at all less than 2 months before the original stay in Maui, since Maui guests tend to book months in advance - not very many last-minute bookers, so chances of rebooking last-minute cancellations are low. Greenville, however, gets a lot of “let’s get away this weekend” bookers, so rebooking would be more likely. Think about your location and its market before making a decision.

By the way, I have to say that if possible, I try to accommodate guests with these requests within reason. Denying these requests essentially causes the guest to feel compelled to come, and I really don’t want guests staying at our place who don’t want to be there. You certainly are within your rights to be strict with your policies, but on a case-by-case basis, good will should also be kept in mind.