Host Cancellations versus Guest Cancellations

[Jonathan2844]

I have been Superhost for the past 3years, no issues at all.  I get possibly 5x bookings cancelled per year (sometimes short notice) out of ~35bookings per year avg 4.5days per booking, which I presume are speculative bookings as we have a flexible cancellation policy.  This policy is fine and we are happy to support as people's circumstances change. 

I received an instant booking a year and a half in advanced and I had forgotten to block out our calendar (it's a time of year when we always use our place).  I cancelled the booking within hours of the  booking and explained to the guest.  He was fine with this but now after quarterly Superhost review I've lost the status for one cancellation!  Seems a bit ridiculous that there is a one way process of protecting guests and nothing for the host having an option to explain!

In hindsight I probably should have asked the guest to cancel but that didn't sit right with me as it was our fault.

Any thoughts from anyone and does Airbnb pick up on this message group - I couldn't find where to send a direct message to Airbnb.

Thanks in advance ~jonathan

[Shelley159]

I could be wrong, but I really don't think you'll manage to get Airbnb to make any exception to the Superhost criteria @Jonathan2844 - the criteria is communicated upfront and you can track real-time progress in your dashboard. The argument will probably simply be that you should have been well aware that the cancellation would send you below Superhost criteria for the relevant review period.

To avoid it in future, it's probably better to go to the Availability settings in the calendar and shorten the Availability Window? Taking bookings 18 months in advance does carry a lot of risk.

[Jonathan2844]

Thanks @Shelley159.  This is good advice and agree.  

We had our settings to allow bookings 2years in advance, so I have now adjusted to 1year but there is an option to still allow enquiries for bookings further out than 1year.  This is a better approach and allows time to check dates.

[Bhumika]

Hi @Jonathan2844 , I am glad the advice from hosts have helped. If you're looking for more information, I am also sharing these articles if it helps to explore more information: 

👉 Updating your availability 

👉 What’s required to be a Superhost 

👉 Track your Superhost status 

👉 Maintain Superhost status 

Regards,

[Helen3]

Not really @Jonathan2844 

You've chosen to have a flexible policy allowing guests to cancel penalty free. 

Hosts are always penalised for cancelling.