Setting dates available - is the last day the checkout day? Or the last NIGHT (checkout following)

[Mark230]

I'm unclear as to the last date of availability in my calendar.  For instance, if I make available our house from Jan 1-7.  

Does that mean the guest can check out on the 8th?  

Or is the last night the 6th and they check out on the 7th?

[Marisa513]

My reservation was the 24th through the 9th of the following month.. I considered the 9th as a stay day and checkout in the morning of the 10. But, the host who is very kind, said that check out is the 9th. It’s different than reserving a hotel? The days reserved are usually considered stay days…

[Sarah977]

@Marisa513  Yes, the last date on your booking is the day you check-out. 

[Karen3669]

How is that? I would pay for night #1,  the day that I check in (after 3pm)for the night.  Then for example I stay and sleep there for two more nights, (so three nights total). Then I have to check out before 11am on day of departure. 
How in anyone’s way of thinking could that be more than 3 nights? 
More than likely another guest will be there at 3pm. Would you really charge both the check-out guest and the check-in guest for that day?? Wow

[Angie29 · Accepted solution]

@Mark230  You are correct.  Available or Unavailable is all about the NIGHTS.

if I you make your house available from Jan 1-7 it means that the guests will be spending the nights -- starting on the 1st -- AND INCLUDING the 7th, and checking out on the 8th.  

NO DOUBT.    

[Justin1726]

Pretty sure you are wrong lady. You have to check out on the last day of you reservation. Its not like hotels 

[Karen3669]

Correct, the day of check-out should not be charged as another night!

Why do all Hosts not know this? Many people are overpaying!

[Angie29]

Just a little educational information for your 411.  

Hosts NEVER charge for the check out day.  I don't know where you got that "overpaying" idea from.  

If your reservation is 1st - 4th that mean you are paying for the nights of 1, 2, and 3.  You are leaving/checking out on the 4th at no charge for that date.  

Also, when guests make a reservation only Airbnb does the financial/transactions details, not the hosts, and then they end us the left over.  

[Ryan563]

It's amazing to me that AirBNB has not added a clarification about this to the calendar view in all this time. I only rent my place out once in a while and hesitate over this every time. I even once mistakenly rented my house out for a night that was not supposed to be available because of just this confusion and had to sleep over at a friend's place. How hard is it to fix this?

[Angie29]

It us up to you to highlight your calendar as unavailable, it's not Airbnb's job because  they are not the ones who live there to know what dates are available or not.  I've been doing this for 7 years with no problem and if I screw up and do not block a date that I need to be at home and someone rents it, then it's my fault and I have to leave my house.  

Guests NEVER rent a house if a date is highlighted as "blocked" because they can't get to it if it's not available.  

I hope this helps you and I hope you will continue to host more when you want to.   

[Karen3669]

YES! When we choose the nights we want to stay Airbnb should automatically figure your literal nights you will be sleeping there, (check-in night included) and then tell you the date of morning departure. (Not a night of stay) and what time. 
FIXED!!!

[Angie29]

@Ryan563 When you accept a booking Airbnb will show those unavailable nights on your calendar with a grey shaded color and the date they check out is your available night and it is on white color.  

Available nights are also the day the guests check out thus making that same night available.  IF you want to block it for yourself or for your visiting family, you need to block the nights you or your family will be spending at your home and it'll automatically show grey color on your calendar which makes those nights unavailable to book.   

[Giles11]

Hilarious thread!  Please airbnb, use standard terms like 'checkout day' and use little triangles to show it.  Thanks.

[Giles11]

Oh and FYI, if you sync with Homeaway (who use the more standard and unambiguous checkin/checkout method, so leave date CANNOT be arrive date), then airbnb gets confused and thinks that the property is unavailable for the checkout day.  So it may be hilarious, but you miss out on one day's rental, the checkout day.  Guys, this is basic stuff!  Please get your act together!

[Natasha300]

Just ran in to this issue as well. Super confusing that the hosting calendar is "days including that night", and doesn't just map to check-in/check-out.

[Christian1180]

What is really confusing is that the way the blocked periods are shown visually in the host calendar when showing a blocked start date that is inherited from a linked calendar. Why is it shown is a different way from a blocked period created in AirBNB? It's probably a bug in their system. 

Visiually it looks like the entire morning, day and night is blocked. 

This makes it look like you cannot have a guest check out on the morning before a new guest arrives.

Come on AirBNB, fix it!

[Karen3669]

YES!!! Then the correct person will be paying for that night! The one checking in!!!

Not the one having coffee, cleaning, packing and leaving!!

[Wes20]

I agree, this is unnecessarily confusing and airbnb should have a UX solution to sort this out.  I have the exact same question and if what most everyone is saying is correct, Airbnb handles this differently than all other hotel sites. 

Traditionally a traveler will select their check-in and check-out dates; i.e. check in 1/1 and check out 1/4 would be a 3 night stay.  However on Airbnb's calendar hosts select days that are available to stay over that night, which is why the last day shows a price on it.  The guest would actually be checking out the next day which is a day that shows the property as unavailable on the host's calendar. 

[Lawrence21]

Airbnb does this, and other crazily confusing UI things, on purpose I am afraid. They pretend to be helpful but on all the little stuff make it crazy -- all basically on the side of people booking. Price too high? We just lowered it! FTFY! Oh, you didn't mean to turn on Instant Booking? Well, we did it anyway. Oh, booked that for an extra day? Oh well. Can't cancel on a guest? Really, but the guest secretly still can right up until the day of staying? Wow! The smaller the issue, the greater the chance it is not as advertised on Airbnb. Airbnb does not care what you charge for your place, so they are constantly hounding users to lower their rates. Not so good for the renter, but obviously increases total bookings. 

[Garth11]

Why doesn't AirBnB sort out this silly confusion by making the would-be guest SPECIFY HOW MANY NIGHTS THEY ARE GOING TO STAY??

[Richard864]

Agreed, Garth. This is ridiculous. Something so simple -- yet it is not in the FAQ. Maddening. It should be done like a hotel, or a real life B&B, and that's it.