Confirming without realising

[Peter312]

I was wanting to make a provisional booking request for a month. Didnt know the exact dates yet since I still have not booked my flights. I communicated with owner for a provisional booking. Put in the dates very flexible and it stated YOU WILL NOT BE CHARGED FOR THIS BOOKING. But now all of a sudden the entire amount has been deducted fron my credit card: This is USD 3500. Canceling is 50% fee... I really dont know what to do and have asked the host who also doesn t understand... I am quite upset ... is there a way out???

[Linda108]

There is no way for a "provisional booking", @Peter312.  If you are confused and need to contact Air BNB, here is a guide for contacting Air BNB.   https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Contact-Airbnb-A-Community-Help-Guide/m-p/16165#M728

Good luck!

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Peter312

Assuming you have explained the situation to your host and the host is willing to accomodate the change, once you book your flight you can request a change to your reservation and adjust the dates. A few of my international guests also had to request a change due to their flight schedules and in my case, most of these reservations were for over a month, so a few (2~3) days difference was easily accepted and reflected into my calendar.

Like @Linda108 says, there is no such thing as a provisional booking. Either you book a room or you don't. You can send an inquiry to the host to ask questions prior to booking, but reservations/payments from guests are handled by Airbnb. Hosts recieve booking confirmations and payments from Airbnb. So of course, hosts have no idea what goes on between the guest and Airbnb when it comes to credit card charges, payments or cancellations.