Penalties for cancellation as a host

[Yana0]

hi,

im new host and inexperienced host here on Airbnb and would highly appreciate your advice. A while ago i accepped the booking of my place for a couple of days at the end of december, but just recently i've decided to go out of town due to family event. Thus i need to cancel the booking, but i see I may get serious fees for that. The official help center says 'If you cancel any reservation within 7 days of check-in, you'll be charged a $100 fee' but im my specific case i would have cancelled it more than a month in advance. Will i still get the fine or not?

Thank you very much for sharing your experience with me.

Yana 

[Raymond-and-Elaine0]

@Yana0 Read the FAQ section. This link gives details of the penalties you face if you cancel the reservation. Airbnb is based on trust and guests need to know that when they book , their reservation will be honoured. When you accepted this guest you entered into a contract and like all contracts, there are consequences if you break them.    https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990/how-do-the-cancellation-penalties-work

[Yana0]

Raymond,

thank you for your responce. I read FAQ and as already mentioned in my earlier concern, Airbnb mention the fine within 7 days of check-in - this is not my case. or am I mistaken. I specifically said that booking was done in mid October, now is mid november and check in should be in late december.

[Queenie0]

 The days in December will still be blocked, but since you're away, it won't effect you. 

You will still receive an automated notice on your Reviews section saying "Host cancelled this reservation within xx days of checkin". And you will not be eligible for Super Host for a while.  The automated notice will have the biggest impact. If you have none or few reviews, it will stand out and some guests will be scared off by it since no one wants their reservation cancelled by a host - at any time, for any reason. This is especially true of guests who book far in advance. They are planners and you will upset their careful planning.

As you can see, it is critical to keep your calendar up to date. When in doubt, block possible unavailable days until you're certain you will be available.

Good luck.

[Deborah0]

Ditto @Queenie0, who very dependably has excellent advice.  We as hosts need to be responsible to our guests and not accept any reservation that we are not committed to keeping.  In my view, the only reasons hosts should be cancelling a reservation are things like these:  (1) in continuing communications with guest, host is having more and more concerns about that guest and realizes they dont' want that person in their home.   (2) host has a family emergency -- either their own health emergency, or that of someone in their family.  (3) host has a listing emergency, such as a plumbing issue or roof leak, or something that is going to make it difficult or impossible for the guest to stay there.  (4) there is a disruptive weather or natural event ,or political/social unrest in hosts' immediate area, which may make it difficult or impossible for guest to come.  Eg a hurricane, a fire, or a terrorist attack.  I recall a story of a host who had a situation with an escaped prisoner in her area, a massive manhunt for him being underway in her region.  That made her normally very safe area, now feel unsafe.  She decided to offer the guest the option of cancelling with a full refund.  

IN all these cases Airbnb may help the host cancel without penalty, so it is good to contact Airbnb for help.  

Host deciding to go on vacation is generally not a good reason to cancel a guest's reservation -- though if the opportunity of a lifetime arises and host absolutely has to go on that special trip, or there are other unexpected circumstances, hosts can indeed cancel but must be prepared to bear the "cost" of doing so.  I usually plan my vacations around guests' reservations -- taking vacation only when I don't have guests arriving.  

[Peter0]

I have had a few (Instant Book mostly) cases where guests have booked and only THEN had conversations with me online.  They then realised that they hadn't read the details and they would be uncomfortable continuing with the booking.  Generally, Airbnb has been brilliant in these situations as long as it happens quickly.  They see that the guest is unhappy and confused and they will process such a cancellation as an administrative correction rather than being a host or guest cancellation.  

I made the mistake of taking a private booking from friends and not logging it in the Airbnb diary so I ended up cancelling a booking.  It lost me Superhost status for a year but apart from that as it was a first time offence I wasn't financially penalised.  

[Matthew150]

I completely agree with you! I just had my host cancel because she now has guests that want to stay through my booked time. Very unprofessional. I booked 6 months in advance so she was fully aware she had a commitment to me before extending the stay of the other guests, but still did it anyway. This was going to be my first Airbnb experience, looks like it might be my last.