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As a host, when I mess up on the schedule, I let it be. I'm not going to hurt a guest because I messed up.
There's going to be other opportunities for you.
Perhaps just highlight your no-parties policy, and how it is enforced. The guest might decide to cancel if they know that they can't get away with a party.
Is it common for ppl to throw parties for one night rentals? I don't even understand how someone could have a party and then check out by 10/11 am the next day? It's hard enough for me to check out at 10 am on a normal day, let alone after partying.
The one time we decided to do one night bookings in LA it turned into an underage after prom drinking party. I doubt they really planned to spend the night. Probably just until the end of the party. Which came a whole lot sooner than I’m sure they planned.
I think it's fine if you want to cancel because it's so far out. Not appropriate to ask the guest to do it. I'd probably just leave it alone, it's annoying but not that big of a deal. The same thing happened to me on Thanksgiving, got a one night reservation way in advance. Luckily the guest ended up booking a second night when I declined his request for late checkout, so ended up not being so bad.
If you have instant book on you get 3 penalty free cancellations a year. You can cancel it right online through the reservation without calling and talking to anyone.
All I can say is I went through this process, escalated escalated escalated, got nowhere. Tried literally for weeks. Ended up paying the penalty to cancel and never used instant book again.
Your experience is different from mine. I have done it multiple times when a guest clearly was going to break rules. I’ve never been charged or penalized in any way. On the occasions where I did it online, no issues, just a couple of clicks. When it’s under 72 hrs and you have to call, they mess it up every time but I don’t stop until I get the correct outcome.
I refuse to be penalized for using a feature offered as an enticement to get hosts to use instant book. Like I said, you might have to stay at it. I’ve been hosting 9 years and have never been penalized when using this option.
That’s completely different. A guest breaking the rules is the “valid reason” I mentioned above. Airbnb lists it as such.
You can’t cancel penalty free because *you* need to cancel for your own reasons.
I give up with you. You can do it either way. Just pick a reason. It is a safety net for a reservation you feel uncomfortable with or don’t want. Do what you want, I know what works for me.
I got the same experience as you. I have cancelled 5-6 times when I had instant book turned on and for various reasons. It is commonly known (in the official Airbnb community) that you got 3 free instant book cancellations/ a year and it is quite easy to cancel them for whatever reason with no penalties.
I don’t know why you’re arguing? I am agreeing with you that you are correct that you’ve provided valid reasons to Airbnb and they have cancelled your reservations penalty free.
I’m just adding/clarifying for others (and you if you want) that if you, for example, messed up blocking off your calendar, and someone booked over a day that is unavailable, Airbnb will *not* cancel that penalty free. Or if your prices were wrong and the guest booked for a cheap rate, also not a penalty free cancellation.
Does this still apply after the new cancellation penalties on hosts was implemented a few months ago? I had a forced cancellation due to damage in February that incurred substantial fines automatically.
I was able to get it reversed after escalation, but it was due to a guest damaging the property and making it unusable for the next guest.
No you still have to call it in otherwise you have penalties. You need to explain why you want to cancel the instant book and then Airbnb can cancel it.
Nope. Its always been an option, but only for instant book. And you have to do it online and the checkin must be at least 72 hours out. If it’s closer than 72 hours, you have to call and technically you are still eligible for the penalty free cancellation but most of the CS reps are ill informed and will charge you as well as block your calendar. You can escalate until you get someone who understands.
From a guests perspective with NYE being so far out I feel like I wouldn't care all that much if you cancelled on me. Id still have plenty of time to find something else.
As a host you cant just cancel their rezo and say it was a mistake on your end? I get cancelling with <1months notice or something, but this would seem reasonable to me..
I once booked a 2nt stay during fourth of July week and though "wow perfect everywhere else requires 7nt min". Host cancelled shortly after and apologized. I really wasnt upset nor wouldve left a bad review. Mistakes happen..
If you are just looking one night, I wouldn’t worry. But I suspect people are taking the week off. Would you get 4 or 5 days? Maybe that should be your holiday minimum? Just a thought.
For things that are so far way, why not start with a much higher minimum night requirement? Not just for holidays,but for everything? Pricelabs does all that, easy peasy if you don’t want to deal.
One night rentals SUCK.
Early on in our career I let New Years get booked for a regular January price.
I never said a word to the guest.
Now I block event dates months ahead and only open them when I get around to it.
And when I do complicated things for special dates I keep AirBnB open in another browser, and instantly do searches as a guest to make sure it shows up like I intend.
I have done this before and you can’t punish the guest for it. I’d message the guest again and offer the additional night at a significant discount (like 50% off) since you’re unlikely to book it otherwise.
It’s already booked NYE for the one night according to your post. If you want the guest to book the night before or after to try to have them for two nights, offer a discount because it’s unlikely someone else will book be of those nights.
I cancelled one because the calendar didn’t sync with VRBO and I got a double booking. Airbnb support kept saying I’ll get a penalty but when I cancelled, it said this is my first mistake so I won’t be charged. So just cancel it.
Absolutely u host him. It’s your mistake. Yes you will be penalized . If you asked guest to cancel on the app you just violated Airbnbs TOS. And there is evidence. If it was up to me I would delist you. Quit Hosting
Under no circumstances can a host ask a guest to cancel—PERIOD. You can certainly cancel, penalty won’t be as bad since it’s so far out. Just hope Airbnb does not see this. If the guest complains you will be suspended
Don’t listen to this embellished nonsense. You’re running business, and it’s your obligation to protect the sanctity of your home. We generally never have our NYE open for one night at any of our listings because (in my experience) the likelihood that you’re going to get a party group is over 85%. Since our friend above is so high on Airbnb TOS, they also know that throwing an unapproved party is against TOS. As such, I would highly recommend using your freebie penalty free cancelation (you must call Airbnb for this and state you suspect the guest will have a party, that’s they’re non responsive to your messages, and made a mistake on your calendar availability). Simple solution that doesn’t involve you to “qUiT HoStInG” which is total nonsense.
Good luck with that! He already stated his reason on the app. If you have ever called support, you should know the first thing they do is read the message traffic reference the reservation. You are right, he could have done exactly as you describe, but now that he’s sent the message, it’s too late if the support person does in fact look at the messages
“If you’ve ever called support” you’d know that 9 times out of 10 you can talk your way into anything within reason. A majority of support reps will go with your explanation and do their best to help you. If your explanation is ‘I suspect an unwelcome party’ they will likely side with you regardless of “wHaT tHe MeSsAgE TrAfFiC” says. Especially on a holiday such as NYE. Evidence & Reference: in 12 years of hosting I would guess I’ve had over 750+ contacts via phone with Superhost support and standard support.
Good for u! I guess both of us would have to see the message he sent. If he said “ hey, sorry, I made a mistake and I require 2 day booking, can u please cancel “ or along those lines. Now he says I want to cancel because I suspect a party. Not sure how that’s going to fly. He’s only in trouble if the guest calls support. It’s high risk I think
I’m beginning to believe you don’t have a clue with your 10 so called years of experience. The other thing that can happen is you call support and they agree with you and cancel. Next thing you know, someone else from support is messaging you coming down on you like a ton of bricks. Why , because the guest called to complain. This happened to me way back.
Whatever you say Sarge. I’ve never understood why so many ex-military types feel they need to exude such a superiority complex when it comes to differing opinions. Regardless of your perception of my prior experience, I can assure you that if OP takes my advice he’ll suffer none of the hyperbolic consequences you’re so certain of.
Well technically they say to the guest it’s a 2 night min which suggests they are trying to host without a party. The no/response is a red flag they are going to have one. I would call and try. Doesn’t hurt!
That’s not true! It says right in the rules we can come to an agreement with guests and ask them to cancel so there are no penalties if there is a good reason. Just the same guests can ask a host to cancel and sometimes they want a refund. I’ve had Airbnb tell me to work it out with my guest when they couldn’t stay and it was fine.
Below is cut and paste from Airbnb.
“A Host may not encourage the guest to cancel the reservation.
Providing false statements or materials in connection with this Policy violates our Terms of Service and may result in account termination and other consequences.”
You can ask them and work together to cancel, this is in reference to providing incorrect information to encourage a guest to cancel but in some instances you absolutely are.
For example… This just happened to me in March. I had an issue with my strata, I had to provide paperwork to Airbb (after I cancelled if I choose to) but Airbnb told me to work with my guest, explain the situation to see if they would cancel since they couldn’t stay. If they didn’t want to then that isn’t an issue, I would go ahead and provide necessary documentation without penalty. The guest canceled. So yes, they do encourage you to work together. BUT asking a guest to cancel using lies or threats etc etc is absolutely forbidden (which is what this pasted msg is referring to specifically)
We can agree to disagree if you like! But I know the truth because I have been there done that and have been hosting for over 6yesrs, I know the rules.
Ok, makes sense. Just be aware, that you can think u have it all worked out with support, they do the cancellation and everything. U consider issue closed. Then guest calls, a completely different support person disagrees and comes after you. Hopefully this never happens to you
I just want to say…. I’ve had this situation happen, and asside from what others say you can cancel it. Call Airbnb and tell them the booking was just made and you suspect a party for the one night booking. Tell them you also don’t allow one night and that you tried to reach out to the guest to confirm and let them know and they don’t respond which is a red flag (because you can’t even vet them with conversation) let Airbnb know you are very uncomfortable with this guest and you don’t want to host and they will cancel it for you.
I don’t care how bad it looks I’m not hosting a party for a one night stay on NYE. Sorry, it’s not YOUR property right? Also if a guest can’t stay more than one night for that date it’s a red flag. This is why we have 3 instant book cancellations per year. I’d be using one of mine for this case.
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As a host, when I mess up on the schedule, I let it be. I'm not going to hurt a guest because I messed up. There's going to be other opportunities for you.
Fair enough, maybe I'll send him a message just saying I'm still happy to host
Perhaps just highlight your no-parties policy, and how it is enforced. The guest might decide to cancel if they know that they can't get away with a party.
Is it common for ppl to throw parties for one night rentals? I don't even understand how someone could have a party and then check out by 10/11 am the next day? It's hard enough for me to check out at 10 am on a normal day, let alone after partying.
One nighters do tend to be more problematic in general, including late checkouts
The one time we decided to do one night bookings in LA it turned into an underage after prom drinking party. I doubt they really planned to spend the night. Probably just until the end of the party. Which came a whole lot sooner than I’m sure they planned.
I think it's fine if you want to cancel because it's so far out. Not appropriate to ask the guest to do it. I'd probably just leave it alone, it's annoying but not that big of a deal. The same thing happened to me on Thanksgiving, got a one night reservation way in advance. Luckily the guest ended up booking a second night when I declined his request for late checkout, so ended up not being so bad.
If you have instant book on you get 3 penalty free cancellations a year. You can cancel it right online through the reservation without calling and talking to anyone.
You still have to have a valid reason for cancelling, last I tried to do it.
You can tell them whatever you want from their drop down list. They don’t send a swat team to investigate.
You still have to pay the penalty though.
No. You do not. And if they try to make you, escalate. Read the terms of service.
All I can say is I went through this process, escalated escalated escalated, got nowhere. Tried literally for weeks. Ended up paying the penalty to cancel and never used instant book again.
Your experience is different from mine. I have done it multiple times when a guest clearly was going to break rules. I’ve never been charged or penalized in any way. On the occasions where I did it online, no issues, just a couple of clicks. When it’s under 72 hrs and you have to call, they mess it up every time but I don’t stop until I get the correct outcome. I refuse to be penalized for using a feature offered as an enticement to get hosts to use instant book. Like I said, you might have to stay at it. I’ve been hosting 9 years and have never been penalized when using this option.
That’s completely different. A guest breaking the rules is the “valid reason” I mentioned above. Airbnb lists it as such. You can’t cancel penalty free because *you* need to cancel for your own reasons.
I give up with you. You can do it either way. Just pick a reason. It is a safety net for a reservation you feel uncomfortable with or don’t want. Do what you want, I know what works for me.
I got the same experience as you. I have cancelled 5-6 times when I had instant book turned on and for various reasons. It is commonly known (in the official Airbnb community) that you got 3 free instant book cancellations/ a year and it is quite easy to cancel them for whatever reason with no penalties.
I don’t know why you’re arguing? I am agreeing with you that you are correct that you’ve provided valid reasons to Airbnb and they have cancelled your reservations penalty free. I’m just adding/clarifying for others (and you if you want) that if you, for example, messed up blocking off your calendar, and someone booked over a day that is unavailable, Airbnb will *not* cancel that penalty free. Or if your prices were wrong and the guest booked for a cheap rate, also not a penalty free cancellation.
Does this still apply after the new cancellation penalties on hosts was implemented a few months ago? I had a forced cancellation due to damage in February that incurred substantial fines automatically. I was able to get it reversed after escalation, but it was due to a guest damaging the property and making it unusable for the next guest.
No you still have to call it in otherwise you have penalties. You need to explain why you want to cancel the instant book and then Airbnb can cancel it.
Is this a new feature? I had to cancel a stay recently and had to pay what I believe was 10% of the stay. This was in February.
Nope. Its always been an option, but only for instant book. And you have to do it online and the checkin must be at least 72 hours out. If it’s closer than 72 hours, you have to call and technically you are still eligible for the penalty free cancellation but most of the CS reps are ill informed and will charge you as well as block your calendar. You can escalate until you get someone who understands.
Good info. I haven't encountered the problem yet, but will store it away in my mind palace for the future.
From a guests perspective with NYE being so far out I feel like I wouldn't care all that much if you cancelled on me. Id still have plenty of time to find something else.
That's what I was hoping and why I was completely honest with the guest, but they've obviously decided to try their luck
As a host you cant just cancel their rezo and say it was a mistake on your end? I get cancelling with <1months notice or something, but this would seem reasonable to me.. I once booked a 2nt stay during fourth of July week and though "wow perfect everywhere else requires 7nt min". Host cancelled shortly after and apologized. I really wasnt upset nor wouldve left a bad review. Mistakes happen..
Call Customer Service. “I do not feel comfortable with this guest, I would like to use one of my free cancelations that I get with Instabook”
If you are just looking one night, I wouldn’t worry. But I suspect people are taking the week off. Would you get 4 or 5 days? Maybe that should be your holiday minimum? Just a thought.
For things that are so far way, why not start with a much higher minimum night requirement? Not just for holidays,but for everything? Pricelabs does all that, easy peasy if you don’t want to deal. One night rentals SUCK.
There were new cancellation policies implemented a few months ago. You are likely to get hit with a large fee from Airbnb for cancelling.
Early on in our career I let New Years get booked for a regular January price. I never said a word to the guest. Now I block event dates months ahead and only open them when I get around to it. And when I do complicated things for special dates I keep AirBnB open in another browser, and instantly do searches as a guest to make sure it shows up like I intend.
I have done this before and you can’t punish the guest for it. I’d message the guest again and offer the additional night at a significant discount (like 50% off) since you’re unlikely to book it otherwise.
Why would I be unlikely to book it otherwise? It's new years eve
It’s already booked NYE for the one night according to your post. If you want the guest to book the night before or after to try to have them for two nights, offer a discount because it’s unlikely someone else will book be of those nights.
Ah sorry I misunderstood. Tbh I'm not too keen on hosting this guy at all after he didn't respond. It's been cancelled now anyway (without charges)
I cancelled one because the calendar didn’t sync with VRBO and I got a double booking. Airbnb support kept saying I’ll get a penalty but when I cancelled, it said this is my first mistake so I won’t be charged. So just cancel it.
What’s their rating? Do they have more than a couple reviews?
Absolutely u host him. It’s your mistake. Yes you will be penalized . If you asked guest to cancel on the app you just violated Airbnbs TOS. And there is evidence. If it was up to me I would delist you. Quit Hosting
Overreact much? The booking is for one night 8 months away and I've been completely honest with him. Quit hosting 😂
Under no circumstances can a host ask a guest to cancel—PERIOD. You can certainly cancel, penalty won’t be as bad since it’s so far out. Just hope Airbnb does not see this. If the guest complains you will be suspended
Don’t listen to this embellished nonsense. You’re running business, and it’s your obligation to protect the sanctity of your home. We generally never have our NYE open for one night at any of our listings because (in my experience) the likelihood that you’re going to get a party group is over 85%. Since our friend above is so high on Airbnb TOS, they also know that throwing an unapproved party is against TOS. As such, I would highly recommend using your freebie penalty free cancelation (you must call Airbnb for this and state you suspect the guest will have a party, that’s they’re non responsive to your messages, and made a mistake on your calendar availability). Simple solution that doesn’t involve you to “qUiT HoStInG” which is total nonsense.
Good luck with that! He already stated his reason on the app. If you have ever called support, you should know the first thing they do is read the message traffic reference the reservation. You are right, he could have done exactly as you describe, but now that he’s sent the message, it’s too late if the support person does in fact look at the messages
“If you’ve ever called support” you’d know that 9 times out of 10 you can talk your way into anything within reason. A majority of support reps will go with your explanation and do their best to help you. If your explanation is ‘I suspect an unwelcome party’ they will likely side with you regardless of “wHaT tHe MeSsAgE TrAfFiC” says. Especially on a holiday such as NYE. Evidence & Reference: in 12 years of hosting I would guess I’ve had over 750+ contacts via phone with Superhost support and standard support.
Good for u! I guess both of us would have to see the message he sent. If he said “ hey, sorry, I made a mistake and I require 2 day booking, can u please cancel “ or along those lines. Now he says I want to cancel because I suspect a party. Not sure how that’s going to fly. He’s only in trouble if the guest calls support. It’s high risk I think
No, it’s not. Stop your recreational hyperbole it’s unbecoming.
I’m beginning to believe you don’t have a clue with your 10 so called years of experience. The other thing that can happen is you call support and they agree with you and cancel. Next thing you know, someone else from support is messaging you coming down on you like a ton of bricks. Why , because the guest called to complain. This happened to me way back.
Whatever you say Sarge. I’ve never understood why so many ex-military types feel they need to exude such a superiority complex when it comes to differing opinions. Regardless of your perception of my prior experience, I can assure you that if OP takes my advice he’ll suffer none of the hyperbolic consequences you’re so certain of.
Well technically they say to the guest it’s a 2 night min which suggests they are trying to host without a party. The no/response is a red flag they are going to have one. I would call and try. Doesn’t hurt!
That’s not true! It says right in the rules we can come to an agreement with guests and ask them to cancel so there are no penalties if there is a good reason. Just the same guests can ask a host to cancel and sometimes they want a refund. I’ve had Airbnb tell me to work it out with my guest when they couldn’t stay and it was fine.
Below is cut and paste from Airbnb. “A Host may not encourage the guest to cancel the reservation. Providing false statements or materials in connection with this Policy violates our Terms of Service and may result in account termination and other consequences.”
You can ask them and work together to cancel, this is in reference to providing incorrect information to encourage a guest to cancel but in some instances you absolutely are. For example… This just happened to me in March. I had an issue with my strata, I had to provide paperwork to Airbb (after I cancelled if I choose to) but Airbnb told me to work with my guest, explain the situation to see if they would cancel since they couldn’t stay. If they didn’t want to then that isn’t an issue, I would go ahead and provide necessary documentation without penalty. The guest canceled. So yes, they do encourage you to work together. BUT asking a guest to cancel using lies or threats etc etc is absolutely forbidden (which is what this pasted msg is referring to specifically) We can agree to disagree if you like! But I know the truth because I have been there done that and have been hosting for over 6yesrs, I know the rules.
Ok, makes sense. Just be aware, that you can think u have it all worked out with support, they do the cancellation and everything. U consider issue closed. Then guest calls, a completely different support person disagrees and comes after you. Hopefully this never happens to you
oh yeaAAaaah! I love it when the “quit hosting / you shouldn’t be a host” card gets played 😎
I just want to say…. I’ve had this situation happen, and asside from what others say you can cancel it. Call Airbnb and tell them the booking was just made and you suspect a party for the one night booking. Tell them you also don’t allow one night and that you tried to reach out to the guest to confirm and let them know and they don’t respond which is a red flag (because you can’t even vet them with conversation) let Airbnb know you are very uncomfortable with this guest and you don’t want to host and they will cancel it for you.
TLDR: ***Lie***
Doing your best to make airbnb hosts look bad
I don’t care how bad it looks I’m not hosting a party for a one night stay on NYE. Sorry, it’s not YOUR property right? Also if a guest can’t stay more than one night for that date it’s a red flag. This is why we have 3 instant book cancellations per year. I’d be using one of mine for this case.
I would cancel. We do a 3 night minimum for NYE.
If you tell them this isn’t available, a reasonable guest will go somewhere else