Everything You Need to Know About Airbnb’s New Host Cancellation Policy
Airbnb has recently made significant updates to their host cancellation policy that will take effect August 22, 2022. Here’s the breakdown of the new fee structure:
If the reservation is canceled more than 30 days before check-in, the fee is 10% of the reservation amount.
If the reservation is canceled more than 48 hours and less than 30 days before check-in, the fee is 25% of the reservation amount.
If the reservation is canceled 48 hours or less before check-in, or after check-in, the fee is 50% of the reservation amount for the nights not stayed.
The new policy is being implemented to discourage hosts from “avoidable cancellations” which hurt the community as a whole and builds distrust in the platform. The top three reasons this would occur are double bookings, the home would preferably be used by friends/family but was already booked, or the home was booked for a less than desirable amount. So how do we avoid making these mistakes?
If the home is listed on multiple sites, make sure the calendars are synced correctly. Here’s a link on how to sync multiple calendars to avoid double bookings.
If your friends/family are considering staying at the home for the holidays or are considering going to a near by concert and would want to stay at the vacation rental, just block out the calendar until you know for sure. People are often looking for a vacation rental last minute and there are many strategies that you can implement to fill a vacancy last minute, so just block out the calendar until your plans are solidified.
Constantly check the pricing on the home and pay close attention to inventory/demand and popular dates to avoid accepting a booking that is under market value. This is especially the case if “Instant Booking” is turned on and may require keeping a closer eye on things as there is less room for error. Using a third party software to local market trends in regards to pricing and occupancy rates can be very helpful here.
The new Airbnb host cancellation policy does allow consequence free cancellations for valid reasons. Examples of valid reasons are serious illness, emergency repairs to the home such as a gas leak or if a pipe bursts, or proof that the guest intends to break the house rules. All of these reasons require proof in order to avoid penalty, here’s a link to the valid reasons for a host to cancel a reservation.
Make sure to always be aware of current policies and the changes that the platforms make to them.
For complete information on this new policy, the link to the Airbnb Resource Center can be found here.