AirBnb Cancellations Thoughts

[Sherman Cummings]

What are some strategies for Airbnb cancellations? I know things happen, but I just wanted to see others’ thoughts—especially when it comes to large bookings. Do you feel that it puts a stain on your listing with cancellation fees, or do you believe those fees help hold bookers accountable for making “we might go, we might not” reservations?

I just feel that we may be losing a lot of bookings when people lock up dates for several weeks only to cancel. Or should I wait for Airbnb to come up with an algorithmic feature that notifies people who previously looked at your property and lets them know it’s available again?

[Michael Baum]

We have ours set to moderate as well. Works OK.

Sometimes you can't really prevent those cancellations in within the time limit.

What I do is keep a list of inquiries for just in case. We get a few folks who want to double check if dates are really booked and let them know if there is a cancellation.

Sometimes it works out. 

We get booked pretty quickly and waaaay in advance. Most times about a year to 9 months. That does leave a ton of opportunity for guests to change their mind or whatever but those cancelled times usually get filled up by last minute folks.