All Forum Posts by: Travis Rasmussen
Travis Rasmussen has started 10 posts and replied 356 times.
Post: Did your Airbnb bookings drop off a cliff since Summer? I am booked again.
- Realtor
- Murrieta, CA
- Posts 370
- Votes 196
TLDR;
By my findings, if you are a long term Airbnb host/Superhost, etc and had your bookings DROP OFF A CLIFF this summer, switch to "Flexible" cancellations and I bet your bookings will go back to "normal".
So I have been hosting since 2018
hundreds of reviews, still over a 4.9+ score. Superhost
And my bookings have fallen off a cliff this summer. ALL of the properties at once died.
At first I thought "hmmm, could just be the eb and flow of the business" but 3 months of decline and I was convinced - airbnb changed something BIG in the algo in Summer of 2025. It seems like hosts who have been nothing but great, superhosts, matter 0% to airbnb now. Cool.
Anyways, I decided to test on my own properties and share my findings here what could get them booked again.
My thesis was "if I was as big as Airbnb, and I SHIFTED my focus on what HOSTS want to what GUESTS want - how would I reward that?"
For those curious, I am in the Florida Kissimmee/Orlando area.
I have 4 properties to mess with and this is what happened. I had to go "extreme" in my thesis to get bookings NOW. I will be tweaking from this point now that my calendar is booked again.
The Results:
100% - AT A MINIMUM, "Flexible" cancellation is being promoted and strict cancellations are being punished.
POSSIBLE - Listings that accept Pets without fees are ALSO promoted.
I had 4 properties to test with.
Thinking like Airbnb, I guessed the things that would make the user have the best experience is to be able to cancel and bring pets. So...
Over roughly a 2 week period:
Property A - Strict to FLEXIBLE cancellation, pets stay FREE
(11 bookings, 2 inquires)
Property B - STRICT cancellation (did not change!), pets stay FREE
(0 bookings)
Property C - Strict to FLEXIBLE Cancellation, pets stay FREE
(11 bookings, 2 inquires)
Property D - Control, no changes (STRICT cancellation, no pets)
(1 inquiry)
ALL properties I made sure "opportunities" where near max (office space with a comfy chair, etc)
It's really interesting that I opened up pets to 3 of them, 2 of them I added flexible cancellation and the ones with flexible cancellation SOARED.
Had nothing to do with me as a host, or my properties. Airbnb wants you to offer flexible cancellation.
If anyone else is down in bookings (and was booked before summer of 2025!) and makes this change, can you let me know if your results are similar?
I had one other person test this and she immediately got bookings.
Post: Airbnb changed the Algorithm...
- Realtor
- Murrieta, CA
- Posts 370
- Votes 196
Quote from @Lauren Kormylo:
Travis, you should also keep track of how many of these new bookings cancel, and maybe experiment with the options in between Flexible and Strict.
I would never use Flexible because it allows cancellations up to 24 hrs before with no payment. My guests usually book a month or more in advance, and I would not be able to rebook dates even when cancelled a week or two ahead. I use the Firm policy and am usually fully booked for June, July, and August. This summer, I had one cancellation about 3 weeks before the stay that paid me 50%. Despite being in the high season, those dates did not rebook. I don't see any difference in my bookings on Airbnb this year compared to last.
I will slowly start introducing other factors, but I needed to go hard and extreme in my first thesis. I realized at this point, the reduction in bookings wasn't just a "season" or a "fluke". Especially when I started looking into this and saw a LOT of seasoned hosts had the same problem - all at the same time.
My first goal will be to see how much I can increase the prices.
So far any cancellations have been really far in advance and they almost immediately get rebooked.
Post: Airbnb changed the Algorithm...
- Realtor
- Murrieta, CA
- Posts 370
- Votes 196
Quote from @Benjamin Louie:
Thanks for sharing this, Travis. I think a lot of us have been feeling the same drop. It’s frustrating when years of great hosting and Superhost status don’t seem to carry much weight anymore.
Really appreciate that you’re planning to document and share your findings. I’m especially curious to see what works in the Orlando/Kissimmee market since it’s so competitive and heavily influenced by Airbnb’s shifts. Looking forward to your updates, it’ll help a lot of us figure out how to adapt to the new algorithm.
Look above, I shared my findings. What is your current cancellation policy? Strict? Super Strict?
Post: Airbnb changed the Algorithm...
- Realtor
- Murrieta, CA
- Posts 370
- Votes 196
Quote from @Michael Baum:
Well @Travis Rasmussen, I wish I had a better answer.
Frankly there isn't a big enough cross section and variety of properties to make a determination.
It APPEARS that things look skewed in the way you mentioned, but there just isn't enough to really be sure.
As someone who has written a bunch of algorithms for all sorts of things (my deals of the day posts for example) I can see where you might get the feeling that things are amiss or different but I wouldn't be able to tell from just 4 samples.
Just had another person in the market who was dead did this and she got 5 bookings immediately.
Post: Airbnb changed the Algorithm...
- Realtor
- Murrieta, CA
- Posts 370
- Votes 196
Quote from @Michael Baum:
Are each of those properties exactly the same in the same area?
As close as one can get -
3 are literally in the same community. 1 is across the street.
All same bed/bath count.
Post: Airbnb changed the Algorithm...
- Realtor
- Murrieta, CA
- Posts 370
- Votes 196
Quote from @Benjamin Louie:
@Travis Rasmussen
Travis, you’re not alone. A lot of long-time hosts are seeing the same drop since the summer update. It’s frustrating when years of great reviews and Superhost status don’t seem to carry the weight they used to. Thanks for taking the time to dig in and share what you find. I think a lot of us will benefit from that. In the meantime, I’ve heard some hosts are getting traction by leaning more on direct bookings, optimizing titles/descriptions with fresh keywords, and boosting visibility through social media. Definitely looking forward to following along with your updates.
You're welcome 🙏
I fully agree, YEARS of being a solid host and Airbnb has thrown that weight in the trash. Don't even get me started on resolution requests.
See my post above, I am curious if you implement a flexible cancellation if you see similar results. It was a VERY clear change in over 8+ years of hosting. Obviously I am sure the algo has changed over the years but NOTHING has ever affected me.
Guest favorite, superhost, great reviews.
But ALL of that does not seem to matter in the new algo.
Post: Airbnb changed the Algorithm...
- Realtor
- Murrieta, CA
- Posts 370
- Votes 196
Quote from @Michael Baum:
Hey @Travis Rasmussen, it has been a few days since your original post and I am curious to see where you are at in your testing.
I don't think you will see anything consistent with a change in the algorithm that you could call solid evidence.
You would have to see the algorithm itself and parse through it which is something that you won't be able to do.
I am not saying that something isn't up but it will be next to impossible for you to accurately determine if there actually was a change or if things in your area are just on the downswing.
Drum roll please!
100% - AT A MINIMUM, "Flexible" cancellation is being promoted and strict cancellations are being punished.
POSSIBLE - Listings that accept Pets without fees are ALSO promoted.
I had 4 properties to test with.
Thinking like Airbnb, I guessed the things that would make the user have the best experience is to be able to cancel and bring pets. So...
Property A - Strict to FLEXIBLE cancellation, pets stay FREE
(11 bookings, 2 inquires)
Property B - STRICT cancellation (did not change!), pets stay FREE
(0 bookings)
Property C - Strict to FLEXIBLE Cancellation, pets stay FREE
(11 bookings, 2 inquires)
Property D - Control, no changes (STRICT cancellation, no pets)
(1 inquiry)
ALL properties I made sure "opportunities" where near max (office space with a comfy chair, etc)
I am a superhost with over 800+ reviews and a 4.9+ rating.
It's really interesting that I opened up pets to 3 of them, 2 of them I added flexible cancellation and the ones with flexible cancellation SOARED.
Had nothing to do with me as a host, or my properties. Airbnb wants you to offer flexible cancellation.
If anyone else is down in bookings (and was booked before summer of 2025!) and makes this change, can you let me know if your results are similar?
Post: Airbnb changed the Algorithm...
- Realtor
- Murrieta, CA
- Posts 370
- Votes 196
Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:
Not sure if I see this. I regularly use incognito mode to search for my listings and they seem pretty consistent for me. Have you done that?
May I ask a few things, it will help with my data:
1. What is your pet policy?
2. What is your cancellation policy?
3. Do you have a minimum nightly stay?
4. % you are usually booked
5. Do you have all the fees included?
6. Are you on Airbnb exclusively?
Post: Airbnb changed the Algorithm...
- Realtor
- Murrieta, CA
- Posts 370
- Votes 196
And to follow up, the listings under my profile which have not applied the new settings STILL haven't gotten a single new booking - even with the increase to the other properties.
So it's obviously is no longer "host based", but more "property based" for the algo. Hosts don't seem to play a big factor in the updated algo. They probably play a role, just a much smaller weighted role.
Post: Airbnb changed the Algorithm...
- Realtor
- Murrieta, CA
- Posts 370
- Votes 196
Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:
Not sure if I see this. I regularly use incognito mode to search for my listings and they seem pretty consistent for me. Have you done that?
No, I first just applied my theory to my listings and the ones I have applied it to have gotten a LOT of bookings in a short amount of time.
I will have to see if I can go back and look at views for my properties from before summer, summer, post summer and post my changes.
For those curious, I am taking the mindset of "If I was Airbnb and I wanted a consumer 1st approach, what would I want the algorithm to reward..."
Airbnb has more competition now. It would be aiming to gain more guests - not more hosts. Before they had to win over hosts. Now the aim is to get more guests.