Cancellation Ratio. Does it worth to change our policies to flexible or moderate?

[Alejandra-Y-Ricardo0]

Hi,

Since we published our houses (2) in airbnb 2 years ago, we have only work with strict cancellation policy.

I would really appreciate the advise of any airbnb host, that could tell us about their experience of changing from strict to moderate, or, strict to flexible policy change.

Our experince so far, as you can imagine, is that we almost recieve no cancellations in our bookings, but, we neither have an idea of how much volume of business are we losing.

Since we have only 2 properties, we are also scared of last minute cancellations during high season.

Actually, I have a few more questions:

- Does your booking ratio increase? How much %?

- How many cancellations do you predict, or have you experienced, in % vs your increase of bookings when you are using a felxible/moderate cancellation policy?

Thank you for your time!

Ricardo

[Linda108]

@Alejandra-Y-Ricardo0 You have four large, lovely homes that are meant for fairly large groups.  I would think that strict cancellation  is needed as you are appealing to a smaller part of the traveler population.   On the other hand, finding appropriate homes for a larger group usually requires a plan in advance and is not easily changed.  How far in advance do your guests usually book for the high season?  In my area, there are several events that guests would book a year in advance.  I have a strict cancellation until those events are booked and then change to moderate once that occurs.

I do not have the statistics that you are asking for, but in the last year I have experienced more cancellations and it appears to be related to guests who are new to AirP BNB more than the cancellation policy.  Perhaps you can conduct your own research by having a moderate policy for the 2 newer properties and a strict policy for the other 2 houses.

[John1883]

HI there, I have a 12 month high season and have always used the Strict cancelation policy.   I have never had a late cancelation so far but it worries me that people can cancel at the last minute now and I lose everything.   I can't afford this policy unless I put up my prices.   Luckily I am fully booked for the next 10 months but I do not like increasing prices too much to regular guests.

I must admit I hate this option and would like to remain with the strict policy.   If people give me 3 month's notice I am happy to refund and even 1 month if a regular which seems fair.   Flights don't give you this option, ask any airline and even changing it by one day costs at least 50 euros (ask BA or Ryanair) so why do we offer such a policy.

Not fair to hosts.   I would say on AirBNB's behalf I get lots of last minute bookings if I have vacancies so I will fill last minute booking cancelations fairly quickly I am sure and my minimum bookings are for 7 days.

Regarding refusing bookings I had this option earlier this year with three people from Poland.   They were rude difficult and nasty and whatever AirBNB put in my listing I would not accept their booking again.   They also left the place in a mess and blood stains on the sheets which I had to throw out after they left.   AirBNB need to think about the reason for refusing bookings before they put a bad note in someone's listing.   

Regards all and have a good year.   For all their faults I still think AirBNB are the best for me.

John, Canary Islands

[Sandra126]

@Alejandra-Y-Ricardo0, I changed from Strict to Moderate when the policies were altered a year or so ago, as I believed Air would prioritise any listing with a more moderate policy, also the fee was slightly higher for Strict (not sure what happened to the changes, might have been more since).

However, I had never really had cancellations before but now I did. So after a few cancellations I changed back. Very happy with Strict. I still refund if someone cancels and I get a booking to cover, but not otherwise. I need guests to take their bookings seriously. When on Moderate I even had someone cancel at the last allowable minute because a friend was offering her a room in her accommodation instead (wedding groups) and ''it would work out cheaper for her''. Yes, it would indeed. But as for me, I am left without a booking. With strict nobody will do that.

[Alejandra-Y-Ricardo0]

Thank you very much @Linda108 @Sandra126 !

Your comments are very useful for me.

Having the possibility of changing the cancellation policy for selected dates by hosts would be the ideal tool, to get the most from low-mid season.

But it is true that at this point for us, it would be impossible to assume the risk of having last minute cancelallations during high season.

Thanks again for your time! All the best!

Ricardo

[Dennis-and-Maitee0]

Thanks for sharing your perspective guys! I was also looking for the same suggestions now that Airbnb changed the “Business ready” requirements. With the deployment of Airbnb Collections Program, your policy must be Moderate or Flexible in order to qualify, otherwise it will not be highlighted as “Business or Family” ready.