Airbnb extenuating circumstances

OTA = Online Travel Agency, which means those sites that sell the booking and take the payment for you.
johnbourne4
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Jun 10, 2013 7:33 am
Location: United Kingdom

Airbnb extenuating circumstances

Post by johnbourne4 »

Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to Paolo for the new advice on the LMH website – it has been really useful.

I have been in the holiday letting business for 9 years in Cornwall and have grown somewhat complacent in the last few years, due in part to a growing following of repeat guests. While the Covid years have been very challenging in many ways, getting bookings wasn’t a problem. I am conscious that this year will be different as people will have been itching to go abroad for the last 2 years. While my repeat bookings are still as good as ever, I am conscious that new guests are not booking as well as in the last 5 years.

From the OTA comparison page in the LMH tips section, I can see that Airbnb and Booking.com account for a very large proportion of European bookings. While this percentage may be different for the UK, I was unaware that these 2 OTA’s accounted for such a big chunk of the market. I mainly use HL and VRBO to find new guests and have until recently only occasionally used ABNB to sell unsold weeks at short notice. I have avoided using ABNB due to the cancellation policy limitations and due to the fact that I find some ABNB guests are very untidy etc. I have just opened up my calendars on ABNB for non-school holidays until July and have changed my cancellation policy from “Strict” to “Strict with 10% off for a non-refundable booking” to see if that makes much difference to bookings. What I would like to know is how easy it is to fall foul of the “extenuating circumstances” part of ABNB’s policy (knowing the elaborate, sympathy inducing reasons guests come up with for trying to cancel without losing out financially).

Any help will be greatly appreciated. John
newtimber
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Re: Airbnb extenuating circumstances

Post by newtimber »

Touch wood, I've not had any problems with Airbnb guests. You have to raise your rates on ABB to cover their huge commission. Giving 10% off for non-refundable booking sounds like you are going to lose a lot unless you are raising your rates to 25% for the non-refundable bookings!
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paolo
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Re: Airbnb extenuating circumstances

Post by paolo »

I haven't had any problems with airbnb or other guests but note that things are now worse for owners since the recent changes discussed here:

http://www.laymyhat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29793

Not only do guests have longer to raise a complaint, but you would be liable to pay for their alternative accommodation, no matter how expensive it is.
Paolo
Lay My Hat
newtimber
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Re: Airbnb extenuating circumstances

Post by newtimber »

Of course, if Airbnb are making it more risky for owners, then owners just have to increase the prices on Airbnb to self-insure against this risk.
If you think for example that 5% of guests are going to cancel and you won't be able to re-book, then increasing your prices by a little over 5% should mean that on average you're no worse off.

Our prices on Airbnb are 16% higher than direct bookings to cover their commission and cancellation policy risk and guests will still choose to book via Airbnb and pay this extra for their peace of mind.
Martha
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Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2006 7:01 pm
Location: Chamonix

Re: Airbnb extenuating circumstances

Post by Martha »

I remain extremely cautious about them as despite their happy language they are notorious for throwing hosts under a bus with no comeback at all. However I also have never yet had any problems. But I never use it for peak weeks which to me is where most of the risk is concentrated. It has been brilliant for filling off peak weeks. And I try not to accept bookings from a person with no reviews - certainly not for long periods.
Chalet la Foret, Chamonix
johnbourne4
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Jun 10, 2013 7:33 am
Location: United Kingdom

Re: Airbnb extenuating circumstances

Post by johnbourne4 »

Thanks for the replies, especially the part about guests becoming aware of “how to get a free holiday” by using ABNB and complaining. I think I will just use ABNB for the weeks I suspect may not sell via my other OTA’s. I usually find that a lot of my bookings are made two or three months in advance. I often find myself making the mistake of being too slow to push unsold weeks.
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