If you were going to go on vacation and you have rented an Airbnb, you may wonder what happens if you finally cannot go or a last-minute problem has arisen. Can I cancel an Airbnb without being charged? Depends. It depends on many factors and we explain here what you should take into account if you want a full refund.
You must look closely at all the conditions if you want to get your money back from the tourist apartment or house that you have rented and to which you finally cannot go. There are several ways to cancel and we explain how to do it.
cancel the request
If you just booked an Airbnb and regretted it in just two minutes, you probably won’t have any problem canceling the reservation. The first thing we must look at is the application status of the apartment or flat or house that we want to cancel. The important thing to cancel easily is that the host has not yet accepted. If they have not accepted, you can cancel in a few seconds and nothing happens. Nothing will be charged for the reservation or for commissions of any kind.
The steps are simple and we can do it from the web if we go to the “Travel” section and “Show more travel plans”. Here, your pending reservation will appear in the browser. You will see that it says “Host approval pending” and we just have to click on the corresponding button to cancel the request.
You can do it from the web browser but also from the application for iOS or Android by accessing the travel section and clicking on the corresponding button.
Cancel reservation: Policies and options
Things change if the host has already accepted our reservation. In this case, whether or not you can cancel your Airbnb depends on what the host has chosen. It may allow it or it may not. The platform offers many different options in the cancellation policy for each ad, the person offering the accommodation can choose the one they consider. Depending on that, you can cancel or not.
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Flexible: Guests can cancel up to 24 hours prior to arrival for a full refund. Commissions will not be charged.
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Moderate – Allow guests to cancel up to five days prior to arrival for a full refund. Commissions are not returned.
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Semi-strict: the reservation can be canceled at least 30 days before the arrival date. You can cancel at least 14 days before arrival if canceled within 48 hours from the time the reservation was made.
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Strict: you can cancel the reservation within 48 hours after booking and at least 14 days before the arrival date if we want to have a full refund.
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Non-refundable – cannot be canceled at any time
You must look at the conditions of the reservation itself. In addition, there are other options for long stays or the option of super strict. The host chooses which one he wants to use when placing his ad and whether or not you can cancel will depend on this. In addition, the host can modify the cancellation conditions but cannot change them if you have already made the reservation but for the future or for other guests.
What to keep in mind
You should bear in mind that this policy applies to Spain but there are countries where there are other conditions or that there are exceptions, so you should review the Airbnb terms carefully so as not to make mistakes or have problems abroad.
In addition, we can read what happens in the event of force majeure. There are different options through which you can cancel no matter what. But they are often infrequent… On the list of conditions we find military actions and conflicts, natural disasters, changes in government requirements regarding travel, emergencies or epidemics, or government restrictions on travel. In these cases, you can request a refund or cancellation of the accommodation due to force majeure.
From Airbnb they explain that there are others that are not covered: illnesses, illnesses or unexpected injuries, cancellation of events or interruptions in transport. In this case, the amount of the refund will depend on the cancellation policy of the accommodation and the conditions that we have explained before.
