I'm slightly vexed
Airbnb host wants to increase my rate by 35% weeks after accepting my booking
I booked a weeklong Airbnb in Costa Rica, doing so for a week to get a long-term discount. It was $230/night, which was on the upper end of what I was willing to spend (especially for 1 bedroom in Costa Rica), but it looked nice. I booked it and the host accepted.
Now, weeks later, the host is saying that there was a pricing error and that I need to pay an additional 35% ($310/night) if I want to stay there. Umm, no thanks...
AirBnB is actually pretty harsh with hosts who do this.
If OP says no, then the host will tell them to cancel their reservation. Because if the host cancels, it looks pretty bad for them.
The correct play here for OP is to not agree to the price change and to not cancel it themselves. Then they will either still get the place at that price, or the host will cancel on them and they have a very viable complaint to Airbnb.
How close to the date can the host cancel? Can they cancel after the OP has set out on their journey? Also they can probably add "cleaning" charges to make up for it even if they don't cancel
You bring up a good point. OP, if you’re reading the comments - take a video immediately upon arrival of the condition of the unit (I hold up my watch or another phone to document date/time) and then do the same thing when you leave, that shows you locking the doors and departing.
Something I learned to do after a couple of encounters with unscrupulously greedy hosts that made bs claims for fees after a trip. It helps if you have documentation of exactly how you received and left the rental.
I do two guys trips every year on Airbnb with 8-12 guys and have never had an issue. We get good reviews and I add the other people to the reservation so the hosts can see them. But my experience is anecdotal obvs
Not sure what it's like in America, but I've booked places with kitchens from a variety of sources, including booking.com in Europe, the only thing you need to check is it cleaning and towels/bed linen is included (usually is) or an extra. That being said, I think Airbnb isn't as bad over here either.
The types of places on booking.com that include kitchens, are just functioning as booking.com's version of Airbnb. They're both short term rental, apartment type units.
I'm saying hotel rooms don't have kitchens. And I want a kitchen if I'm staying somewhere for more than a couple days because eating out gets expensive fast.
I've booked Airbnbs in US and in Europe. It's always been fine.
Also, while some hotel rooms can have a kitchen, they’re usually different hotels (usually longer stay types) that have a much different feel. And are going to be much less common depending on where you are
I prefer to pay for an Airbnb vs a hotel due many things. So there’s privacy that I don’t have in a hotel, as well as I don’t have to worry about noisy people surrounding me. We typically tend to go to non-touristy mountain towns, so hotels are very limited or they are casino-based hotels. Not to mention I have a kitchen, so I can cook my food and don’t have to worry about eating out every night. I also don’t have to worry about parking. Plus, the views are WAY better at a house in the mountains than any hotel, especially with a fireplace and a porch to sit on.
Host can 100% add extra damage sir cleaning fees. Plenty have done it in the past and plenty will continue, hence the video proof that it’s clean and in good shape.
They can send requests and you can decline. They cannot just charge your card extra.
For damages, they can submit a claim to Airbnb with proof, but you have the right to decline that and let Airbnb step in to review the evidence, so you are right that taking a video is a good idea.
Even with proof it doesn’t matter. I was charged $300 extra when the host said the place was left dirty. I took videos of a clean place but their proof was a small pile of dog hair they had swept up with a broom in the living room. Airbnb sided with the host so I paid in total 450 usd for them to sweep. Airbnb doesn’t care about guests.
You should have done a charge back for that, because that’s absurd. Airbnb 100% has its issues, but this type of thing is definitely not the norm and it’s honestly surprising they sided with the host here
Typically you cannot cancel within 7 days of the booking, the guest can, but then they most likely won’t get refunded for any amount they paid. The platform really wants their percentage and you have to cancel as early as possible in order to receive a refund.
We had an Airbnb cancelled a day before we arrived (storm damage from a week prior - don't know why they didn't cancel sooner). It was a nightmare. Airbnb did nothing to make it right.
I believe the host can cancel whenever they want, but I don’t think they can re-list for those dates. So they can request the increase, stick with the OG price, or get nothing.
The host also cannot add cleaning (or any) charges. They can send another request. OP can still decline.
I had a host try to pull the "can you cancel it" shit on me once. I didn't know the implications but definitely felt the dodginess. Told them I don't need to cancel it lol, so why would it be on me to do so.
This happened to my mom who booked a Thanksgiving-time reservation nearly a year out. Around 3 months before the reserved date, the owner claimed there was a water leak that caused damage and required them to cancel the reservation. Less than a week later, the place was available again for booking for 50% more than the original price. It seems like a loophole to let them out of an agreed price.
Yes I had one try to tell me to cancel bc they had a min night of two nights and it let me book only 1. I was like I’m fine staying the one night I will not cancel if you have an issue you cancel my reservation!
Yep I had something similar happen to me in Germany. I booked a place for a week at the cost of 1 night. They tried to get me to cancel. I told them no. Airbnb backed me up. I did end up leaving after 1 night because this place was way out of the way and I would rather not be in the woods in the middle of nowhere with people who are angry at me and we don’t speak the same language. But I did end up getting my 1 night refunded.
Sucks either way tho, because if he has to comply with the original booking, you could be in for a terrible experience when you get there. If they cancel, then you're waiting for money and have to look again.
I don’t remember the exact amount Airbnb helped us out with. But a Michigan ski in/ski out condo lied repeatedly to me for months saying the hot tub was operational. I literally logged and verified my calls and who I spoke with. 5 different confirmations. Hot tub works!!
2 days before the trip I get notice that the hot tub will be down the rest of the season…NO DISCOUNTS OR REFUNDS!!!
Nope fuck that. I contacted Airbnb, and they got me like 30% off or something. Because that hot tub was the main selling point and only reason we booked that place.
I don’t know if it’s changed but when I was doing AirBnB we had a plumbing issue right before a check in and AirBnB paid for the new place for the guest.
I know it’s not the same but if the host cancels a pre accepted booking then the guest should be getting a free, or at least the same cost, stay.
I had someone booking their condo and they had to cancel my reservation because they were caught. This was Washington DC and I had to pay $500 more for a comparable place because my vacation was less than a month away. Like a $100 credit which was basically useless to me.
DO NOT CANCEL. The host must cancel this if they want to get out of it. ABB will block out the nights and not let them rebook them. But most properties are on multiple platforms anyway. At least ABB will have a record of the cancellation and they strongly frown on that.
This is almost certainly a real mistake on the part of the host. Maybe a new host. Maybe just a screw up. They definitely don't have any experience in how to handle the situation properly. There is no angle where this is a successful long term scam.
They are obligated to provide the accommodation or cancel (see point 1) at this point. You are not obligated to pay more and DO NOT CANCEL the reservation yourself.
You may well want to stay somewhere else regardless. This is not exactly going to make for a great relationship with the host.
Be polite. Be dispassionate. Inform them that they can either cancel or keep the reservation for the lower rate.
I get some people like AirBnB for certain reasons/situations.
But between the random fees, shady hosts, “legitimate” issues (which seemingly happen very often), the local housing ramifications of everyone buying to rent rather than buying as a home (destroying neighborhoods), and the idea that it is SO easy to piss off the person whose property you are staying in, I just don’t see the appeal anymore.
Like even in this best case scenario, you have to put up with some bullshit, hope the host doesn’t cancel, and maybe be staying in a property of someone you just pissed off? And this seems to be an “honest” mix up, not even an intentional scam, based on the comments.
I dunno. I have no love for big hotel chains but they do offer a product with way less headaches most of the time. And after seeing multiple neighborhoods in my city be turned to shit and over run with shitty Airbnb flippers, pushing out locals who want to actually live here, i just personally don’t want to support these companies.
Superhost isn't the flex it should be. ABB star ratings are a mess and you have to be pretty bad to rate below 4.9. This property being a 4.84 on nearly a hundred reviews means that people have had some issues.
To be fair, it seems like it's a bit more budget priced and those tend to get lower ratings. Just saying no to read to much into their status.
Question about your property as I've seen other ones like this and being that I've never rented a home in Mexico, I don't understand how a house with staff works. I've rented homes on Dauphin Island AL numerous times and there's no staff.
Does the house manager make all the meals? I'm assuming there's an extra charge for that. What does that run? I really like the idea of renting a house and having someone cook for us!
I can't speak for how others do this, but here's how we run our house.
The ABB rate is for the house with daily housekeeping, pool maintenance, etc.
Our guests VERY commonly hire us to stock the house with their groceries so when they arrive for vacation, they are on vacation. Not trying to figure out how to buy groceries in a country many have never been to before.
They also hire us to cook. Depending on needs, it's about $40/usd per meal service fee for this. Plus the actual costs of the ingredients.
We can also act as concierge to make reservations, recommendations, etc. Most people are happy to tip appropriately for such assistance.
The sweet spot seems to be that people hire us to stock groceries and then prep a 1-3 dinners a week. The other nights they either cook for themselves or go off site to restaurants.
So since you are one of the few senseable people on here and understand why someone might want to rent a whole house over a closet with a bed, I have a question. I had booked a house in Breckenridge and the owner called me and told me that Airbnb had put a member discount on his property and rented it lower than he had agreed. He tried to ask if I would be willing to pay the difference or is I wanted to do an offline reservation with contract signage off Airbnb. He said he could offer the same price as he wouldn't be paying fees. I know he broke Airbnb rules with going offline but is his original reason believable as a fellow owner?
Nope. He configured his account. ABB isn't always the simplest thing in the world and they have changed a few things in 2026, but the host always has final say.
There is actually a decent chance that he missed that ABB passed fees to the hosts instead of the guest paying.
He would love for you to book direct as he won't be paying ABB 16%, will almost certainly not be paying taxes to his municipality and may come out ahead on income taxes as well (depending on how his life is structured).
We strongly prefer direct bookings for all those reasons.
That said, none of that is your concern. You should follow the same advice I gave OP. Make the host cancel if they want to. But you shouldn't be bullied into raising the rent or doing a direct booking. I happen to have a very dim view of the value ABB provides, but some guests want it and it's their choice.
Honestly I do think he missed a promotion or something. He stated that he and his wife live there and only rent when they want to leave on vacation. I would have went offline with him as he is also a realtor and established but then it got into mailing checks and holding way too high of a security deposit. Just became a hassle.
I believe if the hosts cancels, they can't put the room back up as available for those dates, and their account could face penalties or de-prioritizing in search results.
This happened to me in France. Host cancelled my VRBO listing one week before and said it was due to storm damage. Those dates popped back up on AirBnB.
Obviously I didn’t rebook it, but even with the refund you lose the opportunity cost of booking early. Had to spend way more than the refund to get a worse place.
They’ll cancel the stay and list it on a different platform…some will even try re-listing on AirB&B but that usually doesn’t work out. I hear about this all the time ( I live in a tourist town ) when the host forgets about a festival, Concert etc that would drive the price up.
Yeah when I was there backpacking around 10 years ago it was already considered expensive for the region, but I stayed in great places (like a room in a big tree house in the jungle) for max. 30€/night
I mean they did give you the correct rate for the dates of your stay, if you booked…today
Not weeks earlier. I’d say reply along the lines of:
No, I have already reserved the correct rate of the stay given weeks prior, the correct rate you gave now is the correct rate that if the stay was booked today, not weeks prior. So I am not willing to change because you seem to made an error and therefore will not be willing to cancel the reservation through no fault of my own.
Also if you’re able to book a refundable stay, please do so incase they suddenly cancel
"Unfortunately, I have already made travel plans and budgeted for the price we agreed upon; and seeing as it has been weeks since I made the reservation, signed the contract, and we agreed upon a price, I unfortunately will not be able to cancel the reservation or change to a different price than the one we already agreed upon. If you need to cancel the reservation, you will need to escalate this through Airbnb."
They made the reservation, then saw that prices shot up due to high demand, and now they want to cancel you and rebook with a higher-paying customer if you don't agree to the new rate. Airbnb should protect you against this, and either make them honor the agreement or will hopefully find you alternative accommodations at a reasonable price if the hosts absolutely refuse to play ball.
Yeah, quite possibly, though at the risk of permanently losing their Airbnb account and/or being forced to pay a large fee. If that does happen though, Airbnb is supposed to help you rebook somewhere with comparable accommodations at a comparable price (though I haven't been through that scenario myself, and I can't guarantee how good of a job they will do, it's worth a shot). https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/170 and https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990
I use it because it tends to be cheaper for more space. Hotels are like studios, but for the same price I can typically find a 1 or 2 bedroom. And i prefer to cook...
Years ago my ex-girlfriend got us a AirBNB and when we got there, the owner freaked out that I was there as she never approved a man being on the property. I will never use that fucking service again, I just want somewhere to sleep tonight.
As a host, I prefer hotels, but the comparison is not one to one...
Hotels are better for quick trips, like 1-5 nights. They're good for new areas where you're there for business, or for touristy trips where you'll spend most your time outside the hotel. Also good for solo or couples.
Airbnbs are pretty great for extended stays, work-cations, or transitional periods where you want something more "home-like" where it feels like you're living there. Also far better for groups of like 5 or more where you can "gather" in privacy, and cook large meals for everyone.
Have you ever booked a vacation with 10 people who are multi generational and want to actually spend quality time together while having the option to cook a full dinner? Acting like hotel rooms are the same as renting a whole house with a Jacuzzi and game room. I can understand why some want to hate but acting like they are even comparable is laughable.
budget travelers do. But in this case, we're talking about Costa Rica where decent hotels aren't that expensive compared to what this host is charging.
if you keep the reservation at the lower price, make sure you take plenty of before & after pics bc they will probably try and get you with a ton of fines after checkout. make sure you read their rules for how things need to be left upon checkout.
It's a game of chicken; either they want your money and are just trying to gouge you so they keep it, or they think they have better prospects to make up for it and cancel. Either way, they kinda suck...
Being a dick is not how you keep them from canceling and in fact now making it a “you” problem. You can and absolutely should decline this, but hitting them with that nonsense is a surefire way to get canceled, and likely last minute just because fuck you
Yeah, we just traveled to the States for an extended period of time and wanted to cook for the majority of our meals where we weren’t meeting with family. Airbnb offered a far superior choice than any of the hotels we found.
When traveling I check hotels and Airbnb and I check what feels right for me for that area and for that trip - I often find that Airbnb is the better option for me when staying in more rural or suburban areas and Hotels are the better option when staying in more Urban areas, though this isn't a hard and fast rule.
An example from my trip to Maine 2 years ago:
I wanted to stay somewhere close to Portland or Freeport and looked at bookings about 4 months out for July.
Hotels: The closest hotels with bookings were about 20-30 minutes outside of the towns/cities and cost roughly $1,400 for the duration of my stay
The Airbnb I found was a nice cabin an 8 minute walk outside of Freeport and cost roughly $900
When I stay in an Airbnb I am extremely picky and vet places pretty heavily - I've never had a problem with hosts and the hardest checklist for checkout I've ever received was "please text us to let us know you're leaving so we can send cleaners."
Idk why people ask this, Airbnb and hotels each have their own advantages and niches.
Most hotels these days don't even come with microwaves let alone a full kitchen like I can get on Airbnb. Not to mention easy laundry access and privacy that renting a whole house can afford.
The last airbnb i stayed in was for my best friends funeral. The owner lived next door… great…
I booked a 6 bedroom house and said we would not be a rowdy group and are in town for a funeral, i guess i just booked it under myself but who would book a 500$ a night house for 1 person in town for a funeral. He should’ve fucking clarified if it was a huge deal to not have every person there on the listing.
Anyways the hot water went out in the house, I didn’t even send a Message complaining because it was my best friends funeral. Later that night i received a 400$ charge for an unauthorized gathering and he left me a scathing review not putting all the trash in the dumpster when the house had no trashbags.
Anyways airbnb owners are fucking scum of this earth. They are leeches on society. Just book a fucking hotel.
Fuck all of air bnb most owners are completely shit people.
AirBnb is one of those things that was great when it was random people trying to make a few extra bucks on a spare apartment or house they had, but once the get rich quick crowd got involved, meaning people bought properties solely to use them for AirBnb they went to shit.
I haven't stayed at one in at least 10 years. I'll stick to Hiltons, thank you very much.
Honestly thats on you and I dont feel bad. You either tried to pull a fast one for the 1 person rate, or it was a complete accident. Either way you are 100% at fault there
As a company, no. It did, however, used to be a nice platform for short term stays for people with either extra rooms or even going away for a period of time and it allowed them extra income, its original reason for conception (so they say). Then it got super commercialized
In Latin America you can typically get good rates on Airbnbs that make them better than hotels.
I personally haven’t been to Costa Rica but $230 a night for a one bed is absolutely absurd. I can get a good place in the nicest neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, Santiago, or Lima for under $50 a night. Mexico City is a little more expensive but even then under half what OP is paying.
Due to food allergies, I need a kitchen. A hotel will, at best, have a shitty kitchenette.
I've also had plenty of shenanigans at hotels. The last hotel I stayed at, the elevator was out of order. I was on the 7th floor. Thankfully it was only for one night before we checked into our Airbnb.
I have a cat and three ferrets. Finding an AirBNB that allows pets and has a nice sized hard floor room works great for our pets. Hotels do allow pets but I have to keep them locked up cause it's not as safe for them to roam a hotel room, especially considering our smallest ferret, Roo, is an octopus and will go into any tiny hole she finds.
Isn't it waaay cheaper and less prone to shenanigans just staying at a normal hotel?
We can actually look up for the price for these things. I honestly haven't a clue where people go in Costa Rica but I just went with the capital San Jose. Just at a glance from my phone I can see a cheap hotel and a cheap Airbnb, both around the $240-50 market for a 7 day stay. Both about the same price, but the Airbnb comes with a kitchen while the hotel does not. These are cut rate prices too.
If you go up in price, the disparity gets even bigger. The San Jose Hilton will charge $200 a night for 1 room. For that price you could rent a cabin in the jungle or an entire home in San Jose. If its just you traveling then the price difference for a hotel bed vs an Airbnb bed is not that great. If you are traveling with 4 people its the entire world of difference in cost.
Because 90% of the time Air BnBs are fine and staying in a hotel in a group sounds absolutely miserable.
This isn’t a hard thing to figure out and I’m not sure why people keep trying to ignore the problems with hotels that literally led to the creation of air bnb in the first place.
That's their fault. Do not agree. Do not make a statement saying you will even consider it. Write that you booked and the agreed price was xxx. Make them cancel it if they have to. At least you'll have some coverage from Airbnb. If you do anything on your end, you may screw yourself over.
This happened to me as well. Same timeframe (December), in costa rica, and we got a very similar message. Blue Zone Experiences was who we dealt with. Do NOT cancel and instead make the Airbnb host cancel. They are trying to scam you!
I’d just politely reply with something like - unfortunately I have made my bookings within a fixed budget and am not able to pay a higher rate. You should not have accepted the booking if the price was incorrect.
Then I would be exceptionally aware of any service changes they attempt to do to ‘recoup’ their profit. Like not cleaning before your stay, limiting access to things like hot tubs etc.
The owner is utter trash. They either are so bad at running their business that they listed it wrong, or they realised they could make more money based on popularity and nearby listings, or this is a routine up-charge where they list for lower to get interest then increase the cost.
Escalate to Airbnb customer service, for all the negatives of Airbnb - which I don'y contest - I have very good experiences with their customer service when I had an issue with a host, they offered me an upgraded stay in the neighbourhood free of charge.
I had someone do this to me on Airbnb and then when I said no they canceled my reservation. Airbnb gave me no recourse or support. That was the last time I ever booked on Airbnb
I would just decline and allow him to cancel. I know that's not ideal for you, but I wouldn't want to take a chance on a reservation as important as this one getting canceled at the last minute. If you decline and keep the reservation, the host will hate you and may find a way to ruin your vacation. It's a no-win, but at least you still have plenty of time to figure out an alternative
We typically Google short term house rental companies in whatever town we're looking to visit, most tourist locations will have them. You may have to scroll past the corporate ones or even go to the second page of results but we can usually find one.
That just pisses me off. Renting out your Airbnb is your 'business'. If you want to price gouge that's your right, but it's also your responsibility to read a calendar and price it accurately upfront so people have an opportunity to shop with all the facts. None of this- oops! I should have asked for more!
Very kindly tell them to go fuck themselves but also if you can afford it make a refundable reservation somewhere else as a plan b in case this bum want to break terms or something and find a way to cancel the booking so they can relist it at the higher price
Even in the nicest airbnbs I’ve stayed at, I’m reminded why I should have booked a hotel instead. Clean towels every day, restocked TP when needed without having to ask, trash taken out, etc.
Because stand alone homes have no attached neighbors to worry about and can host far more people for less money compared to individual rooms for everyone.
That is an unfortunate mistake, you are welcome to cancel the booking and provide us with the appropriate compensation for damaging our vacation due to your own administrative error.
If you see it on another website after cancellation, send the website your booking confirmation, this communication, and the cancellation notice. They will remove the dates and mark the account.
The numbers feel off. The email describes an original rate of 86000 colones that equals to about 189 a night. Is there seriously 40 additional dollars in fees + taxes a night?
Deleted AirB&B over a year ago and I'll never use it again, I got sick of booking places with all these amenities just to turn up and find absolutely nothing, they had coffee, but nothing to drink it out of. 2 rolls of toilet paper for 12 days for 2 people? A kitchen, perfect, where's the fucking pans?
What's that? Your father is ill and needs to stay in the granny flat we booked 2 months ago which we're due to stay in 2 days time?
Never get those problems in a Hotel of similar pricing.
I had this happen to me after I booked a stay in Paris for the 2024 Olympics.
I booked a year in advance and made it clear in my booking, that it was during the Olympics. We agreed to a rate about x5 of the normal rate. Everyone was happy.
Half a year later the host contacted me requesting double rate of the already x5 rate. I refused and the host cancelled. I booked a hotel instead and we had a great trip.
Crazy part is that I contacted AirBnB in advance of booking asking what measures they would put in place to ensure this wouldn’t happen. Quite important since a lot of other expenses are put into such a trip which would not be possible to refund. Tickets and travel.
They just said that hosts are being penalized if they cancel and are blocked from renting out in the given period (on that platform).
As a host, I would not do this. We've had times because of things both inside and out of our control that the pricing was off. We honor the price booked, end of story.
I live in a beach town where lots of houses are vacation rentals through companies that are not Airbnb. I've never been in a situation to rent one, but I'm wondering if it is more predictable than Airbnb and how pricing compares.
I had a host cancel when I had an Airbnb booked the weekend before my cruise in Miami. It also happened to be Art Basel; so the host cancelled 2 weeks before. Airbnb gave us a credit of an additional $300 to pay for a new place since there was nothing left at a reasonable price. Contact Airbnb support if they cancel your reservation
Say no you booked based on price and refuse to cancel. Air bnb will review it and see that they waited weeks to try and say it's wrong price and will fine them and or block them from renting out on their site and app if they try to cancel after that significant or a time frame after booking.
Maybe I’m missing something but I think you all can’t see the forest for the trees. Airbnb has provided its hosts the functionality on its site to jack up the price after an agreement on terms has already been made which puts the renter at a significant disadvantage since they’ve already made associated plans like booking flights while the host can book the home on alternative sites like Vrbo (while renters get stuck with higher rates at other hotels or Airbnb’s since it’s closer to the travel date). We should be blaming Airbnb for allowing this. We should also be avoiding Airbnb because of this.
I get blaming AirBnb for the "housing crisis" is popular, but it is way more complicated than that. People list on Airbnb where there is demand. The real problem with housing is a local failure to allow building housing units in the places with high demand. In places that actually tried to fix that problem, housing prices have come way down.
Take a look at Austin. They did take some steps to regulate Airbnbs, but never came close to banning. But what they did do, was loosen up zoning nonsense to allow more housing units to be built. And now their housing costs are down double digits over the last 3/4 years.
AirBNB hosts are a mixed bag: either hosts that care about customer service and guest experience or those who treat it like a cash cow they can milk indefinitely, regardless of their service.
Give me the "faceless mega corporation" where I can use my points I accrue, with great customer service, upgrades, and standards that I know they uphold.
Sounds like the host needs extra cash for themself over the festive period and they've marked you as their piggy bank. Either you cancel and they get someone else in to pay the higher rate or you accept the surcharge.
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u/City_Standard 11h ago
What happens if you decline/don't accept?