Airbnb cancellation policy for hosts: which to choose

An Airbnb cancellation policy decides how much a guest gets back and how much the host keeps when a guest cancels. For stays under 28 nights, hosts choose Flexible, Moderate, Limited or Firm (Strict is by invitation only), can add a discounted non-refundable option, and stays of 28 nights or more follow long-term Firm or long-term Strict.¹³ A cancellation by the host is a separate matter: it costs 10% to 50% of the reservation amount, with a minimum of $50 USD, unless Airbnb accepts a valid reason or a major disruptive event.⁷⁶

Key takeaways

The four standard policies differ mainly in when the full refund ends: 24 hours, 5 days, 14 days or 30 days before check-in.¹
Every standard policy keeps a 24-hour free cancellation period for bookings made at least 7 days before check-in.¹
A policy change only applies to future reservations; existing bookings keep the policy they were made under.⁴
Host cancellations cost a fee, the payout and possibly the dates, so the owner agreement should say who pays when the co-host causes one.⁷¹⁰
On Booking.com you build your own free cancellation and non-refundable policies per rate plan, and commission follows the money you keep.¹¹¹³

In this guide

Airbnb’s cancellation policies for stays under 28 nights
Airbnb’s major disruptive events policy
What a host cancellation costs on Airbnb
Booking.com policy types and non-refundable rates
How to choose a cancellation policy per unit
Worked example: a host cancellation and a guest cancellation
What the owner agreement should say about cancellations
Questions people ask
Sources

Airbnb’s cancellation policies for stays under 28 nights

A full refund means the listing price including taxes.¹

Airbnb’s standard cancellation policies for homes, as published on 2 November 2026

Policy	Full refund until	Later, before check-in	After check-in
Flexible	24 hours before check-in	Host is paid for each night stayed plus one extra night	Same as before check-in, with a pro-rated tax refund
Moderate	5 days before check-in	Host is paid one extra night plus 50% of unspent nights	Host is paid nights stayed, one extra night and 50% of unspent nights
Limited	14 days before check-in	7 to 14 days: 50% refund, host paid 50%; under 7 days: host paid 100%	No refund, host paid 100%
Firm	30 days before check-in	7 to 30 days: 50% refund, host paid 50%; under 7 days: host paid 100%	No refund, host paid 100%
Strict (by invitation)	No full refund after the 24-hour period	7 days or more: 50% refund, host paid 50%; under 7 days: host paid 100%	No refund, host paid 100%

Source: Airbnb Help Centre, Cancellation policies for your home.¹ Limited applies to bookings made on or after 1 October 2025, and Airbnb also lists Super Strict 30-day and 60-day variants that follow the same structure as Strict.¹

A few rules cut across every policy:

The 24-hour period. For stays under 28 nights, a guest who books at least 7 days before check-in can cancel for a full refund within 24 hours of booking, whatever policy you chose.¹
Changing policy. In the listing editor, go to Your space, then Cancellation policy. Changes apply only to future reservations.⁴

The non-refundable option

On top of the standard policy you can offer a discounted rate that is not subject to it, so a guest who cancels gets no refund; the 24-hour period still applies, except for certain non-refundable hotel listings.¹ You set the discount yourself; Airbnb says it is “typically 10% off the base price” everywhere except China.³ The discount does not apply to bookings made with a pre-approval or special offer, and Airbnb says a reservation is eligible if the checkout date is within 60 days.³ Guests may still get a full refund if a major disruptive event affects the reservation.³

The extended cancellation option

Some listings on Moderate, Limited, Firm or Strict are automatically eligible for an extended cancellation option, which you can opt out of at any time.⁴ The guest pays Airbnb an extra fee to be able to cancel for a full refund up to 24 hours before check-in, and you are still paid according to your own policy if they cancel.⁵ Airbnb lists the Netherlands among the countries where it is available; Belgium is not on the list.⁵

Stays of 28 nights or more

Long stays have two policies of their own.¹

Long-term Firm: full refund if the guest cancels at least 30 days before check-in. Later, the host is paid for nights spent plus 30 more nights, or the remaining nights if fewer than 30 are left.¹
Long-term Strict: full refund only within 48 hours of booking and at least 28 days before check-in. Later cancellations pay the host for nights spent plus the next 30 nights.¹

After check-in there is no refund under either.¹ The mid-term rentals guide covers monthly payouts and the tenancy questions that come with long stays.

Airbnb’s major disruptive events policy

This policy overrides your cancellation policy, but only when an event affects the reservation location, happened after booking, and prevents or legally prohibits the stay.⁶

What Airbnb’s Major Disruptive Events Policy covers and excludes

Covered	Not covered
Government-declared public health emergencies and epidemics (endemic diseases and COVID-19 excluded)	Events that affect the guest’s ability to travel but not the destination
Binding government travel restrictions, such as evacuations	Non-binding travel advisories
Military actions and other hostilities, including war, terrorism and riots	Personal injury or illness, jury duty or court appearances
Large-scale outages of heat, water or electricity affecting most homes in an area	Cancelled or rescheduled events the trip was for
Unforeseeable natural disasters and severe weather	Transport disruptions such as airline strikes, and foreseeable local weather

Source: Airbnb Help Centre, Major Disruptive Events Policy.⁶

When a reservation is covered, the guest can cancel and may receive a refund, travel credit or other consideration regardless of your policy, and you can cancel without fees or other adverse consequences. Either way you receive no payout for the cancelled dates, any payout already made is deducted from future payouts, and if you cancel, the dates are blocked in your calendar.⁶ Airbnb states that the policy is not an insurance policy.⁶

What a host cancellation costs on Airbnb

When the host (or a co-host acting for the host) cancels a confirmed booking without a valid reason, Airbnb’s Host Cancellation Policy applies.⁷

Airbnb host cancellation fees for homes (minimum $50 USD)

When the host cancels	Fee
More than 30 days before check-in	10% of the reservation amount
30 days to 48 hours before check-in	25% of the reservation amount
48 hours or less before check-in, or after check-in	50% of the reservation amount for nights not stayed

Source: Airbnb Help Centre, Host cancellation policy for homes.⁷ The reservation amount includes the base rate, cleaning fee and any pet fees, but not taxes or guest fees. For stays of 28 days or longer, the percentages apply to the non-refundable part of the booking at the time of cancellation, up to 30 days after the cancellation date.⁷

The fee is only part of the cost. The host receives no payout for the cancelled reservation and any payout already made is withheld from future payouts; Airbnb may block the dates so they cannot be rebooked; and hosts who cancel without a valid reason may lose Superhost status or have the listing or account suspended or removed.⁷ A host can also be held responsible for a guest’s cancellation after a double booking or a listing grossly different from its description.⁷

Airbnb may waive the fee for a major disruptive event or valid reasons beyond the host’s control, after reviewing your documentation.⁷ Its list includes major damage to the home or emergency repairs such as a gas leak or burst pipe, serious personal illness that prevents hosting, and proof that a guest intends to break a house rule or the party policy.⁸ The house rules guide explains how to build that evidence before you cancel.

Booking.com policy types and non-refundable rates

Booking.com has no fixed menu of named policies. Every rate plan carries a cancellation policy you build yourself: whether free cancellation is offered and for how long, and what guests pay for late cancellations or no-shows.¹¹ There are three shapes:

Flexible: free cancellation until a deadline you set. Booking.com recommends allowing free cancellation until one to two days before check-in, if that fits your business.¹¹
Custom: you set both the cancellation deadline and the fee after it.¹¹
Non-refundable: a lower rate in exchange for no free cancellation. If the guest cancels, changes the booking or does not show, the charge may still apply under your policy.¹²

Booking.com recommends offering flexible and non-refundable options side by side.¹¹ To set up a non-refundable rate, create a non-refundable cancellation policy under Property, then Reservation policies, then add a rate plan under Rates & Availability, then Rate plans. Booking.com says to price it at least 10% below your cheapest rate.¹² You can also enable one date change per non-refundable booking, and a guest can still send a cancellation request, which you may accept as a goodwill gesture.¹²

Temporary policy exceptions let you change the policy for selected dates only, such as an event weekend, while the standard policy stays active for other dates.¹¹

Commission and host cancellations on Booking.com

Commission follows what the guest pays. Booking.com charges it on non-refundable and partially refundable bookings whether or not the guest stayed, and on any cancellation or no-show fee you charge; it does not charge commission when you waive the fee.¹³ Mark no-shows and cancellations in the extranet within 48 hours of checkout, or you pay full commission on the original booking.¹³

If you need to cancel, Booking.com treats confirmed bookings as legal agreements. You send a cancellation request through the extranet or the Pulse app, the reservation stays active until the guest accepts, and a cancellation made this way is free of charge with zero commission.¹¹ An overbooking is costlier: you must find the guest accommodation of the same or a better standard and cover the costs, and Booking.com charges commission unless the property has been live for less than 30 days or has had fewer than five overbookings in the last 12 months.¹⁴¹³ See the calendar sync guide to prevent them.

How to choose a cancellation policy per unit

Choose per unit. Airbnb says a flexible policy may suit low season or competitive locations, while Firm suits places in demand year-round whose hosts can handle cancellations with 30 days’ notice; listings whose free cancellation runs more than 48 hours after booking are highlighted in search.²

A starting point for choosing a policy per unit (illustration, not Airbnb guidance)

Unit and demand	Airbnb policy to start with	Booking.com setup	Why
New listing, no reviews	Flexible or Moderate, plus non-refundable option	Flexible rate plus non-refundable rate	Easy to book while the listing builds reviews²³
City flat with steady weekday and weekend demand	Moderate or Limited	Free cancellation one to two days ahead, plus non-refundable	A late cancellation can usually be resold¹¹
High-demand dates, few substitutes (event weekends, holiday homes in season)	Firm	Temporary exception with a stricter policy for those dates	Late cancellations are hard to refill²¹¹
Monthly stays (28 nights or more)	Long-term Firm or long-term Strict	Weekly or monthly rate plans with a matching policy	One cancellation leaves a long gap¹

Booking.com’s cancellation characteristics report, under Analytics, helps you review the choice.¹¹

Worked example: a host cancellation and a guest cancellation

Worked example: A €600 stay in a managed flat (illustration)

A guest books four nights at €130 a night plus an €80 cleaning fee. The reservation amount for Airbnb’s host cancellation fee is €600, because it includes the base rate and cleaning fee but not taxes or guest fees.⁷

If the co-host cancels after a double booking:

40 days before check-in: 10% of €600 = €60.
10 days before check-in: 25% of €600 = €150.
1 day before check-in: 50% of €600 for the nights not stayed = €300.

In each case the owner’s account gets no payout for the booking, and Airbnb may block the four nights.⁷ The $50 USD minimum still applies.

If the guest cancels 20 days before check-in on Firm: the guest is between 7 and 30 days out, so they receive a 50% refund including full taxes and the host is paid 50%.¹ If the co-host is paid through Airbnb’s co-host payouts, the co-host’s share is calculated on the host’s reduced earnings, in the same way as any other booking.¹⁰

Illustrative figures.

What the owner agreement should say about cancellations

Airbnb does not decide who carries the cost between owner and co-host. It deducts refunds after a host or full-access co-host cancellation from future payouts until the full amount is collected, so the co-host, the host or both may receive less than expected.¹⁰ A co-host with full access can manage reservations, including cancellations; a co-host with calendar and messaging access cannot.⁹ Settle the rest in writing, as part of the commission and costs clauses:

Who may cancel. Which permission level the co-host holds, and whether any cancellation needs the owner’s approval first.⁹
Who pays when the co-host causes it. A double booking from a calendar sync error, a missed block or a wrong price is usually the manager’s operational risk. Say whether the co-host refunds the owner the Airbnb fee or the Booking.com relocation costs, and up to what amount.⁷¹⁴
Who pays when the owner causes it. A late owner block, a sale of the property or a repair the owner postponed. The agreement should say the owner carries the fee and the lost payout in those cases.
Valid reasons and major disruptive events. When Airbnb waives the fee, there is still no payout for the dates.⁶⁸ Say whether any commission is due on cancelled stays.
Which policy, and who changes it. Name the cancellation policy per unit and who may change it, since a change only affects future bookings.⁴
Refunds to guests. From December 2026, co-hosts can no longer manage refunds to guests through the Resolution Center for listings whose owner is outside the US, US territories and Brazil, though they may still handle damage reimbursement requests.⁹ Agree how quickly the owner acts when a refund is needed.

Treat these as questions to settle with a lawyer, not clauses to copy.

Questions people ask

What are Airbnb’s cancellation policies for hosts?

For stays under 28 nights, hosts choose Flexible, Moderate, Limited or Firm; Strict is by invitation only. Full refunds end 24 hours, 5 days, 14 days and 30 days before check-in respectively, and every standard policy keeps a 24-hour free cancellation period for bookings made at least 7 days ahead.¹ Stays of 28 nights or more use long-term Firm or long-term Strict.¹

Which Airbnb cancellation policy is best for a new listing?

Airbnb suggests new listings consider the most flexible option that supports the business, and says Firm suits places in demand year-round whose hosts can handle cancellations with 30 days’ notice.² Listings whose free cancellation runs longer than 48 hours after booking are highlighted in search results.²

How much does Airbnb charge a host for cancelling?

Under the Host Cancellation Policy, 10% of the reservation amount more than 30 days before check-in, 25% between 30 days and 48 hours, and 50% of the nights not stayed within 48 hours or after check-in, with a minimum of $50 USD.⁷ The host also gets no payout for the booking and the dates can be blocked.⁷

Does the Major Disruptive Events policy cover illness or a cancelled flight?

No. Airbnb’s Major Disruptive Events Policy excludes personal injury or illness and transport disruptions such as airline strikes, along with events that affect the guest’s travel but not the destination.⁶ It covers events such as declared public health emergencies, binding government travel restrictions, war, large-scale utility outages and unforeseeable natural disasters at the reservation location.⁶

Can a Booking.com guest cancel a non-refundable booking?

A guest can still send a cancellation request; your policy decides whether a charge or refund applies, and you can choose to waive the charge as a goodwill gesture.¹² Booking.com charges commission on non-refundable bookings whether or not the guest stays, unless you waive the cancellation fee.¹³

Sources

All sources checked 2 November 2026.

Airbnb Help Centre, “Cancellation policies for your home”
Airbnb Resource Center, “Choosing cancellation policies”, Published 27 January 2026
Airbnb Help Centre, “Offer a discounted, non-refundable option”
Airbnb Help Centre, “Change your home cancellation policy”
Airbnb Help Centre, “Understanding the extended cancellation option”
Airbnb Help Centre, “Major Disruptive Events Policy”
Airbnb Help Centre, “Host cancellation policy for homes”, Effective 9 October 2023
Airbnb Help Centre, “Cancelling a reservation as a host without adverse consequences”
Airbnb Help Centre, “What co-hosts can do”
Airbnb Help Centre, “Co-host payout exceptions”
Booking.com for Partners, “Setting up cancellation policies”
Booking.com for Partners, “Setting up a non-refundable rate plan”
Booking.com for Partners, “Understanding your commission”
Booking.com for Partners, “Handling overbookings”

We check every figure against the sources above. Spotted something out of date? Email systemen@hostproacademy.com with the guide title.

Airbnb cancellation policy for hosts (2026): every policy, host penalties and how to choose per unit