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Post by betsyg on May 26, 2015 19:50:03 GMT
I'm traveling to London in November and had just assumed I would use airbnb to book a flat. I have added several rentals to my list, but am surprised to find that when I go back to look again or book (even the same day), the whole listing is gone (not just "not available" for my dates, but completely gone). Is it unusual for listings to disappear within hours of being posted?
Also, I notice on some of the listings that in the comments sections it says "The reservation was canceled X days before arrival. This is an automated posting." When I looked into this, it appears that the host is cancelling. Some of these listings have a lot of these comments. Would you avoid renting from a place with a lot of these comments? I can't imagine having my rental cancelled 4 or 12 days before my arrival.
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Post by rst on May 26, 2015 20:00:03 GMT
My experience with AirBnB has been great. Have you looked at their page for a detailed explanation of what the cancelled reservation listings mean? I have a friend who traveled through Europe with Airbnb and she told me that of over 20 places they stayed, they had one which did not work out. However, with the Airbnb service, they just had to call in and explain the situation, and Airbnb got them into another place close by which was comparable and met their needs. if that had not worked, they would have found them a hotel close by -- according to what she told me, that's part of the service. I haven't gone and read the whole fine print to verify this, but if you're planning a trip overseas, definitely read the details-- it may be reassuring.
I think that sometimes with summer approaching, hosts may want to block out chunks of time where they don't want to make their space available for rents -- you can imagine plenty of situations where you have your own family making use of the space, or you plan to be on vacation and aren't available to host. There are also multiple types of listing sites -- not just airbnb. So if you're a host and you list on multiple sites, when you get a booking on one site, you have to rapidly go and block out that timeframe on the other sites.
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Post by stingfan on May 26, 2015 20:05:44 GMT
When I was searching, I did sometimes find that a listing I'd seen before no longer appeared. But I just figured it had been rented out for my dates.
We used airbnb in April for our trip to Europe. We stayed at two different places and had no problems. Our only complaint was that we arrived at noon and the host couldn't meet us until 8pm. So it was a hassle to have our luggage with us all day. We had to use various lockers. Plus we were unable to rest after our long flight until much later than we would have liked. But I guess that's a chance you take...
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MaryMary
Pearl Clutcher
Lazy
Posts: 2,975 
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Post by MaryMary on May 26, 2015 21:09:45 GMT
I've only used them once to rent a cabin in Leavenworth, WA. Everything went smoothly, the cabin was exactly what we needed.
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Post by holly on May 26, 2015 21:45:25 GMT
We had great experiences with Airbnb and VRBO. I just told my family what we were doing and they went along with it. They were very happy too.
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Post by ss on May 26, 2015 21:53:04 GMT
We used them on our recent trip to Paris. It worked out great! The apartment was perfect, so nice to have all the comforts of home.
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Post by 2peafaithful on May 26, 2015 23:40:46 GMT
We have used airbnb many times now and have had great experiences every time. Having said that I pour over reviews, really go for ones that have at least 10 great reviews and I have a good feel for things from their communication via messaging in the beginning stages.
I have seen what you are referring to about this booking was cancelled. I don't see it all the time but have seen it many times. All our travel has been in the US using airbnb.
We have stayed in Chicago, San Diego, Orlando using it and have several other cities bookmarked with our favorites. We had used vrbo in the past and I would use it again if I couldn't find what I wanted on airbnb but I do prefer airbnb. We have saved $, stayed in beautiful places that were 2-4 times the size of a hotel at 1/2 the price. We are spoiled and will never go back to our old ways!
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Post by bc2ca on May 27, 2015 0:06:29 GMT
I've seen an apartment not show up on my search once it has been booked for my specific dates, but I can usually find it if I remove the dates. Anything I have saved to my favorites is still in there even two years after the trip.
Many units are listed on multiple sites (HomeAway, AirBnB and VRBO) and it is a great way to expand the reviews and feedback on listings. We had a small glitch heading into NY when I was given a wrong contact number (from a third party booking service) but because of comments in the reviews I knew the owner lived in the building and we were able to connect easily.
I do pick listings that let us drop off bags even if the unit isn't available. When we left our NY apartment, J kept our bags for several hours and as I was dropping them off the family from Italy that was moving in that day was also leaving their bags.
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Post by lisacharlotte on May 27, 2015 1:45:59 GMT
We used VRBO for a 15 person girls weekend in Chicago last month. Fantastic experience in a great location (Lincoln Park) in a beautifully furnished 3 story house. It was nice to be able to cook meals instead of eating out for every meal. Definitely read the reviews for the host.
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