Airbnb non-refundable rates: how they work, and when they are worth it

An Airbnb non-refundable rate is a discount, usually 10 percent off your base price, that guests can choose instead of your standard rate. In exchange they give up the right to cancel for a refund. If they cancel anyway after any free cancellation period, you keep your entire payout for every night booked.

What the non-refundable option actually is

It is a second price on the same listing.

Guests who open your listing see two choices at checkout: your standard rate, which follows your cancellation policy, and a lower non-refundable rate. If they take the lower one, they give up the right to cancel for a refund.

Airbnb sets the usual discount at 10 percent off your base price, everywhere except China. It also behaves differently from your other discounts. Most Airbnb discounts compete with each other, so when several could apply to the same night, only one of them does. The non-refundable option is one of the few that always applies on top, so it comes off the price a guest was already going to be offered.

What guests see in search

The discounted price is the one that shows in search results.

This matters more than it sounds. Search is where guests filter by budget, and the lower number is the one competing for the click. Your standard rate is still there, guests just meet it after they open the listing.

So the non-refundable option is doing two jobs at once: protecting you against a cancellation, and putting a lower number in front of guests who are filtering on price.

The rules worth knowing before you switch it on

Three limits decide whether the option even appears to a guest.

1. It closes as your cancellation policy kicks in. Guests can book the non-refundable rate up to a cut-off that depends on your policy:

   • Flexible: up to 1 day before check-in

   • Moderate: up to 5 days before check-in

   • Limited: up to 14 days before check-in

   • Firm: up to 14 days before check-in

   • Strict: up to 14 days before check-in

   After that point, guests book at your standard rate.

2. Long stays are out. The reservation qualifies when the checkout date is within 60 days. Stays of 60 days or longer do not get the option.

3. Pre-approvals and special offers are out. If the booking comes through a pre-approval, an invitation or a special offer, the discount does not apply.

One more thing to be clear about with guests: a non-refundable booking can still be refunded if the reservation is hit by a Major Disruptive Event. That policy sits above your settings.

Why hosts use it

Certainty on the nights you have already sold. A booking that cannot be cancelled is income you can plan around. That matters most for the nights that would be hardest to refill: peak dates booked months ahead, and short gaps between longer stays. If you have not put a number on what those gaps cost you, our empty nights calculator does it in a couple of minutes.

Fewer placeholder bookings. Guests who are still deciding between three listings tend to take the flexible rate. Guests who take the discount have usually made their decision. You get a calendar that reflects reality.

A lower entry price without cutting your real price. You are not dropping your rate for everyone. You are offering a discount only to the guests willing to trade flexibility for it, while guests who want flexibility keep paying full price.

A cancelled night can pay twice. This is the part hosts miss. If a guest cancels a non-refundable booking, you keep the payout and the dates go back on your calendar. Sell them again and those same nights have earned you twice. It will not happen often, which is the point: the cancellations that used to cost you now cost you nothing.

Why it is not right for every listing

Be honest about the trade you are making. You are selling flexibility, and flexibility is worth a lot to some guests.

If your market runs on last-minute bookings, short lead times mean the option closes before most of your guests are even searching. If your listing depends on business travellers with plans that shift, pushing the cheaper rate can cost you more in lost bookings than it protects in cancellations.

The failure case we see most: hosts who treat non-refundable as their only rate. It is designed to sit next to your standard rate, not replace it. Offering nothing but a non-refundable price narrows who can say yes to you.

How to set it up

The decision is smaller than it looks, because Airbnb sets most of it for you. The discount is 10 percent in almost every market, and the booking windows follow whatever cancellation policy your listing already uses. What you are really deciding is whether to switch it on and what your standard cancellation policy should be next to it.

Work through it in this order:

1. Check your current cancellation policy first. It determines the cut-off for the non-refundable rate. A Flexible listing keeps the option open until 1 day before check-in, a Strict one closes it 14 days out.

2. Turn on the non-refundable option with the rest of your discount settings. Single listings: open the listing calendar and look under pricing settings and discounts. If you use Airbnb's professional hosting tools, it is also in the Opportunities tab, where you can apply it across listings. If you manage rates through a channel manager, set it there instead so your rates do not drift apart.

3. Sanity check the resulting price. Look at what shows in search after the discount stacks with any weekly or monthly discount you already run, then run the total through our fee calculator so you are looking at what actually lands in your account. Make sure the lowest number you can end up with is still a number you are happy to be paid.

4. Watch which rate guests actually pick. Give it a full booking cycle. If nearly everyone takes the standard rate, the option is costing you nothing and quietly widening your reach. If nearly everyone takes the discount, you have just cut your rate by 10 percent and should ask whether your standard price was right.

That last question is worth taking seriously. If guests are opening your listing and not booking at either price, the problem is not the discount, and no amount of discounting will fix it. That is a conversion problem, and we wrote about how to tell the difference in what is a good Airbnb conversion rate. If you want the full diagnosis with the fixes ranked by impact, that is what the Listing Diagnostic does.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the Airbnb non-refundable discount?

Airbnb sets it at 10 percent off your base price in every market except China.

Do I keep the money if the guest cancels?

If the guest cancels after any applicable free cancellation period, you keep your entire payout for all nights booked. A Major Disruptive Event can still override this.

Can guests book a non-refundable rate at the last minute?

Only up to the cut-off set by your cancellation policy: 1 day before check-in on Flexible, 5 days on Moderate, and 14 days on Limited, Firm and Strict.

Does it work for long stays?

No. The reservation qualifies only when the checkout date is within 60 days.

Does it stack with my weekly or monthly discount?

Yes. Airbnb applies it on top of other discounts, so check the final price that results before you switch it on.

Should I offer only the non-refundable rate?

No. It is built to appear alongside your standard rate. Removing the flexible choice narrows the pool of guests who can book you.

Sources: Airbnb Help Center, Offer a discounted, non-refundable option and Discounts with non-refundable bookings.