In a week or so time, I’ll be at the APEX Association’s Expo/Aircraft Interiors Expo America in Boston, MA.
And amazingly, that has a few issues. Namely the price of hotel stock. This is the price I had for three nights (Saturday, Sunday and Monday). I’ll let you be shocked at the prices for rooms.
So, yes. This isn’t exactly “cheap”, I’m sure we can agree. I decided initially to try out AirBnB to try to reduce the costs down by… well.. a lot.
Settings up the account wasn’t hard – although there were a few authentication hoops to jump (such as the passport scan).
With all that done, eventually, I found a property in South Boston that suited me for a few nights.
The owner contacted me straight away, and set up the initial items. All well and good for £234 or so.
About six hours later, a message came through on my phone. Not one I wanted to see.
Hmm. Not want I wanted to see.
Not what I wanted to see in the least to put it bluntly. The host gave a clear reason why they needed to cancel and cancelled it at their end.
With that done, I decided to go for a room in an apartment. Hey – it’s not perfect, but it would do. Another property later (and more cash handed over), I got this gem for £300 or so.
And about 30 minutes later, the messages started flying back and forth as the person wanted me to cancel as they were travelling (which begs the question why they listed the room as available – but I digress).
So where did that leave me? Sleepless in Boston. Not an ideal thing in the least..
And at this point – I was done with AirBnB. And rather that go around the houses for days more when time is running out, I looked to the hotel point stockpiles.
In the end, I raided the IHG Rewards Kitty (the only thing I could reasonably do as I was out of time for messing around) for a Holiday Inn near Boston. Not perfect, but better than the cash price of US$204+tax a night (vs 15k and $68 a night).
My thoughts.
I’m sure AirBnB works very well for a lot of people. I’m rather jealous of some of the experiences people have had with it and the places they get.
However for me… I’m soured by the experience at the moment. I understand people have lives too, but if I’m travelling – I need more than a tiny bit of certainty when booking accommodation. Especially after two cancellations in a row.
I might try AirBnB again sometime… but for now, I’m going to stick to hotels and such.
Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, with in-depth coverage, unique research as well as the humour and madness as I only know how to deliver.
Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates! You can also follow me on Instagram too!
Also remember that as well as being part of BoardingArea, we’re also part of BoardingArea.eu, delivering frequent flyer news, miles and points to European readers
I’ve had many good experiences with airbnb, but the type of cancellation I fear is the day-of-arrival cancellation by host. At least your issues were well in advance!
Did you look at the reviews of the host? Doing so should reduce the chances of this sort of thing ever happening to you (since you can avoid those that have canceled on people).
Signed,
A responsible Airbnb host who does not cancel on guests
Boston is a good place to use Wyndham points – there is a property from the nice brand in the downtown and as its wyndham 15k points
as Eric wrote, do you look at the reviews? I NEVER rent a place that doesn’t have many positive reviews (for the intended property or others that he/she/they may own). and renting from a superhost usually prevents issues. we have rented from airbnb a handful of times (US, Costa Rica, Japan…) and so far, knock on wood, no issues.
Always choose properties where the owner has Superhost status. One of the requirements to achieve and retain this is having zero cancellations.
I wholeheartedly agree with many of the comments here. As a Superhost myself, I would be absolutely mortified if I had to cancel on a guest and I would feel awful. As a frequent AirBnB guest, I’ve only had good experiences and no cancellations. Don’t quit after try, I promise, if you take the advice given here you’ll be golden 🙂
‘Only positive reviews’. ‘Super hosts’. How about Airbnb raises the bar to improve the product? What if every host is held to the ‘super host’ standard? Meaning there are no such things as superhosts; there are only ‘hosts’ that stick to the agreements. Until then, forget it