Can you give me a discount?

Found this image on a blog called CottageMe
 that has a much better post than mine about the same subject.

Every once in a while I get people asking for a reduced rate.  The answer is always no.

It's not like I'm the only game in town. If they want to pay less there are always plenty of other Airbnbs where they can find a better price. The thing is, they really prefer my place but don't want to pay for nice.

The last time this happened was back in February. A woman from England was looking
to stay for 2 days and wanted me to reduce the price from $70 a night to $65.

I explained that I had already lowered my price to account for the off-season and that the price I was charging for an entire apartment was competitive with what others were charging for private rooms.  She decided not to book.

What I found especially irritating about it was this: she's British, paying in pounds. How much was she really saving here?  With the dollar worth about $1.60 pounds, she was offering to pay £38.83 instead of £41.82.  Big difference.

Bad weather, cancellation policy change

The weather in Philly, and elsewhere on the east coast has been terrible.  In the neighborhoods the roads are barely plowed, many sidewalks are not shoveled and parking is non-existent. I mean, people are sledding down the Art Museum steps fer christ's sake!

Normally, my cancellation policy is set to 'Strict.' However, given the weather conditions, I've temporarily changed it to 'Flexible', which enables guests who can't make it to cancel and get their money back.  The only thing they won't get back is Airbnb's fee. I've also emailed guests to let them know of the change and the reason for it.

So far, the only guests to cancel were the ones who were do to arrive tomorrow.

It's my hope that Airbnb will understand cases like this and agree to waive their fees.