Key points
- Certainty. They want to know what happens if they press cancel. Will they lose everything? Half? Nothing?
- Not to feel punished. Something went wrong in their life, a flight, an illness, a visa. They want a human on the other side.
- A way out that does not involve a fight. Most guests would rather change dates than cancel, if someone offers it.
On this page
"Our flight was cancelled, can we cancel the booking and get our money back?" It arrives at the worst moment, often in high season when you turned other guests away for these dates. You feel for them, you feel for your calendar, and you are not sure what you are allowed to say. The honest answer is simpler than most hosts think: the cancellation and its money follow the policy the guest accepted when they booked, and the platform runs that process. Your job is the reply.
What the guest actually wants
Three things, usually in this order.
- Certainty. They want to know what happens if they press cancel. Will they lose everything? Half? Nothing?
- Not to feel punished. Something went wrong in their life, a flight, an illness, a visa. They want a human on the other side.
- A way out that does not involve a fight. Most guests would rather change dates than cancel, if someone offers it.
What they are worried about: that you will say no and vanish, or that cancelling through the app will somehow make it worse. Many guests do not know the cancellation policy they agreed to. Your reply should tell them where to find it without reading it to them.
Questions to answer for yourself first
- Which policy did this booking come with? Flexible, moderate, strict, non-refundable. It is on the reservation. Know it before you reply.
- Who has to press the button? On Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo, a guest-initiated cancellation is done by the guest, in their app. If you cancel from your side, it can count against you. Point them to their button.
- Can you offer a date change instead? If the calendar is open and the policy allows it, a change keeps the booking and makes everyone happy.
- Is there a situation the platform treats differently? Some platforms have their own rules for certain events. You do not need to know them by heart. You need to say "check with the platform" and mean it.
- What is your own rule? Decide once: do we ever go beyond the policy, and if so, for what? Write it down. Then the reply at midnight follows the rule, not the guilt.
Three replies you can copy
No greeting. Warm, short, and nothing here promises money.
Sorry to hear about the flight, that is a stressful start. If a different week would work, we are happy to move the booking rather than cancel it, just send the new dates and we will check the calendar. If you do need to cancel, the cancellation button is in your booking on the platform and it will show you exactly what the policy returns before you confirm. Either way, tell us what you decide.
Thank you for letting us know, and we are sorry your plans changed. The booking was made under the policy shown on the reservation, and cancellations and any refund follow that policy through the platform rather than through us here. The cancellation button in your booking will show you the exact outcome before you confirm, and if your situation is one the platform treats differently, their support team is the right place to ask. We hope the trip works out another time.
Thank you for telling us. We want to give you a clear answer, so give us a little time to look at the dates and the booking details. You will hear from us today. In the meantime, nothing changes on our side and the booking stays as it is.
The line "it will show you exactly what the policy returns before you confirm" is the most useful sentence on this page. It replaces the whole negotiation.
Mistakes hosts make
- Promising a refund in the chat. You do not control the money on these platforms. If the policy does not return it, you have promised something you cannot deliver.
- Cancelling from the host side to be helpful. Host cancellations can carry penalties on your listing. Let the guest press their own button.
- Arguing about whose fault the flight was. It does not matter. The policy is the policy, and your tone is what the guest remembers.
- Ignoring the date-change option. It is often the answer both sides wanted.
- Explaining the policy in your own words. You will get a detail wrong. Point to the reservation and the button.
- Going quiet because the conversation is awkward. A guest who hears nothing opens a dispute. A guest who hears "here is where to look" usually does not.
How Tokay handles it
Tokay's front desk agent Pam answers from your rules and the three-level knowledge base. Cancellations are about money, so they always come to the host first, with a draft ready to approve, edit or deny with a tap. Pam never promises refunds, exceptions or discounts you did not agree to, and she never acts outside your rules. If you have not told her what you do about date changes, she asks you rather than guessing.
If a cancellation goes through, Sam updates tomorrow's cleaning brief so the cleaner is not sent to an empty apartment, and Ivo, who reviews prices every morning, will see the open dates and recommend a change for you to approve. Leo's morning message tells you what happened overnight, so a cancellation that lands at 3 AM is on your phone with everything else at breakfast.
The point is not that the AI handles cancellations. It is that you see them in time, and the first reply the guest gets is calm.
Questions hosts ask
Should I ever refund beyond the policy?
That is your decision, and some hosts do for genuine emergencies. If you choose to, do it through the platform's process, not as a promise in the chat, and keep your rule consistent so the next guest is treated the same way.
What if the guest asks me to cancel for them?
Explain kindly that cancellations made from the host side can affect your listing, and that the button in their booking shows the outcome before they confirm. Nearly every guest understands once it is said plainly.
Does a date change count as a cancellation?
On most platforms a change keeps the booking and the policy, and the platform handles any price difference. If the dates are open, it is usually the best outcome for both sides. The refunds and discounts page covers what to say when a guest asks for money back during the stay instead.