[shekyboy]

There should be some sort of penalty for canceling/rejecting even if you had availability. Just like canceling an Uber. These cancellations ought to add up over time and reflect in the rating...

Additionally potential renters should be able to rate this initial experience as well, which should factor in the rating.

Dont think that will fix this problem but might curtail some of this behavior. I believe that technology and applied correctly has potential of changing behaviors (we have seen that in spades with AirBnB already).

[parennoob]

This would probably be the most practical way of dealing with issues like this. A tag such as "[Unreliable] Host canceled prior availability dates 5 or more times." would make these assholes think several times before canceling on someone because of their skin color.

I also like the idea of showing someone's profile photo only after they book. Really, there is no reason for anyone to see my photos for short-term rentals.

Maybe the two could be tied together! That is, if I start canceling prior availability dates more than a couple times, AirBNB will stop showing me profile pictures of prospective tenants in advance.

[silencio]

There is a small penalty of sorts. I booked an instant book Airbnb once where the host didn't like the length of my stay, and told me to cancel it. I told her to deal with it and Airbnb support ended up cancelling it for me. The dates of my stay were unavailable for others to book and an automated review was left on the listing saying that the host cancelled. I think it's a bummer I couldn't say what happened in that review though :(

Also to +1 the general topic from my (female) Asian perspective which is typically considered rather non-threatening, I have a pretty vanilla photo and I always bring up "nice" things when inquiring about airbnbs, if there are no instant book options. The profiling adds up to a serious load of crap especially when you get to a/b test a bit by asking someone else to also inquire about the place.

[nazka]

Ya it happened to me too. This is why stars on AirBnB doesn't mean everything. We have to check the host profile to see if there are too many "host cancelled" comments, and if it's the case it's a very bad host.

[itisbiz]

Seems simple enough for AirBnb to do. I'd bet a curious Airbnb data scientist has already done it. Do analysis of users' ethnicities/names/profile skin color/gender/ attire etc where booking cancelled for one person but allowed for another in same time period immediately after cancellation. Hosts with many such cancel/book patterns should be penalized. This would have flagged OP's friend doing second booking.

[ArtDev]

Forcing hosts to accept questionable guests is a terrible idea. Many people don't read the house rules before they book.

Yes, you have to make effort to show that you are not going to trash my house. Its not a hotel.

[tptacek]

False. If you're going to let your house out for short-term rentals on the market, you are obliged to follow the same rules regarding who you rent to as the hotels are.

If you don't want strangers in your house --- and I sure don't either --- don't try to capitalize on it on Airbnb.

[ArtDev]

In my town the permitting process for vacation rentals is quite different than hotels.

I have a very expensive permit ($2300 for the first year) and jumped through all the hoops. We pay occupancy tax, etc.

What makes it most different from a hotel is that we have to vet our guests. We won't take anyone off the street. This is perfectly reasonable and also different from a hotel.

I do hope that cities avoid passing laws around vacation rentals. The law is our town is an expensive illogical nightmare.

[DrScump]

The problem is assuming that a guest is "questionable" based solely on appearance.

[gregshap]

According to the information I got when I was hosting, Airbnb does punish hosts who reject a lot of guests by pushing the listing down in search results. The idea is that they want to show listings that are likely to convert to a match. Granted this might not help much if people of color only inquire occasionally, and everyone else is accepted