December AirBnB Availability--Book Now or Wait?

It might help to know what places you're planning on going to. Some places are very popular over the holidays and it may be that you're not too early at all.

Sorry should have said that. The places we are going to where we'll be looking for AirBnB's are Brussels, Belgium as well as Seville and Madrid, Spain.

If you see something you like, have researched the neighborhood, read through the reviews Book it ASAP! The good places go fast. I usually book my Airbnb before I buy plane tickets,, So I am booking 6-10 months in advance on the calendars that allow it. Because at Airbnb you pay in full at the time of booking and pay a fee for a cancellation, the chances of something opening up are slim.

Thanks Letizia that definitely makes sense!

Same thing happened to me when I was looking at Vienna for Sept - I had 15 or so on my wish list last month and went back a few weeks later to go over them and 5 were already not available. If you aren't 100% sure, just make sure to book one that has a more flexible cancellation policy. But if you see one that just calls out to you, book it.

If you see something you like just book it. We will be in Le Puy for Christmas and saw somewhere we liked in March, so booked it!

I use AirBnB primarily for my lodgings. But I am going to make a suggestion/warning. Rarely, but it happens, over Christmas and New Year's hosts get greedy and decide to cancel long term reservations so they can charge more for the Holidays (particularly New Years). So go ahead and book and plan for the AirBnB, but book a hotel that is refundable as a back up. Check the final 'free cancellation' date and ensure you cancel that by that date. From the posts I have read on travel sites where this happens, AirBnB hosts cancel perhaps 3-4 weeks prior.
I am a little unsure on your comments about 'more places may open up'. If you mean that new places may come up, do you want untested lodging options? Six months allows for growing pains, but...... If you mean that you have some favourites, but their calendars are not open for then, then I wonder if they are assessing how much to charge up for the Holiday season.
Be sure to read the reviews for the Dec/Jan time and see whether there are 'host cancelled this booking' posts. That would indicate a greedy one.

I would refer you to the recent post asking if food is better in Europe than the US.

hey hey Erica
Happy to hear you’re going for the holidays. Be careful with Airbnb’s, cut down on apartments which could be illegal rentals. Look for 13 digit residential number under read more. you could check under booking.com, cross-pollinate.com, alcoves&agapes.com, trip advisor.com. Read the fine print carefully, amenities, fees, shared bathroom/kitchen, arrival times, checkin early or bag storage, getting key, etc. it’s a busy time, if it all looks good book it, and have plan B if cancelled before you get there. good luck happy travels and have fun
aloha

princess pupule; Budapest, Prague, London and Rome use 13 digit numbers like Paris, good to know. Thanks.

I have read more than once that if the Airbnb host cancels on you, then they pay a fee and their calendar is blocked for those days - so unless they have the listing on other websites, or - prob more likely - they've communicated with someone via email and will just get the cash on the side...it's not in their best interests to cancel. And I think if they do it a certain number of times in a cal year, they can lose their superhost status (if they have that) or may get booted off the platform.

I would book now. Many people book a year ahead for places they like over the Christmas/New Year season. I only book Airbnb places that have a long history of reviews to avoid potential scams, so I would disregard any that are added between now and the end of the year.

Thank you all, this has been very helpful. Seems the general consensus is to book as soon as possible, but keep in mind that the host could cancel (and check reviews to see if this has happened), and have a backup plan in case.

In regards to what I meant by "more opening up", I didn't necessarily mean booking new listings that haven't been stayed in and could be scammy--moreso that people could open up the availability for their listing in the coming months whereas right now they may have the availability closed for those dates (not necessarily booked by someone else though). However, thinking about it further, I imagine that may just be a handful of places--and they'd likely get booked fast too.