In New York the website recently updated to do this, presumably because they were forced to. They had a whole banner announcing it.
I'm Australian and moved to New York recently-ish. It was one of those classic anti-consumer disappointments one experiences moving to the states. Glad they fixed it.
That's one thing, annoying but possible to work with.
What I'm talking about is Dynamic Pricing. Had to look up what really happens: The host sets a rate-range, and Airbnb first gives the low price and then as you click around in the area they notice you're more interested so they increase it towards the high end of the price range (possibly also time of day and such signals?). Then I guess there's a slow cooldown.
Like how a good haggle is made to give you a friendly relationship with the seller, this seems specifically designed to make people hate Airbnb and swear to never use it again.
Insane that they allow that. Maybe it's an option the host can set on the listing?
Booking, as far as I know, straight up doesn't allow hosts to cancel. Recently, a host sent me a message begging me to cancel my booking because they really couldn't be there to receive me.
Hosts can cancel, but they are subject to their cancelation penalties (according to the level they've chosen for guests) plus there is an automatic "review" added stating that "This host cancelled a booking X days in advance". Unless X is very big, I run away from those listings.
Airbnb hosts are penalised if they cancel - they get downrated - so it's not something that hosts generally want to do. Far better if they can persuade a guest to cancel
Booking.com is awful. Anyone can make a listing on Booking.com for places that don't exist. Airbnb at least makes an effort to verify the building is real.
The last trip to Brasil I had problems with AirBnB - both incorrect listings (e.g. wrong location) and listings that weren't actually available.
I've used booking.com around the world and I can't recall any serious problem. When dealing with an issue, AirBnB error flow often sucks and booking is mostly fine.
When AirBnB works out great, you can find some real magic, but when it fails it really sucks.
I've found booking.com is usually more hotel-like and professional (e.g. contactable and reliable).
I still use both but I'm careful to choose depending on perceived risks.
Their hyper aggressive marketing strategy is already telling. Their website randomly pops up when you search and book the flight already. Spanish holiday rental owners don't even advertise anywhere else afraid of booking.com price match policy, but are insolent enough to collect full photo of guests' id document and install cameras inside apartment. Booking is the only place to book holiday rental in Europe and I hate using their service.
Airbnb these last years went from feeling fresh and adventurous to scammy and dubious