This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
So there it is in an email just received from Airbnb.
For that reason, our extenuating circumstances policy will now apply globally* to eligible reservations booked on or before March 14th, and with at least one night between March 14th and April 14th.
ELIGIBLE! Not just any old “The Sky Is Falling” excuse. Read the conditions of eligibility too.
It pretty much says if you booked a reservation before March 14 and the reservation has at least one day between March 14 and April 14, then guests can cancel and get a full refund. There are no conditions. Hosts can also cancel those reservations without any penalties as well.
According to the EC policy mandated in rules my guests should have been cancelled. There are only 20 cases in my entire province all which are 100 miles away, policy states that if they have covid(they dont) or are coming from a severely impacted area(they are only 45 minutes away. They dont qualify and yet they refunded them.
I think this is totally unfair on hosts who have the strict policy. Why should we take all of the loss.?Many of us rely on this income as do the cleaners and other people we use in the gig economy who rely on the money we pay them. If there is not travel restriction from the guests country to our country why on earth should we take the loss? If guests choose to cancel on a strict cancel on a Strict cancellation policy they would receive 50% which means that they take some loss and so do we - thats fair - it’s what they agreed to when they made the reservation. Airbnb should look after their hosts as well as their guests. This new announcement will I imagine get extended monthly for all reservations that were made before March 14th as long as this virus continues, so if it goes on for a year we will lose all of our income for the next year - how is that fair?
Thats exactly it. Guests can now cancel for any reason based on the above and unless we as hosts make our views known Airbnb will keep extending this policy as long as it goes on, month by month, totally unfair on hosts
As far as the $$$$$ side of this catastrophe is concerned, the declaration of a global pandemic is the big game changer because it gets the insurance companies off the hook.
Using Australia as an example of how seriously our government is treating this issue, as of today, anybody arriving in Australia from any other country has to self-isolate for a period of 14 days.
There is nothing in my 74 year life and business experience that comes near this. I am a bit worried but very fascinated as to how this will manifest itself in our community. We have a lot of employees in our destination that have casual jobs in the tourism and hospitality industries and probably only have savings that last one month or less.
How is this going to play out?
Yes, that is the main reason.
The virus is unstoppable, and everyone will get it sooner or later.
But if we do not slow it down, 20% of the population above 65 will be whipped out, like what’s happening in Italy now.
Where only young people are treated anymore, anyone above 70 is left to die because there is no more room and equipment in the hospitals.
Firstly I do not agree that we are all going to get it. Nor do I agree that the over 65’s will be wiped out. If this is the case I may as well stop worrying and lie back to die. Many of my age are fitter than folk half their age.
Secondly, What happened to Travel Insurance?. Why are Airbnb not asking for travel insurance before just refunding OUR money. Before all this on-line booking lark, we could take our own bookings secured with a one third deposit non refundable and balance paid 6 weeks before. If guests wanted documentation for their travel insurance, we would gladly give it. I am going to be around ÂŁ12,000 down if this runs into the summer and my property expenses eat every ÂŁ of that up. Where am I going to get the money from?
Because pending when the booking was made, travel insurance won’t cover the pandemic. Do you have loss of income insurance?
It is my understanding that the declaration by the World Health Organisation that coronavirus is a global pandemic triggers a Force Majeure
Force majeure refers to a clause that is included in contracts to remove liability for natural and unavoidable catastrophes that interrupt the expected course of events and restrict participants from fulfilling obligations.
In my experience all travel insurance that I have had anything to do with has such a clause.
Travel insurance covers the pandemic up until 14 March. Any bookings made after that date are made at the traveller’s risk. I am fairly sure nobody is booking anything now. As I am in France, and renting out my own home, I am fairly sure there is no such cover. It was never suggested to me but I will go ask.
Maybe where you live- not here
Travel insurance policies specifically do NOT cover epidemics. Never have.
New 100% cancellation policy allows guest to cancel right up to the night before. This is grossly unfair. We encourage all hosts to send a message similar to the one shown here:
“Regarding the new COVID-19 airbnb policy that now allows guest to cancel and get 100% refund, we understand that is the right thing to do and we all have to pull together. However, airbnb falsely stated in their recent email to guests and host that they would strike the right balance between both host and guest making a sacrifice. This has clearly not happened. From what we can tell the new policy puts the sacrifice all on the host. Guests are allowed to cancel apparently right up to the night before check-in, and get a full 100% refund, thus leaving the host with zero chance of re-booking the vacated slot. This is grossly unfair. We strongly request that airbnb at least make the guest cancel a reasonable time before checkin, two weeks ideally, but certainly at least a week prior, in order to get the full refund. This actually does strike the right balance that airbnb currently claims it’s doing but obviously is not”. Respectfully…"
The policy posted yesterday says this.
However, I checked all of 3 my reservations that should qualify and none of them are “marked as such on the reservation details page” in any way I can tell. Have any hosts seen any indications on specific reservations?
I’ve got a guest that is saying she might have to cancel and wants some guidance before she pays the 2nd half of her payment due March 19. Normally, I would tell her to call Airbnb, but I’ve heard the wait times can be several hours.
You may know folks your age who are “fitter than folk half their age”, but Fact #1 is most folks your age are NOT fitter than folks half your age, and Fact #2 is CV19 will kill about ~3.6% of age group 60-69, 8% of age group 70-79, and 14.8% of age group 80-89. Those are facts, not opinions.
You can read the facts here: “www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019”
We owe it to everyone at risk of death to take this seriously and work together to reduce community spread as much as possible.
It’s simply about more than money.
