I had a guest cancel today who is supposed to come this weekend because of Corona virus. She doesn’t have it but is afraid to travel from Colorado to Wine Country. She said Airbnb will back her up and I will have to refund the stay which is 3000. I called Airbnb and they said a case manager will decide. Last year I had 5 Airbnb cancellations due to the wildfires and Airbnb had me refund all of it instead of having groups change dates to a later time. Most of these cancellations were way after the fires were put out. Guests told me they didn’t want to be depressed to see any burnt vineyards. I sent pictures of the beautiful views and clear skies and said everyone is open for business and needs it more than anything. We hardly made it thru this with all the refunds and now I have to deal with people who can cancel if they feel like it. I have a strict cancellation policy ( because my house is for large groups and most likely won’t re-book this late )and I pay Airbnb extra for it but I don’t feel protected As a host from those who are paranoid and want to cancel for no good reason. How do I financially make it through the next few months if Airbnb won’t back up the hosts and we are expected to refund?
You aren’t on your own! Between cancellations and nil bookings it is going to be a very rough year.
I am sorry to hear this @Danielle_Alexander have you checked their EC policy for the virus. Doesn’t sound like she meets their policy for cancelling penalty free. Give them a call.
We maybe experiencing some cancellations but i feel most sorry for hosts in China particularly in the Wuhan province who have had all their bookings cancelled.
They are the ones that face real devastation in terms of losing their livelihoods.
Sorry to hear of your problems @Danielle_Alexander.
You asked “How do I financially make it…if Airbnb won’t back me up…”
All I can suggest is the proverb of not putting all your eggs in one basket. Get on board some of the other STR platforms. Are you already registered and set up with the state of California and your county as a “conventional” B&B? Are you advertising in Wine Country PR pieces (would they do any good?). Lots of other avenues, I’m sure.
You have my sympathy. Here in Seattle, AirBnB is allowing EC cancelations, which I understand since we are the epicenter of the outbreak in the US. We are looking at a very slow travel season. However, it sounds like any guest can get a refund anywhere now if they cite fear of the virus as their reason for cancellation. This seems to contradict AirBnB’s own policies.
Sorry but it’s tough love time from me. We all have cancellations from time to time and we all have to deal with them. It’s simply a part of our business that we have to accept and preferably make plans for ahead of time.
If your cancellation policy dictates that your guest shouldn’t have a refund, and if a guest is cancelling without EC, then why are you refunding? You’re not expected to refund if it’s against your policy and there are no ECs, it’s your choice.
I also feel for you and for everyone affected directly and indirectly by this event. I can hear my current guest coughing in the Airbnb room and I’m thinking I might need to block days between guests to make sure I have time to wipe down everything, not just the usual door knobs, light switches and remote controls. However, as I said on another CV thread, I’m not worried about the people who cancel who shouldn’t, I’m worried about the people who don’t cancel who should. And Airbnb’s EC policy is a well-known, if infuriating, variable.
I expect it to be a slow travel season and that will impact my dog boarding business as well as my Airbnb. However, no one owes me a living. Airbnb is risky as has been discussed here many times. Hopefully this tough time will give you an opportunity to diversify your income stream or make needed repairs. Maybe you will get some folks who decide a “staycation” with their families in a nice home is better than flying to Fiji this year.
Best of luck.
I’m making a list of things I should (a) do to disinfect my AirBnB apt, and (b) write a note to guests describing what I’m (now) doing. Maybe you or someone has already made such a list and can share? Has AirBnB itself published a recommended disinfection checklist?
It has not, but any article on how to disinfect your house after an illness should be sufficient in giving cleaning guidelines. We should be cleaning so thoroughly anyways. I know I need to be better about wiping off the light switches and remotes after each guest.
I haven’t made a list but disinfecting hard surfaces that people might touch with their hands should be in the list. I’m going to be making up some homemade spray (based on internet recipies) after I use up all my Lysol spray and anti bacterial wipes. Things people might forget include the hand held shower, any amenties bottles the guest may have touched, the blow dryer, chairs that folks have to pull out from under a desk or table, shutters, and pulls for drapes or blinds, literally everything a guest has touched with their hands. If a guest is sneezing or coughing I’d be even more fastidious with wiping and or spraying.
I’m not an expert, but I’ll be leaving the surfaces wet and then going back and polishing off the haze after it’s dried. It’s my understanding that it takes exposure over time to weaken the virus membrane for it to be killed. Someone will correct me if I’m mistaken.
Thanks for this. I’ve just changed check in to 4pm from 3 pm to allow an extra hour for cleaning and have mentioned that in my listing. “Check in 4 pm, check out 10 am to allow for extra cleaning/disinfecting during the current coronavirus issue.”
No you should be following advice from a recognised health authority not Airbnb @phirschi Like the advice below
How is the new coronavirus spread and how can I protect myself?
Hand hygiene is the first and most important line of defence.
Like cold and flu bugs, the new virus is spread via droplets when a person coughs or sneezes. The droplets land on surfaces and are picked up on the hands of others and spread further. People catch the virus when they touch their infected hands to their mouth, nose or eyes.
It follows that the single most important thing you can do to protect yourself is to keep your hands clean by washing them frequently with soap and water or a hand sanitising gel.
Also try to avoid touching your mouth, nose or eyes with unwashed hands – something we all do unconsciously on average about [15 times an hour]
Other tips include:
- Carry a hand sanitiser with you to make frequent cleaning of hands easy
- Always wash your hands before you eat
- Be especially careful about touching things and then touching your face in busy airports and other public transport systems
- Carry disposable tissues with you, cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze and dispose of the tissue carefully (catch it, bin it, kill it)
- Do not share snacks from packets or bowls that others are dipping their fingers into
- Avoid shaking hands or cheek kissing if you suspect viruses are circulating
- Regularly clean not only your hands but also commonly used surfaces and devices you touch or handle
The NHS is advising doctors that the virus is also likely to be contained in other bodily secretions including blood, faeces and urine.
How can I protect my family, especially children?
Children are a major vector for the spread of droplet-based viruses because they interact physically so much with each other and are not the best at keeping themselves clean.
However, you can greatly lower the risk that children pose of spreading or catching viruses by:
- Explaining to them how germs spread and the importance of good hand and face hygiene
- Keeping household surfaces clean, especially kitchens, bathrooms and door handles
- Using clean cloths to wipe surfaces so you don’t transfer germs from one surface to another
- Giving everyone their own towel and making sure they know not to share toothbrushes etc
- Keep your home dry and airy (bugs thrive in musty environments)
What about face masks – do they work?
Paper face masks are not generally recommended by the NHS for ordinary citizens, and with good reason.
They are ill-fitting and what protection they might initially provide soon expires. Worse, they quickly become moist inside, providing the perfect environment for germs to thrive in. They also become a hazard for others if carelessly discarded.
However, an exception to this would be if you were displaying symptoms such as coughing or sneezing – then a mask may help prevent you spreading the virus to others in busy locations.
In hospitals, healthcare workers treating patients with the virus will wear masks, but these are specialist devices and there are strict protocols that must be followed to ensure they remain safe and effective.
Can the new coronavirus be treated?
There is no simple cure for the new coronavirus, just as there is no cure for the common cold.
In the vast majority of cases, the disease is only mild. Symptoms such as fever and general discomfort can be treated with aspirin and ibuprofen, or packaged cold and flu remedies containing the same.
It is in more severe cases, where pneumonia develops, that the danger lies. Viral pneumonia cannot be treated with antibiotics and, for the moment at least, there are no antivirals specific to this particular virus.
Instead doctors focus on supporting patients’ lung function as best they can.They may be given oxygen or placed on a breathing machine (ventilator) in the most severe cases.
Other symptoms such as fever and discomfort will be treated using drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen. Secondary infections may be treated with antibiotics.
Are some groups of people more at risk than others?
Data from China suggests that people of all ages are at risk of contracting the virus.
However, as with most respiratory illnesses, it is likely to be the young and old who are most at risk once infected. People with a reduced chance of surviving pneumonia include:
- Those over age 65
- Children under the age of two
- People with underlying health conditions or a weakened immune system
Of the first 425 confirmed deaths across mainland China, 80 per cent were in people over the age of 60, and 75 per cent had some form of underlying disease. Two thirds of the confirmed deaths were male.
Is there a vaccine for coronavirus?
There is currently no vaccine, but scientists around the world are racing to produce one thanks to China’s prompt sharing of the virus’s genetic code.
However, any potential vaccine will not be available for up to a year and would be most likely to be given to health workers most at risk of contracting the virus first.
For now, it is a case of containment and increasing hospital capacity to treat patients. China has put up several new 1,000-bed hospitals in the last month alone.
Capacity to treat patients who require both ventilation and isolation will also be a major challenge for the NHS if the virus takes hold in the UK – but that has not happened yet.
What advice has the UK government issued?
The UK Chief Medical Officers have raised the risk to the public from low to moderate. But the risk to individuals remains low.
In addition to the advice on symptoms above, the British government is advising against “all but essential” travel to China and urging those already there to leave if they can.
If you are a British national in China and require assistance, please contact:
- 24/7 number: +86 (0) 10 8529 6600
- The FCO: (+44) (0)207 008 1500
Workers at Incheon International Airport, in South Korea, spray antiseptic solution amid rising concerns over the spread of coronavirus CREDIT: Suh Myung-geon/Yonhap
What is happening at UK airports?
Public Health England has announced “enhanced monitoring of direct flights” from China, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Macau. It also has a small rota of doctors on hand at Heathrow to provide information and deal with possible cases.
In other major hub airports around the world, authorities have gone further and are checking passengers’ temperatures on arrival and distributing hand sanitisers to combat the spread of the virus.
Research suggests that hand cleansing at Heathrow and nine other global air hubs could slash the spread of the virus by up to 40 per cent.
Where is the best place to sit on a plane?
The best place to sit is in a window seat in the middle of the cabin, research suggests. This is is because it reduces your risk of being infected by droplets shed by people walking up and down the the aisles (as shown below):
What is the difference between a coronavirus and a flu virus?
Coronaviruses and flu viruses might cause similar symptoms but genetically they are very different.
“Flu viruses incubate very rapidly – you tend to get symptoms two to three days after being infected, but coronaviruses take much longer,” says Professor Neil Ferguson, a disease outbreak scientist at Imperial College London.
“[With the] flu virus you become immune, but there are lots of different viruses circulating. Coronaviruses don’t evolve in the same way as flu, with lots of different strains, but equally our body doesn’t generate very good immunity."
What risks are presented if the coronavirus mutates?
Chinese officials have warned that the virus is already starting to mutate, which means there’s a chance it could start to infect many more people.
“The worry is that if you have a new virus that is exploring a human host, it’s possible that they might mutate and spread more easily in humans,” Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham, told The Telegraph.
The genetic sequence of the virus shows a slow mutation rate, Prof Ferguson adds. “Could it mutate to become more lethal and transmissible? That’s speculation.”
It wasn’t easy but I finally found EPA’s Registered Antimicrobial
Products Effective Against Norovirus:
That’s against Norovirus not the Coronavirus @phirschi
You don’t need special products for Coronavirus to look after your home ; just ones that are mentioned in the advice, I researched for you and posted above.
This is from our National Health Service.
Folks in the Seattle AirBnB Facebook group are now saying AirBnB is not forcing EC because we are not yet at “level 1” infection. Must depend on what case manager you get.
I’m working on a notecard for guests, which I will leave beside a small bottle of hand sanitizer. Two short sets of bullet points, 1) how this Airbnb and linens are cleaned – hydrogen peroxide cleaner on surfaces, including door/drawer/faucet handles, light switches, etc. per KKC’s note; hot water and bleach for whites, Lysol laundry sanitizer for colors (bedspreads) and 2) protecting yourself by washing hands, using hand sanitizer, not touching your face, and distancing from obviously ill people.
My cleaning process hasn’t changed, I’ve just not provided guests that info in the past.
I’m also considering a 2-day rather than 1-day preparation period so I can put some time distance between guests leaving and me being in there cleaning. Got in an extra supply of disposable gloves and hydrogen peroxide (not the fancy EPA rated hospital cleaner that is gouge-ingly priced by pandemic profiteers, if you can even find it, just good ol’ hydrogen peroxide).
I’ve got a booking for a college graduation in May, and I think there’s a 50% chance that large gatherings will be cancelled by that time. I also expect Airbnb to accommodate guests with refunds so they are inclined to “come back” after this runs its course, regardless of what their policy says.
I doubt that diversifying through other platforms or ads put up in other ways will be a solution to Airbnb coronavirus cancellations. People are just going to stop travelling and cancel their travel plans, no matter how or on what platform they booked, especially if their travel involves flying. Which is really the most intelligent thing to do when we are dealing with a highly contagious pandemic virus that a few thousand people have now died from in a very short time period.
I do feel sorry for those who rely on hosting for a substantial part of their income, but better poor than dead, no?
I understand that the coronavirus is now an issue for us hosts to deal with even though there’s no cases near me and my country location is not a threat whatsoever, but my argument with Airbnb is that the guest had a pre-existing condition that she knew about before she booked my home. She is trying to get a doctors note for this pre existing condition as a way to get a refund because she failed to buy trip insurance which to me isn’t fair. If you have a pre-existing condition you should always buy trip insurance so now I’m expected to be out $3000 because she didn’t purchase trip insurance. I talked to the case manager from Airbnb today and she was not sympathetic to me whatsoever in fact she said as soon as they get the documentation from the guest that they will most likely rule in her favor even though the condition was pre-existing. So my question here is why do i pay for a strict cancellation policy and why do i Commit my house to this person (if somebody else came along and offered me more money Or longer stay I couldn’t take it because I committed to this person) but her commitment to me can just go away? I’m not a hotel I don’t have deep pockets this isn’t just a bedroom in my house this is a lodge - 4000 square-foot six bedroom lodge with pool on 54 acres in wine country it is extremely expensive to manage, to staff and to pay the monthly payments on. I depend on each rental I have so this will affect me and my family directly. I am extremely frustrated that I’m in this position and wish there was some sort of owners alliance that could work together to be a united front in dealing with issues like this so we all don’t have to financially get hit for a guest’s negligence.
Devil’s advocate here.
There are also pre-existing conditions that we deal with when doing Airbnb. These are known (or easily knowable if one is a regular reader on this forum) and therefore it’s incumbent on you to take the appropriate steps to protect yourself. STR is a risky business. It isn’t the guest’s responsibility to provide your income. If Airbnb policies aren’t a good fit for you then you need to diversify.
Your property sounds like a good fit for having your own website and marketing it yourself. Search the forum for ideas on doing this kind of marketing. There is a traditional B and B a few hours from me that has a paragraph on their webpage about their cancellation policy and that it’s up to guests to buy trip insurance.
I think everyone here is sympathetic to your dilemma but Airbnb is unlikely to change their long held, and apparently successful for them, policies.
We get a few posts about this but it seems that no one wants to put in the work to create such a group. It seems that the needs of hosts vary (for example, I’m in a very different situation from hosts who depend on vacationers therefore the EC policy would never cause me a big financial hit). Many have suggested that Airbnb needs to offer trip insurance like airlines do. I still imagine they would screw over hosts even if they offered it.
Maybe some insurance company should start offering booking insurance that hosts can buy.
I list with booking.com and we received message from them that all reservations if requested will be cancelled with full refunds because of the virus. It’s not just Airbnb . I feel lack of bookings because of it. though spring breakers are everywhere .