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Apologies for starting two new threads so close together, but this has really been bugging me.
Not a single one of my guests cancelling due to COVID-19 has mentioned having trip cancellation insurance. I have several credit cards that include this for free, and have used it several times. Does nobody else have these cards? It boggles my mind. Why are these people booking travel with no protection???
We have had a dozen threads already on this. The vast majorities of policies wouldn’t have covered this.
Now that you aren’t hosting maybe you’ll have some time to actually read forum posts.
Of course they do, us hosts…
I would have to dig deep and read what my Amex card offers, I doubt global pandemic would be covered but idk.
RR
So, this is one of the subtle things about Airbnb. They don’t offer it, or encourage hosts to offer it, or encourage guests to buy it independently. They tout their Guest Protection and their Extenuating Circumstances policies and guests have this warm fuzzy feeling that they’re covered for the things that matter to them.
BTW, @KKC and @RiverRock are right, the “protection” automatically provided by credit cards wouldn’t cover a pandemic (or a lot of other stuff).
Where are you all getting this from? I checked my card and here’s what it says:
“If you purchased your trip with your CIBC credit card which includes Trip Cancellation insurance prior to the Canadian Government official travel advisory being issued, then you’re eligible for Trip Cancellation coverage.”
Check the fine print. I would expect several pages of it.
Edit: I checked my card and it’s not covered, but the travel insurance doesn’t cover cancellation by the traveler at all.
I had travel insurance as well as partial credit card coverage as well as concert ticket insurance for the Queen concert for my 4-27 Feb trip. None of it was covered at that time. I wanted to cancel but would have lost thousands. Maybe if those kinds of things were covered a few thousand of us who already knew what was coming could have canceled our plans and spread the virus to a few thousands fewer people. But insurance is a business not a non-profit charity.
Basic principle of Insurance is that the Insured is obligated to mitigate their loss, in this case by cancelling your booking, as a full refund is available you would have no loss and nothing to claim for.
Right, but that’s only because Airbnb decided to give full refunds. If they didn’t, many people presumably would have had insurance coverage due to government travel advisories and restrictions. In our case as hosts (many of us at least) we’re able to host, but our guests couldn’t get to us.
It would not surprise me if the vast majority of AirBnB Guests do not have Travel Insurance, now why AirBnB do not offer it as an add on and a profit generator is beyond me.
People need to stop hosting. As long as people go on with things as normal the virus won’t stop. This is according to scientists, not wishers and dreamers. Chinese, Italian and Spanish style lockdowns work. That’s all we have until there is herd immunity or a vaccine. And even then, the virus may be changing too fast for us to be safe.
I buy travel insurance for most overseas trips and have done so this year for a Europe trip in Aug and Nov (river cruise and a Globus tour). I bought travel insurance on 1/28. I don’t rely on coverage with my credit card . I think it’s not as extensive. I am not covered for Covid since they say insurance is for unseen events and this was a “known” event as of 1/21 (1st case in U.S.). I did not buy Cancel for Any Reason. With that I would have been covered (though only for 50-70% of what I’d paid).
Travel insurance is BS. I had two types for a very expensive trip to Africa and COVID happened. Neither policy will pay anything; I’m just livid and mad. One outright said it up front, the CHASE Sapphire card is touted by consumer reporters as a great one, but even those a$$es denied any responsibility. Their wording was “a disinclination to travel due to a pandemic/epidemic” I wasn’t disinclined, I was already there! But still they say they have no responsibility. UGH. Others have mentioned the “for any reason” but read that fine print closely – mine required you to cancel 14 days AHEAD of the trip…it’s no good if you were already on the trip. I hope there are some class action lawsuits after all this is said and done – they are as bad as the banks were in the recession. End of rant.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I know it’s painful but it’s good for us to have as much information as possible for the future.
You’re welcome. After my experience, I’m going to be a little less quick to condemn someone for not having travel insurance. They have so many loopholes and the “house always wins.” I can only imagine how many more ways they’ll maneuver after this environment — it is as worthless as Airbnb’s insurance.
Yes, that seems to be how “big business” has worked for about 300 years. We get the crumbs.
Doesn’t sound like crumbs, sounds like a 1st world problem to me 
True, it is a first world problem but then aren’t all the issues on this forum then? I find your reply gratuitous and insensitive.
Yeah, business is about making money but I seen some enlightened brands doing more than I expected. The airlines know people are getting screwed and so their policies, in general, seem to understand if they don’t make it easier to travel people won’t. Several of the hotels and lodges on my trip have honored the rates for 2021 to rebook, which is better than nothing at all. I could have lost all the money put down, which is more than the amounts I see routinely mentioned here so it would have hurt, a lot. I’m still sorting through what is feasible and I remain hopeful.
Then, I believe you’ve misunderstood it 