Payout for guest who claims covid but didn't go through Airbnb to claim EC

Hello All,

I have an interesting situation today. One guest was supposed to check in a couple of days. The island requires covid test results to board the flights. She says she tested positive.

I sent her a message that I was really sorry to hear about her covid and I hope her health is good. I also politely requested her to cancel so I can get another booking. She canceled and didn’t claim EC. So the cancellation email I got from Airbnb says I will get paid.

Personally, I don’t feel the need to point out the EC policy to her. It’s not my fault that she got covid.

Is there a likelihood that she can go to Air later and claim EC, and I will have to give back the payout?

Update: Guest eventually contacted Airbnb, claimed EC and got the refund.

Oh dear @house_plants you seem to be confused as to how transmission of Covid works. And sound rather judgemental about the poor guest.

Even if you are triple vaccinated it doesn’t stop you from being infected with Covid. Being vaccinated just means you are less likely to pass on the virus and less likely to become seriously ill from having it.

And if you have children at school who will be exposed to the virus it’s almost impossible to socially distance yourself unless you have no physical contact with them.

The guest may yet realise they’re eligible for a refund and Airbnb will reverse your payment.

14 Likes

#ScienceFacts coming your way: You do realize that the Omicron variant can break through the vaccine, right? You do understand that vaccines for things like the flu or Covid don’t guarantee you won’t get it. The Covid vaccine and booster only help your immune system fight the virus and hopefully you’ll only get a more mild case, should you be unfortunate enough to get it.

Possibly. And if one is a decent human being, one would mention the EC to the person who is now ill - mildly or not.

Stop being so judgmental. Hosting doesn’t seem to be something you like to do.

7 Likes

Although unlikely, the guest may have purchased travel insurance.

It’s not clear if the guest even asked for any kind of refund, but you should always remember to direct all queries on cancellation or EC to Airbnb.

2 Likes

Got it. I am triple vaccinated with a child in school. We have been able to avoid covid by being careful. Other people I know who are not so careful have had covid. So my assumption was the guest belongs to the same category of people who I have seen get covid.

Sadly, I might end up being the travel insurance provider here.

that’s bad news. I need to research other platforms like VRBO to check if they force the host to be a travel insurance provider.

1 Like

Being careful certainly helps. But there are plenty of people who are fully vaxed and swear they have been masking and distancing and still got it, and can’t figure out how.

I tend to think they haven’t been as careful as they thought they were being, having let their guard down at some point, but that’s not necessarily the case- unless I followed someone around all day for a week and could point out exactly where and how they let their guard down, it would be presumptuous of me to claim they did.

And while wearing masks is important, different types are more protective than others and none have been proven to 100% block virus particles.

2 Likes

I see what both of you are saying. People can get covid even though they have been careful. No one is perfect.

My business depends on guests who are not careful. They are the ones willing to take a flight (most of my guests require a flight to get there, a few have arrived on their own boats).

So no need to judge people who get covid. Their willingness to travel means some of them will get covid. If they were as careful as I, my Airbnb gig would be shut down. So I need to be thankful for people who are willing to take the risk of travel during covid.

1 Like

A fully vaccinated friend of mine died of Covid several weeks ago. Her school-aged child was still too young to be vaccinated until he caught Covid at school. The child had very mild symptoms. His mother caught it from him, and it killed her. She was 40 and healthy.

And where did it start? With the child’s teacher at school who knew that she tested positive and who lied and said she was vaccinated. She wasn’t.

Being careful and vaccinated simply isn’t enough.

8 Likes

I suspect that’s how a lot of careful and vaccinated people get infected- from someone in their own household. Even between spouses, who both say or think they have been very careful when they go out, I’ll bet if they had a video following their spouse around all day when they were out or at work, they would see them doing something risky.

That teacher who lied about being vaccinated should be charged. Reckless endangerment or something. I’m sure her behavior led to far more infections than just your friend’s child and subsequently her.

2 Likes

Yes, they can claw back a payment months from now.

RR

Yes, vaxxed and boosted and masked all the time here, I caught it and gave it to my family.

I disagree, it is not on you to tell the guest they can be refunded. It does not make you a decent person or indecent if you keep quiet.

RR

4 Likes

I agree that she should be charged. A whole lot of people should be, starting with Trump.

6 Likes

. I’m glad you have been fortunate as to have avoided Covid.

That doesn’t give you the right to look down on those who haven’t been as fortunate including our frontline health and care staff who put their lives at risk to care for us and key workers who put themselves at risk to drive our buses, teach at our schools, empty our rubbish and work in our shops.

7 Likes

Absolutely. If she tested positive when trying to board a flight, she obviously didn’t know she had Covid. She may not have symptoms but if she does they’ve probably just started and she won’t feel well. But I’d expect that she will claim that refund once she’s feeling better. Don’t count on keeping that money.

2 Likes

As the others have said, yes, she can. It has happened to hosts I know. They got the payment, then it was taken from a future payout when the guest googled what to do.
All your guest has to do is the same, and she doesn’t have to do it right away. It’s maybe two weeks? I haven’t heard what the cutoff is for them, but I know one got a refund two weeks out. Tentatively breathe your sigh of relief at that point.

1 Like

There’s a page on Airbnb’s site that states a guest must have a positive test at the time of cancellation according to their covid EC policy. However, they appear to be violating their own rules on this as they have with one of our cancellation reservations. The guest claimed covid 2 weeks later (even after their trip would’ve been!) and air gave them a full refund that comes out of one of our future payouts. I’m currently trying to get this reversed but it’s an uphill battle.

They did the same thing to us in Dec 2020 when they refunded a guest due to a travel advisory - that was clearly stated in their rules that was NOT grounds for a full refund - and they refunded the guest costing us a couple thousand again.

Airbnb not following their own policies and making the host act as travel insurance appears to be a chronic problem.

2 Likes

What is EC? And why turn this post into a debate about Covid transmission?

EC = Extenuating Circumstances

1 Like

Because it’s related to Airbnb’s extenuating circumstances refund policy. Why would you comment on a thread that you seemingly didn’t read?

5 Likes

Are you upset because you’re an anti-vaxxer?:joy:

No, I’m moderating and you seem to be trolling.

7 Likes