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I discovered I had an unused USD100 coupon for being a Superhost expiring March 31 so I booked a 5 night stay in Kiev with a Ukrainian NON SUPERHOST. This is a win-win!
Why non-Superhost? Logic is if they are not superhosts, they’ve just recently started and don’t have enough reviews. Likely they have not yet gone into the “profitable business” in Airbnb yet. These folks likely appreciate and need donations much more than other “professional hosts”.
I was looking last night to do this and it is a good idea to look at the reviews that the host has . I found one with 1400 personal and 400 at her listing, which might show that she has multiple corporate listings, or she travels a lot herself.
Finding a new listing with no reviews , unfortunately might be a scammer, but if chosen, hopefully a scammer that needs help.
I noticed many host calendars that are full.
Booking Ukraine is a real way to help people on the ground there!! 
Well, no. I’ve been a Superhost for many years. And made good money from day one too. 
Using the coupons is a great idea though.
Yes we’ve been discussing this for a couple of days and several of us have booked places. It was very gratifying to get the messages back from the Ukrainian hosts.
People can also book experiences. On twitter I read that some people are buy digital downloads on etsy to the same ends. The only caveat is to make sure you’ve got an actual Ukrainian on the other end of the transaction.
Here are some of the prior threads
(some time ago) I bought a one in a million Soviet era Ukraine bathroom shelf for Gypsy the Trailer, on etsy, I kept the stamps!
Apparently Etsy punishes sellers if they don’t ship things? I’ve purchased on etsy but not sold on there so don’t know how it works. I think you could tell them not to ship things but there might be some confusion. I canceled one of my Airbnb bookings like you suggested thinking they could rebook it. I got a confused message at 1 am. So then I had to write back to explain some more and then I couldn’t fall back to sleep. So I won’t be doing that again.
The thing with etsy or experiences is that many folks don’t have property to rent out. Some on twitter were arguing that booking airbnbs is sending money to those with resources. That may be why some of the Ukrainians are replying that they will use the money to help others.
After making my Lviv bookings the other day, I now see a number of new listings with high rates and no reviews – $100 to $200 per night in some cases. Scammers, was my initial thought. My second thought, who am I to judge Ukrainians attempting gather some financial resources?
But I’m not going to book anymore support stays, as it is impossible to tell if these are real Ukrainians listing real properties. I don’t assume Airbnb host verification processes are very robust.
I suspect so, and as you stated, no guarantee they are either Ukrainians, or even in the Ukraine. They may very well be listings created in a basement somewhere in Russia, on the basis that any relief diverted from Ukrainians helps the cause.
JF
Has anyone seen information about doing support bookings in Poland, Hungary, etc. where the refugees are landing and people are taking them in?
I haven’t but I did think of that. Problem is I see even more potential for scamming than in Ukraine. This is where relying on charities that have the networks established makes more sense, including airbnb.org.
Hmmm, this will be slow. Airbnb says it is “currently working on establishing partnerships” that will refer Ukrainian refugees to .org bookings. And that those booking “must meet eligibility requirements and be approved.”
The company is currently directing refugees to the UN Refugee Agency.
Their press release on housing 100,000 Ukrainian refugees was, not unexpectedly, prospective.
I agree. I think the time to do that has passed—too many scammers. So sad when we know the bad guys will jump on something like this & ruin it.
Well, I will let the forum know how this works out – I’ve requested to “book” with a Polish host near the border who has an airbnb.org designation on her profile, to provide financial support to whatever housing support she is providing.
Of course, no way to verify the funds actually go for that purpose, but I am OK with that.
On of the places I “booked” had only one night open and it was $15. She has two rooms in a home outside of Kyiv and had reviews going back before the war. I’d bet anything, and a real $15) she’s a real Ukrainian. But that was the first day it was posted about here and now the scammers will be on it. I’m more worried about someone in a US basement than a Russian basement though.
We’ve gotten $100 Airbnb coupons several times. How would I know if we have an active one now? I haven’t paid any attention to them since the pandemic started.
You don’t get a voucher until the old one runs out. In other words, they expire a year from when they are awarded. So you will never have more than one valid one at any given time. Those old vouchers you have are useless.
Except last year some people had two because airbnb extended the expiration date. One of my repeat guests used two at my place in November and December.
I don’t think you would have any active ones now, they would be expired by now. But to double check go to your account and check for coupons:
Thanks. You’re right. Nothing current.
Reporting back on my Polish host support booking:
“Thank your help. I already invite a refuges family .”
This was a host near the border I found who had an airbnb org designation on their profile, whom I thought would be more likely to appreciate a contribution to hosting refugees. I didn’t want to make annoying assumptions about hosts who weren’t interested.
It was tedious to find as you have to pull up the list then look at the host profile, and the only such host I found after looking at many listings.
