Superhost status denied due to Covid

We have had Superhost status forever. Airbnb has always treated us fairly, and it was heartening to have Airbnb let us continue the Superhost rating through the pandemic.
CRUCIAL DETAIL: Our Airbnb is the 2nd bedroom of our home. Obviously, we come into close contact with guests, often several times a day.
We opened up to hosting after Covid as soon as we felt safe. March 1, 2022. Immediately got many bookings for March and April, our high season.

Airbnb revoked our Superhost status because we had not hosted 100 nights in the past year. In order to that we would have had to have people in our home during the pandemic. This makes my head explode. The obvious favoritism to those who have units separate from their homes and the punishing of those of who live with our guests is inexcusable.

Even worse, I escalated my complaint to “the highest level possible” and was told, that though they value me very much for hosting since 2010, and for working on the company’s behalf politically, we don’t have any chance of earning Superhost status until those 100 nights have been booked.

Why isn’t this a discriminatory practice? Some hosts can continue to earn nights toward Superhost, others cannot, all because of the pandemic and our desire to keep ourselves healthy and safe.

There must be others outraged by this. How about a class-action lawsuit on behalf of in-home hosts?

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Didn’t you receive this e-mail in December?

Once you realize and accept that Superhost has little to do with being a great host, you won’t be so upset by this that you would consider wasting a minute of your time on a class action lawsuit (which, BTW,is against theTOS you agreed to by signing up to host)

There are thousands of hosts in your position, me among them. Do I think it’s fair? Of course not. But Superhost is simply a behavior modification tactic to keep hosts stressed out, running around trying to please demanding guests, fretting over reviews, starting out hosting with the goal of becoming a Superhost as quickly as possible.

That they award Superhost after only the first quarter to new hosts who meet the criteria, that a long time Superhost can lose that status after a 1* revenge review that Airbnb refuses to remove, that Superhosts can get their listings suspended for weeks simply on the basis of one report by a newbie scammer guest of some bogus “issue”, makes it obvious that Superhost isn’t a reward for great hosting.

Bottom line- we didn’t put any money in Airbnb’s coffers for the past couple years. That is what they care about, not being responsible for the health of hosts or guests.

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I am borderline on keeping my superhost status for the July evaluation. I may not book enough stays between now & then to hit the requirements.

I knew it when I received the email last year about Airbnb reinstating it’s pre-Covid superhost status.

That announcement was discussed in detail in this forum.

I changed the type & frequency of my rentals due to Covid.

If I don’t book enough so be it.

I will be ok and you will too. We will regain it next year.

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I think the announcement went out both August & December 2021. Plus it was discussed in this forum extensively & in Airbnb Facebook groups

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Yes, we were all informed that the suspended criteria would be reinstated for the April 1st assessment, so I’m not sure why it comes as a shock to anyone.

In my case, I don’t see getting it back until at least the April 1st 2023 assessment, as I have just opened back up to bookings, and have one at this point for the end of April, early May. Then if past years are anything to judge by, May through Oct.is dead season for me- it’s too hot and humid here. Bookings will roll in for Nov. Dec, but as I tend to get average week-10 day bookings, likely won’t have 10 by January.

Even if this were permitted by the Terms of Service, it would be a waste of time.

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Because…

Even if it was found to be discriminatory, it is not discriminating against a protected class.

And there is the further issue of hosts being business owners rather than employees and thus not being protected under the Fair Employment Act.

So there is no there there.

And there’s no there there with Superhost either for that matter.

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I’m a home share host and have kept my SH throughout Covid and for the recent assessment as we’ve been able to open up to hosting again since 2021.

I operated by changing how I host to minimise interactions between host and guest including providing them with separate times for kitchen and bathroom use as well as their own kitchen crockery, cooking equipment etc

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I just lost mine, too.

I knew it was coming, and there were choices that I could have made differently that would have preserved my status. But those choices didn’t work for the way I run my STR.

My analysis is that my business needs don’t align perfectly with Airbnb’s business needs, and if that means I’m not a superhost it’s ok with me. My reviews and my income tell me that I’m doing just fine. I expect I’ll get my badge again in June, but if I don’t, it’s not the end of the world.

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In-home host here. I am in FL and opened up last year. I also come in contact with my guests and some mask, some don’t but we all social distance.

No to the class action lawsuit, it’s against the TOS.

I’m not outraged as I know that it’s not just 100 nights, it’s 10 completed stays. And SH isn’t that big of a deal, it is a big club ABB uses to keep hosts panicking and doing anything to get that.

10 completed stays between Apr 1, 2021 and Mar 31, 2022

- or -

100 nights over at least 3 completed stays

A lot of us lost our Superhost status because we closed during the worst of the pandemic.

I couldn’t care an ounce. Health and survival are far more important.

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