Was checking my listing and saw this announcement. Need to go through it in detail but it sounds like a step in the right direction!
https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hosting-homes/a/travel-insurance-for-airbnb-guests-is-coming-soon-529
Youâd have to be truly stupid to take out this insurance a) it only covers the Airbnb part of any trip b) itâs based on a % of your accommodation costs.
Any right minded person would just take our standard travel insurance.
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AirBnB set up their own insurance company for the United States. Thatâs probably why this took so long.
But Iâll bet the CS reps will still pressure hosts to refund so the insurance company doesnât have to pay out!
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Some information here: https://www.aardy.com/blog/airbnb-travel-insurance-review/
Note, AARDY (a travel insurance marketplace) says of AARB travel insurance: âPlus, you can cover more than just your Airbnb rental. Add your flights, cruises, and tour expenses on the same plan if they are prepaid and non-refundable.â
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Only at an extra cost !!!
Yes, it is an a la carte selection.
When I travel within my own country I never buy travel insurance.
So if the price is right I can see this being useful, as I usually stay away from Airbnb due to the stricter cancellation terms.
If that makes me âtruly stupidâ then so be it 
Is it any surprise that Airbnb would hype something that is poorly thought out and useless? And itâll probably be as hard to claim on as Air Cover.
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Iâll reserve judgement until I get the chance to use it myself.
I think most guests wonât buy this insurance. The refund scams in Airbnb will continue. I think Airbnb must have figured out that the refund scams are not a problem they want to solve. Hosts are kind of captive to the platform.
Yep⌠certainly sounds like it 
My worldwide travel insurance covers domestic use . Why would I choose to take out a limited travel insurance policy based on a % of accommodation booked .
Or if you donât need international- just get local travel insurance.
It sounds like Airbnbâs insurance serves Airbnb as well as guests and â yes â Hosts too.
If the insurance for the Airbnb cancellations is modest, it gives Hosts further âammunitionâ â not that we really need it â to rebuff giving something for some kind of circumstance since they would likely have been offered Airbnb cancellation insurance as part of the reservation process.
PLUS, donât you think that Airbnb, instead of pressuring hosts to offer a refund that they didnât agree to, will instead remind the guest that the guest could have bought travel insurance that would have made them whole from the cancellation? After all, Airbnb gets the insurance premium and fewer customer service requests on the topic, or if they do get a guest request convert it into an opportunity to remind the guest to buy insurance rather than Airbnb pressuring the Host.
We get a number of guests who drive here. So their major potential cost for some kind of circumstance necessitating a cancellation, would be the Airbnb cancellation charge. So I could see those folks either buying it (depending on cost) or taking responsibility. Well, maybe Iâm going a bridge too far to far on the latter (depends on the guest).
I think this could be a win-win-win all the way around.
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I donât think that is how this will work. I suspect AirBnB will simply offer the insurance with every booking (like when you buy a plane ticket), and the hosts will push on the guests to buy it.
Most guests will turn it down.
If the guest then has to cancel without qualifying for a refund, theyâll still ask (demand, beg, whine, wheedle, browbeat) the host for a refund, and it will be the host that says âI encouraged you to buy insuranceâ. Then the guest will call and complain to the CS rep, and the CS rep will still call the host asking them to refund.
The CS rep telling the guest âyou should have bought insuranceâ will just piss the guest off. Not what ABB wants to do.
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No.
2020202020202020
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I think the only entity that will win with this insurance is Airbnb in this case⌠offer insurance, pocket the premiums but push the liability on the host. If the guest wants to make a claim, make it difficult with multi-hour long hold times, and excruciating paperwork, and figure out a way to deny a claim (similar to the $1m host guarantee or whatever itâs called).
Itâs too bad we canât be optimistic about new Airbnb features, after all, it might work well. Itâs just a shame that Airbnb so often comes up with things that sound good on the surface but tend to be the opposite in practice, that it invites pessimism rather than hope.
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I donât think itâs being pessimistic. I feel Iâm realistic based on my experience with Airbnb where they have enabled guests to steal payouts from me.
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
I agree that itâs realistic considering how Airbnb operates. What I meant was more that wouldnât be nice if when the company announced a new feature, that we could legitmately look forward to it, as it would make things work better, rather than being cynical based on past experience.
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Remembering the airbnb offer of âcleaning productsâ at 2-3x the cost of buying locallyâŚ
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Or the pet fee option hosts had been asking for for years. Leave it to Airbnb to set up the new pet fee option as a one time, not nightly fee, not dependent on whether someone brings 1 dog or 5, and accompany it with the wording âIf youâre lucky enough to be travelling with more than 2 pets, make sure to let your host knowâ.
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