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In a time of an unprecedented international banking firewall being constructed between the west and Russia pretty well everybody in the world is blinkered and lacks certainty and knowledge of what happens next. We cannot count on anything with certainty, because the rules are being re-written daily… and knowing how banking worked yesterday is no longer the same as knowing how they worked tomorrow…
I have been in touch with my Russian guest (booked for July), and one of his concerns is that – even if he could get out of the country (not practical to drive from where he’s located) he has strong doubts whether his credit card will work – to pay for new flights to North America and for food & other expenses while travelling.
I think keeping the reservation helps him stay optimistic in the face of tremendous pressure to be discouraged. Besides – if we keep the reservation open I can screen-grab BBC stories and news photos and use Airbnb as a back-channel to get those to him, which I do a couple of times a day.
@Sparky_O_Reilly I was thinking exactly the same thing. July is still a long ways off- thinking “I’m going to Canada in July” could definitely be a spirit-lifter.
And all this has happened so fast, who knows what the situation will be by July?
It’s pretty resourceful – Airbnb bookings as a back channel for monetary support and Airbnb messaging as a backchannel for news.
One of the hosts I booked in Lviv said they had gotten other support bookings from US, UK and Australia. And then that they preferred I come stay with them when that is possible, to comment on the need to express optimism.
I think support bookings further out on the calendar are OK. At worst the payment will never go through. At best the host will have future funds flow from them, even if their places are bombed-out ghost listings at that point, and they are resettled in some other country.
And if Airbnb wanted to really have itself some good PR, they would add the interest they earn on money withheld that can’t be presently accessed by those users.
I had a similar discussion with one of the hosts that I booked with in Kyiv. She really wants me to come visit her and “stay as a friend” after it’s all over. I told her I that I plan to do so. It seemed important to exchange hope in addition to the money.
In The Guardian article prompted by Cresky’s tweet Airbnb is quoted encouraging people to do “no stay” bookings. The also confirm there are no Aorbnb service charges for bookings in Ukraine.
Perhaps he’s in a state of denial & thinks this will end quickly. Also the (edit: Russian propaganda) reason for the invasion being shared in Russia is to keep the USA from stealing valuable natural resources from the Ukrainian people.
Btw To try to cull the protests inside of Russia, Putin had Facebook & Twitter access cut to the people.
Spam is a favorite meat in Hawaii. They even have Spam burgers! I remember a flight attendant going to visit her family in Hawaii and she had two suitcases, one filled with Spam cans and the other with cereal boxes.
Please do send your future guest as much info as seems possible and things about Russia too. BBC removed staff from Moscow and CNN just pulled out of Russia so it will be getting harder to for people there or us to hear anything reasonably up to date or (unbiased by RT) from there.
This effort is def gone viral, up to 2million$, and being covered by many news orgs. Thank you everyone! I wish those hosts there in Ukraine will up their rates! Kharkiv is one place in direst straits right now.
It turns out that – for now – Russian travellers can still fly out of the country to Armenia, and that is exactly what my guest did when, as soon as Russia passed a new law making it illegal to protest, the police came to his door to “gather evidence” on his “illegal” anti-war picketing.
So this family – with two young daughters – have fled the Russian government under threat of arrest (and conscription into the Army) and are now political refugees in a small country just south of Ukraine.
and 1 jar of peanut butter. Perfect shelf stable foods.