@Nanxing0 "My guess is that Airbnb will soon have something to make up for those hosts otherwise it would be the fact that they are pushing everyone to switch to strict policy in the future. I don't think Airbnb is willing to see that happen."
Airbnb is willing to see anything happen as long as it doesn't directly affect their profitability. They pushed hosts to try the non-refundable 10% off option, then overrode that policy as they saw fit, long before the COVID cancellations. As long as they have that EC policy, which they think gives them carte blanche to override any cancellation policy they want, hosts will always be at their mercy.
I have always had a moderate policy , not because that's what Airbnb encourages, but for a few reasons of my own (I don't do anything Airbnb tries to pressure hosts to do, I do what works for me). First of all, if I were a guest, I wouldn't want to face losing 50% of my booking cost if I couldn't come for some reason. Secondly, in my particular market, guests aren't at all likely to cancel shortly before the 100% refund period ends or within 5 days of check-in. In 3 and a half years on the platform, I've only had one guest do that, and it was because she had a death in the immediate family (It was pretty obvious that she wasn't scamming, for a number of reasons and I got paid my 50%). Thirdly, I don't rely on Airbnb income to pay my bills. (It's not that I'm well-off- I'm not, I just don't have a lot of expenses and I have another job). I wouldn't ever use flexible, because I'd be pissed if I went to the trouble of cleaning and stocking the guest space and they cancelled last minute.
Because I home-share, you know what I miss? Yeah, the extra income was great- I used it to help out my kids and grandkids, mostly. But I miss hosting my guests- I've met some great people and they've enriched my life. I'm not reading that kind of thing much amongst all this angst about all the money people are losing. I guess most people just host for the money.