WHY WILL COVID-19 BANKRUPT HOSTS AROUND THE WORLD?

[Michael303]

COVID-19 WILL BANKRUPT HOSTS AROUND THE WORLD BECAUSE AIRBNB REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE EXISTENCE OF TRAVEL INSURANCE!

Travel Insurance is easy and inexpensive for Guests to purchase. The lack of travel insurance protection is completely devastating for Hosts!

For 3 1/2 years I have been trying to get AirBnB to listen. Well, unfortunately, a global pandemic is going to bankrupt hosts around the world because AirBnB refuses to make legitimate travel insurance available for booking guests.

VRBO and HomeAway do such a superior job offering travel insurance to their/ our guests.

1. If you drive a car without insurance and get into an "unforeseen" accident, you are responsible, not the person you ran into. If you book a trip without travel insurance and something "unforeseen" happens, you are responsible, not the person who is hosting you. 

2. I have to carry liability insurance, flood insurance, homeowners insurance with an added hotel policy on top of that on my building to protect me and my guests for short term rentals. I would carry travel insurance for all my guests if I could... no wait it do?! It is AirBnB's insane policy of refunds?! Hosts are not Insurance companies. 

3. I think it's beyond unfortunate for Airbnb, hosts and guests that Airbnb does on hold guest accountable for travel insurance. The simplest way to handle this is to explain travel insurance up front - prior to booking and let guests know it's their responsibility to purchase it or guests will be taking the risk themselves. Travel insurance has existed since the beginning of modern travel. 

4. Airbnb Actually Recommends Travel Insurance. (the AirBnB link is blocked by AirBnB) Airbnb offers refunds at the host’s expense. It is completely unacceptable as a policy and puts the hosts in an untenable situation of loss that cannot be recouped for last minute cancellations – which, by the way, is why trip insurance exists.

5. Suggestion: if Airbnb wants to act like an insurance company and refund guests their money then charge a fee ($35 – $45 to be competitive with trip insurance companies) for that service.

This part of the Airbnb & Host relationship is 100% unfair and 100% unprofessional. Hosts are not Insurance companies. This policy is insane. Travel insurance has existed since the beginning of modern travel.

Airbnb is hurting the small business owners who are the reason Airbnb is in business at all. Shame on them for allowing this and for interfering with legitimate trip insurance companies who protect the owners as well as the traveler when situations happen outside of either parties control. Airbnb clearly is not protecting owners and their businesses with this kind of policy.

[Sheila22]

@Sarah977 .   The post by @James207  has been censored (as well as other popular posts on this topic which recently posted).  FACTS.  And nobody is surprised -- this is Airbnb's territory.   It was not a matter of if but when.

[Sarah977]

@Sheila22  No, it didn't get censored. It got closed because of personal attacks.  Just as any thread, no matter what the topic, will get closed for that reason. The entire thread is still there, it has just been moved to a new section for all the posts relating to COVID19. Because, believe it or not, some hosts still have issues or questions they need help with that don't have anything to do with coronavirus and those posts were getting completely lost among the COVID ones.

[Susie0]

One wonders if the insurance companies are investors in Airbnb...what other explanation could there be?

[Anonymous]

@Susie0  There's no need to wonder about things that are public information. If you're curious about who Airbnb's bigger investors are, here's what I got from 2 seconds on Google: https://app.dealroom.co/companies/airbnb

[Michael303]

@Susie0 That is hilarious, I’ve had that same thought for the last 3 1/2 years. Why wouldn’t they just make it part of their business plan and capitalize on it?

[Tomasz47]

I don’t know what world we live in where a tech company is allowed to get away with this. A tech company that has $5 billion in cash that is valued at over $40 billion.

[Anonymous]

@Tomasz47   In 2019 several of the most highly valued companies in the world were ones that had not actually turned a profit in hard money terms. Airbnb was an outlier for awhile in the sense that it was generating real profit, but in the few months before the COVID-19 crisis that took a bit of a downturn. Now it appears they're back in the same boat as the average Silicon Valley brand, prostrate at the feet of speculative investors who value brand durability over short-term turnover. Their money is hypothetical, and the current conditions aren't favorable to the hypothesis.

A better example of what a tech company can get away with might be Amazon. Any idea how much they've paid in taxes compared to your household? I'd suggest googling it but that would absolutely ruin your day.

[Doug149]

It is ridiculous how Airbnb is undermining hosts with their Coronavirus cancellation policy.  Hosts provide the product that makes Airbnb possible.  Why offer hosts various levels of a cancellation policy, including strict, when Airbnb can simply remove them.  When a guest purchases a stay, with a strict or moderate cancellation policy, they understand and "get" what will happen if they cancel and what that entails.  I am a Super Host.  I have an Airbnb strict cancellation policy on my townhome.  If a guest cancels, there is a 50% penalty.  The guests knows this going into the purchase.  Airbnb has totally undermined a policy they offer to hosts.  Their response is that they are not getting their service fee either if a guest cancels under the Coronavirus cancellation policy, which is only a small percentage of the totally amount the owner loses out under this policy.  This is a total joke .  No comparison between what Airbnb is forfeiting and what the Host is losing...which is EVERYTHING.  Airbnb states it's doing this because they are looking out for their customers.  That is only 50% true.  They are only thinking of the guest, not the host, and again, the host provides the product...what is being sold.  So Airbnb, if you want to be a true hero, do this:  Fork out to owners, that have a strict cancellation policy, the 50% cancellation fee they expect to get when there is a cancellation.  Otherwise you will see a max exodus of Hosts that will go to VRBO.  You will see this happen if you don't do the truly "right" thing.  Take care of ALL your customers.  

[Anonymous]

The cult status of the brand, hollow as it is, still benefits from people saying things like "I'm a superhost." That was always a cheap tactic designed to manipulate you; it meant nothing last month when people were still booking holidays, and it means even less now.

A mass migration of hosts to a platform that offers a cancellation protection package might be the one  thing that gets some attention here.The one condition under which it has any impact is if Airbnb's competitors have a better range of listings in key markets due to other platforms offering a better deal for hosts. Only thing is, we don't know yet when travel as we know it will resume.

[Sandra126]

Actually it will bankrupt much more than just hosts.  A scientist said that no, rest assured it is not the zombie apocalypse but be prepared for a rough ride. Buckle your seatbelt.

[Susie0]

At least it'll open up more long-term housing!

[Scott222]

I am in agreement as a fellow super host.   This is a devastating situation with massive financial losses to the tourism industry and hosts, ESPECIALLY on the AIRBNB PLATFORM. 

As hosts, we are ONE family, that has been forced to absorb the costs of multiple families and travelers over multiple weeks.  Our financial loss is multiplied several times over our guests for this fact and strains our ability to make mortgage payments, pay taxes, insurance, utilities and so forth.  Unfortunately, there is no way for hosts to protect against this loss unlike guests who have the option to purchase travel insurance for a minimal fee. As hosts, we cannot purchase any protection for unforeseen events other than to implement a cancellation policy.  To place all the burden on a host is unfortunate and overwhelming. HOSTS SHOULD HAVE SOME PROTECTION!!!! For example, the ability to:

1. Offer a credit toward future stays  (MY AIRLINE JUST DID WHEN I HAD TO CHANGE MY PLANS FOR APRIL BREAK , I WAS NOT OFFERED A REFUND)
2. Offer the option to change dates
3. Offer a partial refund, like VRBO at 50% with a full refund of booking fees,
4. Allow guests to purchase Travel Insurance directly on the platform (all travelers can buy travel insurance even for AIRBNB thru a 3rd party - I ran a quote online for approximately $125 to protect a $5000 trip for 4).  
5. REQUIRE THE CANCELATION TO BE AT LEAST 24 HOURS BEFORE CHECK IN, and preferable 48 HOURS, 
6. ALLOW HOSTS TO COLLECT SECURITY DEPOSITS (ANOTHER WAY AIRBNB DOES NOT PROTECT HOSTS.  This would prevent party homes, and damage from unruly guests,
7. Allow guests to have longer cancellation periods (AIRBNB charges a 5% fee to hosts for any of their "Super Strict" polices" beyond 30 days- VRBO nothing)

On my larger homes, that are booked by 5 families I must now take the brunt of their shared expense as my SOLE loss over multiple weeks. 

VRBO/HOMEAWAY allows hosts to work thru this with the guests, I was able to reschedule one guest and offer a 50% refund to another, AND ONE GUEST DID CANCEL BUT HAD TRAVEL INSURANCE!!!! SO, I was able to keep my rental income!!  I BOOK on average $80,000 a month on AIRBNB and a decent amount on VRBO- I AM NOW MOVING AWAY FROM AIRBNB FOR BOOKINGS AT MY LARGER HOMES. I cannot afford to host on a platform that does not protect its hosts.

[Susie0]

In that letter that Airbnb wants us to send to congress do you think this refers to 2019 income? Because pretty much none of us has substantial income this year, to date at least!

"Introduce a federal tax credit, deduction or deferral of taxes on the 1099 income earned by Home and Experience hosts." 

It looks like Airbnb is automating the letter to legislators...which I'm not down to sign. This whole thing is bizarre.

[Negra0]

I'm sure Airbnb really acted illegally by creating new Covid-19 policy that invalidates the strict cancellation policy. Unlike other hosting platforms like Vrbo,  Airbnb totally let us down, us hosts. I'm moving my property out of Airbnb!

Our strict policy was there to make sure we can survive and pay our bills. The guests should have travel insurance, or Airbnb should pay half, not 100% refunds all by us, hosts!

Airbnb should be investigated for this actions and we should contact our senator on the link that was sent to us by Nate Blecharczyk, one of the founders:

https://click.airbnbmail.com/u/?qs=3fec2dbdaddf322e2dc7e221328e2db030f22db71654170f42cb305ac3c36ebe2...

I'm contacting my senator today.

[Simon198]

@Geoffrey112 A lot of hosts, as us, has commercial Hospitality Real Estate - no living apartments. We need to follow the same strict rules like hotels or hostels and not destroy any families living places. Most of our guests are families who book a 2 or 3 bedroom apartment if they come with grandparents, kids or friends instead that they need to pay min. 2 or 3 double rooms without any place to share time together in a usual hotel.