A progress update on the Superhost Relief Fund

[Airbnb]

We announced the $17 million Superhost Relief Fund on March 30th. Our goal with this fund is to help some of the hosts most affected by the impact of COVID-19 on the travel industry. 

We have already awarded $7.4 million in grants and are working to get more grants out as swiftly as possible. We are still inviting more hosts to apply, reviewing applications, and awarding grants. Here are more details on our progress. 

Who can apply

We’ve shared eligibility criteria that determine who qualifies for an invitation. We are limiting eligibility to hosts who have lost a significant percentage of their earnings due to COVID-19.

To make this assessment, we compare a host’s earnings from last year to their earnings this year. We look at the percentage of earnings loss, not the total value of losses. This helps ensure we invite hosts who earn at different rates.

How we send invitations

Among the hosts who qualify, we use additional criteria to prioritize invitations. We’re prioritizing hosts who have had Superhost status for a long time. People who have had Superhost status for 4 and 5 years are the first ones getting invited to apply. So far, the average tenure of hosts who have received grants is 4.5 years of hosting on Airbnb.

Who we’ve reached so far

We send a batch of invitations to apply every week. Each batch reaches about 5,000 people. Every host who applies gets a response within 2 weeks. We’ve already invited about 15,000 hosts to apply for a grant, and 68% of those hosts are outside the United States. 

How much we’ve awarded

So far, nearly half the hosts who got invitations have applied; and the majority of hosts who applied received a grant. The grants range from $1,000 to $5,000. We’ve already awarded over $7.4 million in grants. 

What’s next

We estimate we’ll invite about 20,000 hosts to apply for grants from the fund—that means not all Superhost will receive an invitation. The exact number will depend on how many hosts apply and receive grants. We’ll keep going until we grant the entire $17 million. We plan to send out all invitations by the end of May.

We want to thank all the hosts who have used their applications to share their stories with us. We know it’s a difficult time throughout the global community, and we’ll continue to look for ways to provide support. Looking ahead, we’ll be focusing on helping you get back to hosting. That means offering new ways for you to understand booking trends and prepare for guests as travel returns.

[Sarah977]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  All I see there is about Experience hosts.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Sarah977 

Yes, it is all about Experience Hosts.

The interesting aspect is where here, SuperHosts are evaluated on a 4 year basis, There’s only a one year requirement if you’re an Experience Host. Then talking about fund value - how much is going to Experiences Hosts? Finding fungi in a forest doesn’t have the same overheads, investment or risk necessary that there is to rent a room or home, and neither - as I pointed out previously will Experiences be subject to that downward pressure on fees, which if complied with would exclude them from selection, as a compliant accommodation host would be. Being a ‘new’ market it would be highly likely that a +3/5% incremental fee charge be added, making their % increase loss so much greater and a much more attractive proposition for an invite.

That 5% estimate of eligible SuperHosts based on fund distribution suddenly can become 2-3%.

For transparency, just how is the fund split between SuperHosts and ExperienceHosts @Airbnb ?

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

Just to be clear here:

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 The interesting aspect is where here, SuperHosts are evaluated on a 4 year basis, There’s only a one year requirement if you’re an Experience Host.

The '4 year basis' SuperHosts being sent invites for the SuperHost fund refers to the fact that Airbnb stated that qualifying SuperHosts needed to be current SuperHosts with 4 SuperHost qualifications within the period of their tenure from 6 years back or so.. They didn't NEED to be SuperHosts for all that period, just 4 qualifications within their tenure.

So lots of hosts thought "I'm a SuperHost, I have 1 year+, I have 4 SuperHost qualifications - I qualify!!".  Except no, it was also sneakily based on tenure.. length of tenure - hence - 6 years (longest existing SuperHosts). So all you SuperHosts without a 4-6 year tenure will miss out on your invites because longer standing Home based hosts are a priority over you.

However, all you Experiences SuperHosts, don't worry, your 1 year really does count! You all are ahead of those Home based SuperHosts who have only 3 years tenure... that is... been here two years longer than you have.

[Aaron520]

as first announcement Airbnb said that will helps superhost status more than a year but now change to 4-year. All my guests cancelled booking during Feb till May, I totally loss my income during this few months.

@Airbnb Please think about it, please try to helps as much that you can, not just only 20,000 hosts. Maybe the grants range can change to $500-$2000. Thanks you very much. 

[Patty168]

It’s not fair!!! Why does Airbnb keep changing its promises ?? I was supposed to meet the criteria because my place is considered a 5 stars ( 4.9 for long 2 years). It’s my only income and I’m struggling to survive. I’ve had doubts since the beginning that we wouldn’t get any help and now I’m almost sure that I wasn’t wrong. It’s frustrating. All my bookings since May to June are canceled so far and summer is compromised. I have 0 euros in my bank account, a mortgage to be paid and bills keeping coming. 

Once  again , the eligibility was for  Superhosts with   1 year minimum ! Not 4-5 years !! Disgusting!!!!

[Alessandra334]

@Patty168 That's true ! I wrote a similar post as your in the Italian community !!! 

[Patty168]

Ciao, Alessandra! As I have said before it's not fair! We know that  most of the european countries will not open the borders soon and we depend on the tourists coming from outside our countries. In Portugal just 20% of tourists are portuguese citizens.  Actually I've never had a portuguese guest in my place so far. The government didn't help me at all , neither Airbnb. All my cancellations were not eligible for the "25%" refund. So it means, 0% income till July. And we know that the summer season is compromised in Europe. So I don't know what I should do. Maybe wait for the guests that I still have confirmed for July and August and then find out a way to make money. Maybe I'll leave Airbnb and come to back to USA by the end of the year. 

Stay bene!! 😉

[Marcos498]

one year minimum thats correct!

[Stephanie]

Hiya @Patty168 @Kris105 et al,

In terms of the eligibility criteria, this has remained unchanged since the kick off of the initiative. I think there is some confusing in terms of eligibility or priority. Whilst there are many superhosts that are eligible, we are prioritising those that are the most in need which you can see more details of both in the Resource center and below:

How are you deciding what hosts have been hit the hardest?

We know that this type of information is complex and sensitive—that’s why we’ve put together specific criteria to make it more objective. We start by looking at hosts’ earning trends to invite those whose earnings have decreased the most on a percentage basis when compared to last year, and who have had a long tenure as Superhosts. Then we use hosts’ responses in their applications to better understand how that decrease has affected their ability to make ends meet.

I hope this provides more clarity.

Thanks,

Stephanie

[Kris105]

 @Stephanie Do you know what the email header is and or from what email adress it comes? 

[Stephanie]

@Kris105 let me find out for you!

[Kris105]

@Stephanie thx appreciate it 

[Maia29]

@Kris105  The email comes from noreply@airbnb. The header is: You’re invited to apply for the Superhost Relief Fund.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Stephanie @Airbnb 

SIMPLE QUESTION:

Today, 23rd May. Airbnb are saying there's still 9.6 million left in the kitty, but there's only a week left to go for Home Superhosts to receive invitations.

Why are Experiences Hosts still going to be receiving grants from the fund up until September?

@Kris105 @Patty168 @Maia29 @Marcos498 @Sarah977 

[Saptorshi0]

Well, 

First the Corona and then this Super Cyclone Amphan in West  Bengal India, where  I'm hailing from. As you can see I'm a Superhost and kept the badge intact for about 4 years now. We belong from a 3rd world country and on top of that facing disasters like anything. Don't know what more is waiting for us. And I also don't know whether this relief grant will reach me until the next damage. Just writing this in the hope that being hit so badly by the nature if Mr. Chesky could prioritize the relief grants for West Bengal India, Kolkata. Looking forward to get back into hosting as soon as things get better and in shape.