Bookings from restricted areas during Covid outbreak in Australia

[Gillian235]

Hello from Down Under,

Australia has very strict state laws limiting movement at the moment. I cannot see these restrictions coming down as we enter our peak periods in Dec/Jan.

I have had a booking for a full week in our peak period from someone who is currently unable to travel to our state because of restrictions.

This person has been on air bnb since 2016 but has no reviews.

I have just turned off the 'instant booking' I had switched on, but only after their booking was made. I have a fully flexible booking policy in place.

Now that they have booked in, I am not sure what to do. Obviously we want to keep our peak periods open to bookings from our own state. I am a superhost and have never cancelled a booking before.

I am wondering what are others hosts doing in this situation?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

well if your guest can not arrive bc of restrictions he can cancel and will be refunded in full (your policy is flexible) except airbmb fee. He can dispute airbnb fee with airbnb but it is unlikely he will get it

[Colleen253]

@Gillian235 Because you have a flexible cancellation policy, the guest will be perfectly happy to just wait and see if things are open again by the time of their stay. If not, then they can cancel with only the Airbnb fee lost. You’re a bit stuck with them. If you cancel, the dates will be blocked and no one else can book them.