Change of plans due to airspace closure

[Zamar9]

Hi everyone

I booked a room through airbnb. The flight got cancelled because afghanistan airspace closed for flights and my flight was supposed to go through afghanistan airspace. I asked airbnb support for a refund but they say that they will not refund. Since I'm not responsible for airspace closure, i should be getting a refund. The host is not returning my calls and messages. The guy didn't even bothered to reply even before or after the booking. No contact whatsoever. The support asked me to cancel the booking and i did so. I'm thinking of initiating a chargebank from my bank. Should i file a chargeback?

[Anonymous]

@Zamar9  No, you should initiate a claim with your travel insurance.

If you don't have travel insurance, now you presumably understand why you should have gotten it. You're not responsible for the airspace closure, but neither is your Airbnb host.

[Zamar9]

i didn't stay at the place. shouldn't the host be refunding the amount? I did inform him that i won't be able to travel. I did request to change dates but that request was also declined.

[Anonymous]

@Zamar9   The host is not obliged to take any action here. The host is not at fault for the disruption to your trip. If you're unable to reach your destination, the cancellation policy that you agreed to when you placed the booking automatically kicks in. If you don't feel that this policy is fair, you probably should have booked a place with a more flexible policy - there are search filters that can direct you to these, if you're thoughtful enough to use them. Or, and I can't stress this enough, you could have gotten some bloody travel insurance. We've been living with a pandemic for a year and a half now, so everyone on the planet now understands that international travel plans can implode at a moment's notice anywhere in the world. I realize the Afghanistan crisis was a separate issue, but there's no excuse for being a world traveler in 2021 and not having some backup for the extremely high likelihood that things aren't going to go the way you imagined. Hopefully, after this unfortunately expensive education, you'll be better prepared the next time you plan a trip.

[Lawrene0]

For next time, @Zamar9 , don't ignore that extra screen from Airbnb when you book that gives you links for travel insurance. 

The other option is to book with a host with a flexible cancellation policy. Those hosts have signed up to take the hit. 

[Sarah977]

@Zamar9 "shouldn't the host be refunding the amount? I did inform him that i won't be able to travel. "

No, the host is not obligated to refund beyond the terms of their cancellation policy, just because the guest has a disruption in travel plans. Some hosts would, but they don't have to, and it's less likely that they would if you cancel close to the check-in date.

In the future, I suggest you cancel a booking within the penalty-free window if a host is not communicative. On send an Inquiry message before commiting to a booking.  Hosts who don't answer messages are hosts to be wary of.