Covid 19 Host Support

[Julia2543]

Good Evening Everyone,

I just wanted to find out if anyone knows about the help that was extended by the Airbnb owners a few weeks ago.  We are new Super Hosts and hoped that we would be included in the help.  We mortgaged our house to open our Airbnb and were doing so wonderfully before the pandemic.  Lost most of our income for March, all of it for April and May and several of our cancellations in the summer, we also haven't had any new bookings in a couple of weeks.  Any advice and help is welcomed.

Thank you,

Julia

[Gordon0]

Sorry to hear about your situation, @Julia2543, but you may want to take a look at the dozens of threads on this very subject. 

[Julia2543]

Thank you for your response GordonO, as I said we are very new to the Airbnb short term rental. It has been hard to navigate through the "dozens of threads" that I can't seem to locate. 

[Mike2059]

@Julia2543 I'm a Superhost and should be  qualified and they didn't even contact me so ignore that person with the attitude he is one of those.  Answering your question, I don't believe anyone actually got that or it would be very few and no one knows who are they even. 

[Julia2543]

Hi Mike,

Thank you!  You see loads of random things in the threads but nothing that answers any questions. I was hoping to find a place to request the help. They sent the link to hosts for SBA loans, but of course those funds depleted before it even got a good start! And airbnb hosts were not top priority. In my state the "big guys" meaning corporate manufacturers got the bulk of the SBA funds. So so sad for all of us.

[Anonymous]

@Julia2543   There is not an open application process for host support. It's by invitation only. More info here: https://www.airbnb.com/superhostrelief

Reality check:  this is a deliberately opaque process, with no external accountability. You should move forward under the assumption that no invitation will be coming your way (and if you've been Superhost for less than 1 year, you don't meet the criteria anyway). I hope you're able to find other means of monetizing your property and keep your home.

[Julia2543]

Thanks Andrew!! That helps me understand a bit more. I really appreciate it. Still so sad.

[Helen3]

Hi @Julia2543 

As a general rule Airbnb Help is a good resource for the basics around managing your listing and issues such as understanding the EC policy for the virus and money Airbnb is offering hosts who have a strict cancellation policy and a fund for established superhosts.

In terms of the fund my understanding is that it is being made available to those on the lowest incomes and to those who have been hosting the longest.

I would imagine they will direct it to those in the most need financially for example those in developing countries who have no recourse to public funds or mortgage breaks such as we have here in the West. So even though on paper I would be eligible, I am not even considering that this will be an option for me.

[Julia2543]

Hi Helen,

I thought we might get caught in the new guys group. We were holding out hope that the 25% reimbursement for cancellations would include us. But, I guess maybe not 😞

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Julia2543 Unless you have changed your cancellation policy recently then unless guests cancel within 5 days of their stay you will not be eligible for the 25% (aka 12.5%)payouts.

The best place to find what Airbnb are doing is to go to Airbnb.com, click on covid 19 and then look at hosts page for a good explanation of the help they will provide.

Sadly, like it or not,, as Airbnb is just a booking platform the hosts are really on their own.

[Susan17]

@Julia2543 

250 Million Host Aid

Message from Airbnb - 20/04/20

* Hosts will receive an email when a support payment is issued.

* This email will have an attached csv file which they can open in  Excel or Google sheets to review details of all the reservations that were included in the disbursement

* If a host hasn't received an email yet, their disbursement hasn't been issued yet

Timeline for next waves of hosts to receive payments and emails

1. 20 April 2020 - 20K hosts
2. 21 April 2020 - 145K hosts
3. 22 April 2020 - 150K hosts
4. 23 April 2020 - 184K hosts

Thanks again for being a valued Airbnb host.

Superhost Relief Fund

Starting on April 10, 2020, a specialized team at Airbnb will be inviting eligible Superhosts and hosts of experiences to apply for a relief grant via email.  Invitations to apply will go out first to long-standing Superhosts who are in the greatest financial need, by looking at the earnings decline from this year to last. This same team will evaluate applications and get in touch with hosts to let them know whether their applications are approved. All invitations will be sent out by May 15, 2020.

[Julia2543]

Susan!! Thank You!! This is wonderful news!! Oh my goodness thank you. God Bless All!!

[Susan17]

You're welcome @Julia2543. Can I just ask, did you have a strict cancellation policy in place when your cancelled reservations were booked, as your listing appears to be showing a moderate canx policy now?

Also, your earliest reviews are from last August, so presumably, you've only been hosting since then? 

[Julia2543]

Susan,

No, I did not have a strict policy. I've always felt that the moderate fit our structure just fine. We did open in August 2019. Although we started our expense to open 2018. The County of Charleston regulations prevented us from opening any sooner. They kept requiring more and more they almost made us put in fire sprinklers but instead made us put in fire walls. Finally, we were  able to open Aug '19.  We went into debt in 2018. But back to cancellations. They started mid March and all guests were referring to Covid 19 and their safety. We were doing SO wonderfully and far exceeded our expectations prior to Covid 19. And then Zero income.

[Susan17]

@Julia2543

Unless your guests cancelled within 5 days of arrival date, you're unlikely to receive any assistance from either of these funds.

The $250 million Host Aid fund pays 25% of the amount the host would have received, had their usual canx policy been in place, at the time the booking was, cancelled.

This will apply almost exclusively to hosts who have a strict cancellation policy, as they'd be entitled to 25% of the 50% they would have received for cancellations more than 7 days out from arrival date - so 12.5% total.

Even then, there are several loopholes built into the programme which exclude unwitting hosts from receiving that 12.5% - for example, CX were routing certain COVID/EC cancellation requests to hosts, that featured an "Issue Full Refund" button. Knowing that the guest was entitled to a full refund anyway, lots of unsuspecting hosts did press the button to refund, without realising that this is classified as a "mutual cancellation" by Airbnb, and therefore the host the forfeits their claim to the 12.5% on that booking.

Very few bookings will have been cancelled within a week of arrival, as guests were being notified on their side that they needed to cancel more than 7 days out from arrival date to receive their full refunds, so it's unlikely you had many - if any - cancellations within the 5 day time frame that would qualify your lost bookings for inclusion.

Finally, only hosts who have held superhost status for a year or more (although this doesn't have to be concurrent), will be considered for invitation to apply for the Superhost Relief Fund.

So sorry it's not better news, @Julia2543. I do hope you can find an alternative means of staying afloat. Best of luck to you.