Guest wants to leave mid stay due to coronavirus and asked refund

[Lee-And-Patricia0]

Hello All , I just wanted a bit of help .

I am a host in London and have a guest that is worried about a possible lockdown in her country Germany so she wants to leave early and asked for a refund . Although London is trying to cope with the virus spreading we are not on a lockdown yet . She fears she may get stuck here in the next few weeks if things get worse .

I looked on the new COVID airbandb policy but have not found anything regarding guest wanting to leave mid stay .

I personally can’t afford to refund her .

So I was wondering if anyone could shed me some light .

Should I advice her to take up with Airbandb or her travel insurance as we can not afford to refund her. 
Thanks ever so much 

[Helen3]

Personally in this situation I would refund the guest @Lee-And-Patricia0  I think it is extremely likely Airbnb will refund her anyway.

The guest must be in a very stressful situation and worried about being able to get home to family and friends. As a host I would be trying to minimise her stressful situation rather making her jump through hoops to get a refund.

The reality is as hosts new bookings have dried up and cancellations over the next few months are pretty much a given here in the UK.

If you are reliant on your STR income to cover your basic living costs, it's probably best to move to a longer term rental model until this situation sorts itself out.

[Marcelo674]

Airbnb is NOT refunding...sad but true.

[Jim472]

Send them a modified reservation request, have them accept, get them out. 

[Marcelo674]

I'm a guest and have a reservation for 132 days but had to return from Spain after 54 days. Airbnb is providing no guidelines to hosts and guests and its creating a big mess in the market.