Hosts are bearing the entire financial loss for extenuating circumstances

[Omar-and-Janet0]

Hi all - trying to weather the COVID-19 storm like everyone else.

We're single-rental-unit hosts trying to stay afloat amid mass cancellations, and put in an ever-tight position with AirBNB allowing for 100% refunds now until the end of May (and who knows how much longer?) We understand the "why", but what we're most dismayed with is that with every cancellation that's refunded to the guest, hosts now pick up 100% of the financial burden (zero chance we'll get a re-booking), or 75% if you qualify for AirBNB's 25% kick-back. Guests can opt-in for travel/cancellation insurance either separately or often on their credit cards so they can be reimbursed fully for the pandemic's effects, but hosts aren't afforded the same luxury. Under our normal 'strict' cancellation policy, guests stand to lose 50% which is hundreds or even thousands of dollars, but by continuing the extenuating circumstances indefinitely, hosts stand to lose defaulting on the mortgage and losing their livelihood.

What I'm proposing is that perhaps guests can share some of the financial burden with us as it's negatively impacting all three parties: hosts, guests & AirBNB. I do truly appreciate that AirBNB is providing financial support, let me make that clear. But I fear for many hosts, only getting 0-25% of the typical income won't be sustainable. Why not resume normal cancellation policies which we based out business model on, in our case choosing 'strict' as we rely on the income. 

We're very fortunate to be able to be able to share our home with others and hope to for many more years. Thanks for reading.

[Sanee0]

Omar-and-Janet0 I agree. By the end of February 2020 my place was already booked for 23 days in April. Now all guests canceled and i'm down to zero. My strict cancelation policy doesn't help and 25% is just ridiculous. I'm broke and Airbnb can not tell when I get actually these payouts. At least these 25% should be payed out simultaneously to the check-in date of canceled reservation. 

[Sarah977]

@Omar-and-Janet0  It's not even 25% of the reservation amount- it's 25% of the cancellation amount- 25% of 50%, so 12.5% of the total booking.

[Anonymous]

@Omar-and-Janet0 The normal cancellation policy assumes that you as the host are fully able to fulfill the booking under normal circumstances. That you're legally allowed to accept tourists, and guests have freedom of movement within your country and opportunity to peruse your local services. The normal cancellation policy does not have any provision for paying the host when the host can't host. 

[Gerard614]

I have a guest apartment in Liverpool city centre. I have a 3 night booking starting today, does anybody know if i am still able to host this guest? or are all bookings cancelled from here on in? Just confused after the email this morning

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Gerard614 

Irrespective of what Airbnb are doing YOU would be breaking the law allowing someone to stay unless they are key workers. FYI the guest will also be breaking the law so I guess if the police catch you they get two prosecutions for the price of one

[Heba9]

And it's 0% for hosts with flexible cancellation. AirBnB completely screwed us over because they get the majority of their revenue from guests. 3% host fee vs up to 15% guest fee

I'm a host with a flexible cancellation policy and can't help but feel cheated by AirBnB. As AirBnB continues to encourage hosts to adopt flexible cancellations, AirBnB is at the same time excluding those hosts with flexible cancellation from the $250 million support for hosts.

As of March 23rd, AirBnB continued to encourage hosts to adopt a flexible cancellation policy.https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hosting-homes/a/why-its-smart-to-offer-flexible-cancellations-right...By encouraging more hosts to adopt a flexible cancellation during this time to attract more guests, AirBnB is basically telling hosts to ignore the the law of many countries that are in lock down and mandating social distancing.

Why is AirBnB excluding hosts with flexible cancellation from the $250 million fund while continuing to push more hosts to adopt this policy that is actually robbing them of their income. No amount of exposure or flexibility will change the travel restrictions in place or stop the spread of virus. Waiving the 3% host fee till June 1st is a joke! Who in the world is traveling and making bookings between now and June, and even so, that's nothing compared to the 1,000s in income I've lost from cancellations (at least 14) between March and June.

[Heba9]

Another article by AirBnB from March 10 encouraging hosts to adopt a flexible cancellation. https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hosting-homes/a/covid-19-your-hosting-business-how-to-minimize-the-...

March 23rd article: https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hosting-homes/a/why-its-smart-to-offer-flexible-cancellations-right...

Those two articles came out right before AirBnB announced the $250 million support for hosts on March 30 that excludes hosts with flexible cancellation