Key takeaways from CEO Brian Chesky’s message to our hosts

[Airbnb]

Over the past three weeks, we've held more than 50 online listening sessions with hosts from around the world, tracking every suggestion to learn where you’re hurting the most and how Airbnb can support you. 

Speaking from his home in San Francisco on Monday, CEO Brian Chesky announced three key initiatives and programs aimed specifically at helping our hosts:

1. We’re investing $250 million USD to share in the cost of COVID-19 cancellations.

We’re providing updated coverage under our extenuating circumstances policy for accommodation reservations booked on or before March 14 and with a check-in between March 14 and May 31, 2020. If a guest cancels an eligible reservation in this window, we’ll pay you 25% of what you would normally receive through your cancellation policy. For example, if you would’ve received $400 USD for a normal cancellation, we'll pay you 25% of that—or $100 USD. This cost will be covered entirely by Airbnb, with no impact to the guest. We view this as an investment in our future together.

Reservations booked after March 14 will not qualify for the COVID-19-related extenuating circumstances cancellations. Learn more at Airbnb.com/250MSupport.

2. We’re creating a $10 million USD relief fund for Superhosts and Airbnb Experiences hosts.

We know some of you are facing serious financial hardships, and we want to help. This fund will offer grants to Superhosts and Experiences hosts who need money to stay in the homes they live in. 

Our employees started the fund by raising the first $1 million USD, and our founders contributed the additional $9 million USD. Learn more about who is eligible at Airbnb.com/superhostrelief.

3. We’re making it easy for your previous guests to add contributions that go to you directly.

Just a few weeks ago, our global community was bringing more than 2 million people together every day. Collectively, you've made many millions of people feel at home. And thousands of them have told us how grateful they are for your flexibility—so we’re making it easy for them to help. We'll reach out to guests who’ve stayed with you recently and left 5-star reviews to ask if they want to send a note and a contribution in connection with a previous reservation. You will receive 100% of any guest contributions. 

This is just a start

We know many of you want—or need—to host right now, whether on the front lines or for people who live nearby. To help further support you, we’re also working on the following:

• Insurance options for you and your guests
• Programs to drive demand during the recovery period
• Airbnb housing for COVID-19 responders
• Cleaning guidelines and protocols informed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 We will get through this together

Airbnb and our community are facing this challenging time together. We’ll continue working day and night toward solutions, and we’ll communicate regularly and transparently on the steps we’re taking to help you. We’re adapting in real time to the changing situation, but what doesn’t change is that when travel returns, your homes are the places where people want to stay.

At the core of our business is what is core to the human experience—that fundamental desire to connect and explore. It will take time to bounce back, but we will bounce back together. As always, thank you for being part of the Airbnb community, and thank you for all that you do to help us create a world where anyone can belong anywhere. 

[Jude7]

Airbnb is a platform that drives business my way. I am grateful for the business I have received over the years. I lost $3000 in income through cancellations and each guest who cancelled, COVID or not, was entitled to cancel without penalty given the cancellation policy I voluntarily chose because it made good business sense for me to choose it. I am responsible for my business decisions. As partners, Airbnb and I have different jobs to fill. They provide a platform for guests to find me. At that point my business model takes over, and part of that model was my choice to have a moderate cancellation policy. 

My $3000 worth of bookings did not cancel because of Airbnb. They cancelled for personal reasons which they are allowed to do under the terms of the cancellation policy I chose. 

I am self-employed in another field as well and my business is sustained by platforms that send me leads. My other business has been devastated as well, but I don’t expect the referral sources to compensate me in any way. Risk is part of being an entrepreneur. 

I am terribly concerned and unhappy by these circumstances. But to transfer my upset to an entity that is not responsible for what is going on is anger misdirected. I’m doing my best to hunker down, to remain informed, and to take advantage of various supports being offered to the business community. At the same time, I’m doing my best to focus on the things that are going well - the sun is shining, spring is coming, I love my family more than ever, we’re all healthy, and I’m seeing my local community respond in amazing and generous ways. 

This is a time to rise up in well-being and to get creative about financial strategies. Anyone care to join me in moving this negativity in a more positive direction?

[Fred13]

Exceptional post. I don't think there is much stopping the dissapointment and anger of others, this whole event was totally unexpected and took everyone by surprise and by the tone of it also unprepared.

[Trudi15]

please give some examples of the 25% of what? so if for example I have a strict policy and someone cancels for a visit before April 15, I will get 25% of the total? if the reservation is for June then the guest pays per normal cancellation policy. what if ABB

push out the date week by week? this will be a nightmare to keep track of. this will incentivize guests to wait until the last minute of the cancellation policy to kick in on oder to cancel hoping that the extenuated circumstances date will be pushed out by then

[Dorothy134]

They truthfully shouldn't have a date. I had someone cancel a booking in July due to Covid 19.  

[Mary419]

A guest sent me this not long after the broadcast last night. So why am I still getting the Covid 19 Cancelation request emails asking me to voluntarily give up 100% and if I click no, it will not let the guest choose Covid 19 again as their reason for canceling

[Marcus21]

Personally I feel like the 25% offer toward cancellations is a bit like air bnb trying to pay the mInimum they could..I feel we should all speak out against this..it’s probably in place to put a stop on suing them. if someone sat down and asked me “do you want to take this offer?” I’d ask for an improved offer. What I heard in the listening session I actually attended that apparently decided all this was hosts asking for AT LEAST 50% of the cancellation and to me that seems the fair and decent resolution. This figure/issue should have been put to us and put to guests before the extenuating circumstances policy was amended...then guests would be paying their share of the cost/loss...as they should.. I’m sure a great many guests would have agreed it was fair and actually breathed a sigh of relief they were getting anything..and we would too. Facing a massive loss of trust Air bnb should fix this mess they’ve created properly. They say “we’re so sorry..we should have talked to you guys before doing that” did anyone sit down and agree the 25% with us now? Learning from the mistake? No...

oh, but hang on..they listened to us in the 50 listening sessions right?

well I’ll tell you straight we were asked two very general/huge questions and the meeting was just hours away from these being posed (no time to prepare) we had to deal with an online meeting format (lots of us didn’t know who could hear us etc and so kept quiet) we had to spend a lot of it listening to more air bnb staff explanations (which we’ve already heard!) we had 15 mins to discuss our grievances in groups of 5..so that’s 3minutes each assuming someone doesn’t over run..and there was always one member who was really upset and spoke in volumes over this ie THEY DID OVERRUN and then the whole groups comments had to be relayed by someone we had to nominate (we had no time to do this of course) and each group had 3minutes total for this! 

so...they listened ...we just had absolutely no time to prepare for it or speak!

and now they’ve ignore what WAS clearly stated in our group at least

[Dorothy134]

I was very happy to see that Airbnb was going to help. Now after reading it through I will get NOTHING!

I rely on Airbnb to make my mortgage payments, but I have not been a host for a full year, only 9 months. So I get nothing!    Why does the amount of time matter?  Am I suffering less because I have been here less time?  Your offer should go to All Superhosts!!!!   

[Roadside0]

The hosts are what keeps this business running. For Brian Chesky to make the 4.1 Billion he is worth today. We have lost about 30k in bookings over the past week or so even extending into July due to COVID-19. Airbnb has always been 100% for the guest ... ALWAYS!! We are in more dyer straights than the guests at this point. If we lose our homes due to no income (esp over spring break and summer months) then there will be no houses for guests to rent. As I do appreciate that you have finally decided to give something back to the hosts it will not help in the scheme of things. You all need to go back to the drawing board and think about not having hosts to provide the homes for you. How will that affect AIRBNB? I’ve seen multiple hosts state that they are done with AIRBNB. Including me if this isn’t made 100% right for both sides.

[Carol-And-Ann0]

We are Airbnb super hosts in Vermont. When COVID-19 began spreading in Vermont, we removed the Instant Book feature, stating in the explanation that it was a temporary measure due to COVID-19. As an emergency manager, I determined that more control over any incoming guests was the responsible action to take. We were warned that we would be penalized for taking this action. Thanks Airbnb.

Vermont has recently prohibited any new Airbnb reservations not in support of COVID-19. We are certainly willing to support healthcare providers in need of temporary housing, but how are we supposed to implement this without being penalized by Airbnb? Why as super hosts for nearly two years do we never receive benefits or notifications for super hosts?

[Ned458]

Figure I may as well throw my hat in the ring - I have listed for over 5 years now, but only earned Superhost status in July last year, so this 25% of cancellations wouldn't help me anyway. I came on to say that I agree with those saying that AirBnb has pushed/repeatedly suggested hosts into a lot of policies and bookings settings over the years. To come back now, and weaponize those same policies they have asked us to adopt, in order to get out of paying most hosts under this plan is both negligent and misguided, but also coldly calculated and is a fairly clear signal from leadership. 

To those who are saying "but you chose these policies of relaxed cancellations as a host, just accept the consequences": you are not wrong, but if you think that Airbnb hasn't benefitted more greatly than we as individual hosts have from us taking on these relaxed policies, you are very out of touch with reality and with how large companies benefit collectively from incremental policies and procedures they ask of the individuals. 

I am glad to see and hear Airbnb finally taking action and speaking up, but I think they are being very short sighted and not thinking about what is good for the long term of their business model and their hosts. It is very hard to gain back your reputation, and I for one know that I think a little less of Airbnb as a company than I did before all of this started. 

For my own part, I will be looking at rolling back to stricter cancellation policies and a few other things that are less good for the guests and the community, and I think that is the saddest outcome of all of this. I have spent way more money on travel through Airbnb than I have ever taken in, and it has provided a great low-cost, comfortable way for me to see the world when I was younger and had less income and stability. I hate to see things change, but i think with hosts trusting Airbnb less after this, that a lot of the good things about Airbnb are going to be less available and less accessible in the future. Maybe I am incorrect about all of this, but it is my opinion for the time being. 

Ned - Superhost, 4.9 star rating, 100% response rate 

[Cari35]

AirBnB has failed to consider impacts to hosts and guests of long-term stays. We had a guest check-in January 19th and staying through April 11th for an internship in our city. She left March 16th to be with family in another state when they closed the schools and cancelled her internship due to COVID. We lost >$800 due to the reservation change and have a refund pending against future payouts! If AirBnB wants to be a good partner, then they should make hosts and guests with long-term stays eligible too. 

[Huma0]

@Cari35 

I also host long-term guests. Could you just clarify here exactly what happened with your guest's refund? Under the normal long-term cancellation policy, you are supposed to be paid for the 30 days following the cancellation, or for however many nights were left on the booking if that is less. If there are more than 30 days left on the reservation, you get the 30 nights and the guest is refunded the rest, even if that means being refunded for six months for example.

So was the $800 the amount you lost what should have been paid for 16th March to 11th April?

Because, if so, that is the case, your guest should not have been refunded. The COVID-19 EC policy dated 15th March (so the day before she cancelled), clearly stated TWICE, ""If a reservation has already begun (the check-in has passed), this extenuating circumstance does not apply."

The new policy, updated 30 March but applicable to cancellations made from 14th March, also states, "If a reservation has already begun (the check-in has passed), this extenuating circumstance does not apply."

Furthermore, to qualify for the EC, the check in date must be between 14th March and 31st May.

So, your guest does not qualify under either version of the policy and should not have been refunded.

I have had the same thing happen to me twice with guests that checked in weeks or months before cancelling. I have been fighting these refunds for over two weeks and am not getting anywhere, but will continue to fight them as they were wrong.

[Mary419]

Each guest who wants to cancel is basically forced to send me an email asking will give 100% back yes or no... that email says don't worry you will not be penalized other than losing 100% of the money (laughable to reassure me that I will not lose status over refunding all the money) but I am starting to feel like that is a way out for Airbnb not to have to pay the host the 12.5% of the booking that the CEO announced last night... I definitely saw a screen shot of new options for guests to get 100% without the host's voluntary involvement through May 31 yet they keep having the guests send those special Covid 19 Cancelation requests.... which I have to decline and then beg the confused guest to cancel normally, only that will result in Airbnb having to give me a quarter of my standard cancelation fee? Which I need! I cannot survive on zero

[Clark48]

@Mary419 Thanks for your pursuit of clarity through all this ridiculousness! I'm sorry about your situation, we are certainly in the same boat. Few questions:

1) have you been able to confirm that if you "issue a full refund" that you essentially forfeit the 10-12.5% (I refuse to call it 25%!!) for the host?

2) if you refuse, do you know what the ramifications are for the customer? Do they just have to call Airbnb and request a full refund?

I'm wondering how to communicate to my guests of multiple bookings who are asking for the full refund - since we've learned that @Airbnb conveniently pushed this responsibility to the hosts...

[Dorothy134]

 I let guests choose the 10% off to have a no cancelation policy. Now that they have cancelled I can't tell which ones chose that option. That should still show up on my dash board, otherwise I should receive compensation for all the cancelations.