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]

@Barbara-and-Mike0  and @lizzie (Hey Lizzie!  Long time to speak! ) - After a 3 day wait and a bit of a grueling back and forth with customer service, initiated through Twitter, I had an April 17 reservation cancelled by administration, not by me, and it clearly says on my listing that it was done so without penalty to  me or to my guest.  It wasn't automatic.  I had to forward several government orders to confirm that it was not appropriate for me to host at this time, or for my guest to travel to me.  

It's very important at this time that we all be kept informed about policies, and help one another navigate them., as it's a bit of a slippery slope! 

All the best,

Jude

[Lizzie]

Lovely to hear from you @Jude17. I'm glad to hear you managed to get the cancellation sorted out. 

I know it's really difficult at the moment with so much information, for Airbnb COVID related information, I would recommend keeping an eye on this the Airbnb COVID19 Hub, as that has the latest information. Here in the CC we are trying to make sure you know where the information is to find it and we are also busy feeding all the feedback shared here to senior Airbnb members and relevant teams. 

If there is any other way you think would help to make it clear please do let me know. 

Thank you,

Lizzie

[Jude7]

Hello @Lizzie!  So nice to be receiving a personal reply. 

One of the reasons I stopped hanging around the community boards was all the negativity.  I see that not much has changed.  As a self-employed business person in other fields, I understand the risks of entrepreneurship, and that Airbnb is a booking platform that sends business my way - with all the risks and rewards.  In my other work, I also use a booking platform.  Similar concept - clients find me through that website, and I pay a rather hefty monthly fee for that privilege.  They haven't offered me any sort of compensation due to the fact that all of that business had dried up or cancelled.  Additionally, I have been responsible for returning deposits out of my own funds for events that have been cancelled, which is way more painful than not receiving income that was expected.  I am clear about my relationship with all my marketing partners, and that unusual circumstances are part of my risk.  We are partners, and we each have our role to play. 

I have been a happier Airbnb host without the negativity that seems so prevalent in this community forum.  I have always received prompt, courteous, and appropriate customer support on the rare times I have had an issue, and my experience as a host has been unilaterally positive.  I have NOT had the experience that so many people complain about, which has been Airbnb always siding with the guests. On the contrary, I have always felt appreciated,  listened to, and understood.  I approach things proactively, establish a warm relationship with guests before they arrive, and I have been pleased by the results.  I stopped reading the community boards when I realized what I was reading was not my experience, and was leaving me filled with negativity. I'm wondering how many other happy Airbnb hosts are out there?  Not happy of course with these current circumstances, but satisfied overall with their experience as hosts.  Airbnb has opened up an entire world  of hospitality to me that I didn't know I would enjoy, has provided additional income that has made a huge difference for my family and  me, and for that I am grateful.  To read the community board comments,  it feels like I'm all alone.

The one thing about the recent Airbnb announcements that I think needs some clarification, which I have been unable to find, is the terms of the grant money being paid to  Superhosts in  need with less than two listings.  All that is written is "If you meet the eligibility criteria, we’ll invite you to apply and start sending out grants in late April 2020."

Does that  mean that EVERY Superhost with two or less listings who have been Superhosts for more than a year will receive an invitation?  Or is there some additional criteria, and only SOME Superhosts with two or less listings who have been Superhosts for more than a year will be sent invitations?

That's a clarification that I would like to see.

Thank you, Lizzie, for continuing to be an active supporter of this community.  All is well with my family in New York, we're doing our best to stay safe and be appropriate in our choices, and I wish continuing health for all those impacted. 

Jude

Note to Lizzie - It's Jude7, not Jude17! I miss being plain ol' Jude   🙂

[Maggie425]

Sigh...I am just so disappointed that AirBnB chose to protect the travelers and not the hosts in any way. For years I really thought this was such a great company and felt like I wasn’t dealing with a bottom dollar corporation, but events of late have really let me down.  

Essentially we ( the hosts) are like your employees- or more like a franchise- and yet you totally bulldozed us in this crisis without consideration for our financial needs. 

Many of us rely on this, as a business, for our household income. You’ve made your billions off of this exact fact- and yet when this unfolded you did nothing to protect your extended staff. 

You give us the choice of a strict policy in order to protect ourselves from unforeseen circumstances. This would be one of those. I am not in the business of insurance- that’s why travel insurance companies exist. If a traveler chooses not to have insurance, and books a place with a strict policy, it is their gamble. Whether they get sick with a stomach bug, their boss doesn’t let them take the time off, they change their plans, a pandemic arises, their flight gets cancelled- NONE of these are the fault of the host so why should the host have to refund 100% of their stay when we have set up our homes with a different policy?

There were so many options you can have offered where the traveler and hosts would share the loss of this and yet you didn’t:

- 50/50 split with traveler and host 

- Full credit for future travel 

- 50% refund and 50% travel credit 

- 120% travel credit for future travel 

- Future travel plus 4th night free 

- etc 

Its no more our fault as it is theirs that this happened. 

To all the hosts out there- I’m sorry you have lost your income and hope you can get through this time and we can all go back to being amazing hosts soon! 

[Tory13]

Does anyone know how this is meant to work, do we as hosts apply for the loss of earnings or are we assigned them. I have lost income from

March & April and possibly pushing into may. 

[Piotr48]

To qualify, hosts who offer a place to stay must:

• Only share their primary or secondary residence—no more than 2 active listings
• Show a reliance on Airbnb as a vital source of income
• Have a verified identity
• Have been a Superhost for 1+ years
• Have lost a significant percentage of their earnings due to COVID-19

[Louise0]

I'm very concerned about the criteria used to define eligibility for grants via the Superhost Relief Fund.  I have 7 active listings, however they are all various configurations of the same property, which is my family home. 

I have to do it this way because there isn't sufficient flexibility in Airbnb's platform design to allow me to incorporate all these configurations under one single listing.   

Surely I'm not to be deemed ineligible simply because I'm forced to use a multiple-listings approach as a workaround to bad platform design?   That would be absurd and manifestly unfair. 

[Christian362]

Like many here I am disappointed. They should offer 25% to any host who had cancellations between March 14th and May 31st and not depending on the cancellation policy. My apartment is in the center of town and it makes sense for me to offer a moderate policy. I want to please my guests and give them flexibility with their travel plans. But as soon as the Corona issue hit Spain, all my bookings for the rest of March, April and May (and now also June) were cancelled by guests. Great for them, but I still have utility bills to pay.

[Carol5536]

I used my superhost voucher for a booking in April.  The booking was refunded, but not the voucher!  Excuse me????  That was my reward, my bonus for the year.  Everyone else gets their money back except me - and I technically work for the organisation?????!!!!!!

[Michael293]

Same thing happened to me. We used our $100 Superhost reward to book a place for my daughters graduation from college. The commencement was cancelled so we cancelled our Airbnb (2 months ahead) and were informed our $100 voucher was not redeemable.

[Evan-And-Associates0]

All over the world, partners exhibit their solidarity. Countries to citizens, companies to their employees. 

Airbnb choose to provide 100% protection to their cash paying clients against 25%*50%=12,5% protection to their asset committing partners. -The latter also needs yet to be seen, as today got another cancellation reservation without any amount being compensated, neither as perky policy nor by the 250M fund.-

Last year during the period February-June, i had generated at least 30x the proposed support and i am a member more than 9 years. Although that the support is a direct cash payment from Airbnb to hosts, which is necessary during these times, they should also enhance our partnership by forwarding future business. Credit a bigger portion of the actual lost income against future fees. 

Prove me this time that you care about hosts, as partners not as dispensable suppliers.

[Marcus21]

My concern with the grant money is the stipulation you can only have two active listings, what about hosts who rent rooms in their home? The income for these is likely way way lower as they aren’t popular choices in my experience and yet in terms of eligibility this could knock you out of the picture/You won’t even get an invite I don’t feel, a person who rents 3 rooms is in the same boat as a person who rents 3 PROPERTIES.

i don’t think this is a good way to base the criteria, it should be purely down to how much you earn comparative to a living wage in your country and if it’s your only source of income. 

[Dorothy134]

I agree! too many stipulations including you have to be a host for a full year.

[Michael293]

Yes, the 2 listing limit should not apply to those of us who rent our rooms in the home we live in!

[Huseyin2]

Airbnb has pushed us to sign up for the moderate cancellation policy and now using that against us? Most of my cancelled reservations were with moderate cancellation policies. I feel let down after having followed Airbnb's advice. Also, I have been a Superhost for 3 quarters, so the option of applying for the grant goes out the window as well. So no compensation whatsoever for responsible hosts like myself who's done nothing other than what the Airbnb has advised. Is this really the best they can come up with? I wouldn't call this a 'partnership'.