Maintaining my Superhost status during Covid-19 pandemic

[Janet983]

Hello everyone. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, I blocked out my calendar for summer 2020 as my guest accommodation is in my large, beautiful garden and I couldn’t risk visitors bringing the virus to me. I close down in the winter as we are essentially summer holiday stays.  Therefore,  I have had no guests this year and am assuming I will have my Superhost status automatically cancelled.
This seems extremely unfair as we have to work hard at getting that status and don’t want to lose it because of being cautious about the risk to our health from this terrible virus. How many other hosts are in this situation? Surely, in these circumstances,  Airbnb should remove their minimum of 10 reservations criteria this year so that we can start 2021 with the Superhost status that we gained in 2019.  What are your thoughts on this? Did you also do the right thing and prevent holiday guests bringing the virus to you by blocking out your calendar?

[Marga-and-Bart0]

@Sarah977 Thank you so much for your help! 😉

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Catherine-Powell @Admin

This yesterday and today in SF news: 

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Airbnb-tells-its-Superhosts-to-resume-16931102.php?utm_c...

Can someone please clarify this? As a 30 times Superhost, a home share couple in our 70's with risk factors; I decided that risking my life for a badge, during a raging pandemic, was not wise.

This is welcome news, and I'd love clarification on the following:  “We’ve heard some of our Hosts are still not yet ready to resume hosting, so select, existing Superhosts with health and safety concerns related to the pandemic are eligible for an extension,” the company said in a statement late Friday afternoon. 

I'm wondering what steps I need to do to qualify to be a "select existing Superhost with health and safety concerns" to secure an extension.

Home share hosts are a special category, and should remain so. We are your "poster child" senior home share hosts.  It has been a source of considerable anxiety to us to contemplate losing our hard-earned and -maintained status due to a policy better suited to remote hosts. Remote hosts have not suffered from the pandemic the way we have. We are eager to reopen, we really miss hosting. We have weighed the stress of possibly exposing ourselves to a deadly virus, vs our desire to reopen our home.  Survival wins, of course. We are still in purple tier in our county, which has retained the indoor mask policy - one of 3 counties in California. 

Thank you for your attention to this. Gratitude and appreciation to you!

Kitty & Creek Norris

[Emilie]

Hi @Kitty-and-Creek0, 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Superhost process! If you think something should be discussed, based on your experience this term, we’d recommend you contact Customer Support after April 1st. 

I hope this helps 🙂

Emilie

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Emilie 

Thanks for this. I don't care at all about the "gift certificate " awarded to Superhosts, I am more interested in the access to dedicated Superhost support if it is ever needed. 

[Sarah977]

@Emilie  I don't think you understood @Kitty-and-Creek0's post.

They, like I do, want to know how we can maintain our Superhost status, if we still aren't comfortable with hosting a home-share due to Covid health and safety concerns, as spoken about in that article they linked to. 

Contacting support after April 1st, when we are currently slated to lose that status, is not useful advice. 

As it stands, my Superhost page says I will lose Superhost on April 1st, due to not meeting the number of stays requirement.

So if that article has any truth to it, rather than just being some PR stunt, we need to know how to be "eligible for an extention".

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Sarah977 

Exactly! Thanks for restating that. 

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Kitty-and-Creek0 and @Sarah977,

I appreciate you sharing your concerns with us regarding keeping your Superhost status despite the Covid situation worldwide. As you know, we have announced that the criteria are going to be the usual four again. We understand that a few Hosts might still be unable to reach them for legitimate reasons. We recommend that you contact our Support teams after the next assessment in April, should you lose your status and think it was entirely outside of your control.

Kindly,

Catherine

[Sarah977]

@Catherine-Powell  What good does contacting support do after we have already been stripped of our Superhost status?

"Should you lose your status"? 

" think it was entirely out of your control"?

I already know I will lose my status because I have been closed to bookings since March 2020 as I consider it to risky for me to home-share. 

What does "entirely out of your control" mean? That unless I was prevented by govt. restrictions from hosting, that I should have been willing to risk my health to get bookings?

You are being tone deaf to what is being said.

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Catherine-Powell @Sarah977 

A pandemic is definitely circumstance beyond our control. No question about it. The risks of serious illness, hospitalization and death during a pandemic are definitely too great. Guests from elsewhere being exposed to covid in our community has been too great, restaurants, stores and services have been compromised.  Our region in N California just thankfully dropped from purple to red status, and masks are still required well into March. The entire tourism and +lodging industry has suffered, on every level.

Hospitals in our region are still clogged. Doctors are wearing breathing apparatus while caring for in-patients. In a week I will have necessary surgery, Covid permitting, if a bed is available for a day or two. I've been warned that my surgery may be cancelled due to Covid, as many still have, to date.

Our age and risk factors as elders are definitely not of our own creation. We are personally very healthy, fit,  active, vaccinated and boosted, for Covid and as always, for the Flu. Reality dictates we are not willing to risk our health and longevity for joy and income.  

A substantial group of locals is demonstrating in public places and at the health commissioners house against masking and vaccinations. We spent the last 2 years barely leaving the house. It is too crazy out there with the unmasked & unvaccinated.  We seriously don't know who to trust in public places,  when people are still getting sick & dying from Covid in our community. 

The threat of losing our 30 times Superhost status has definitely caused a lot of stress for us. It feels like punishment for deciding on self preservation over income, and missing the joy of hosting.

Remote, investment, and whole house hosts have kept hosting during the pandemic, they have nothing to lose, and when travel restrictions were lifted, they quickly reopened. We have had everything to lose, and if another Covid wave shows up, we may have to put our hosting on "pause" again. Not a pleasant or welcome thought, but reality has its own agenda, something beyond our control. 

Again, home share hosts are a different category, and it is unfair to lump us with the rest who have had no personal risk. We are eager for this to be over, no question about it!

[Emilie]

@Sarah977 @Kitty-and-Creek0 In this situation, the Support team will deal with each Superhost loss on a case by case basis to support any who lose their status for legitimate reasons, as @Catherine-Powell mentioned.   

No two Hosts are the same, nor no two situations. This why we urge Hosts to reach out to CS on April 1 (when the Superhost quarter is concluded) to share those specific situations directly with the team. This also includes government restrictions on a local level.  

I appreciate it can be frustrating that we don't simply post "if x than y" for your point "What does "entirely out of your control" mean? ". Understand that with that level of detail on case-by-case, it would not be fair to post a sweeping statement about criteria.   

Catherine is reading all comments and responded as much as possible, with the support of your Community Center team. As always, we appreciate the constructive feedback you often share.

Thanks 🙂

Emilie

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Emilie 

Thanks for your thoughtful response. We know that CS is totally busy with a flood of daily issues, and trust that Support will be patiently available to listen and assist the great many of us who still share our homes, onsite, and in person. It has been a long couple of years for us in isolation. We are all eager to reopen and resume what we are passionate about - sharing our homes and communities with the equally eager guests, who come to renew themselves, relax, recreate, and feast on what we offer with our unique homes and situations. Nourishing them is what we do, it is the essence of the hospitality profession, and it brings us great joy.  - Kitty

 @Sarah977 @Catherine-Powell 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Sarah977 

It has happened. E-mail today says we have lost our Superhost status. We must be only one among a great many. We are both well into our 70's, reopened a mere 2 weeks after my new knee was installed. Feeling lucky to get that slot for the surgery. 

The good news is that after 2 years in purple tier for covid, we spent one month in red (while I was quarantined for total knee replacement) and finally, at long last, on our 2nd week in orange tier. Health care is still understaffed, overstressed, and the hospital is filled with very sick people - many deferred medical issues due to covid, and still too many covid patients...

About to get my 2nd booster shot Wednesday !

Still masked!

Kitty

[Sarah977]

@Emilie  I really don't understand. We already know  that we will lose Superhost on April 1st. What is the point of contacting Airbnb about it after it has been taken away from us?