I'm a superhost in NYC, and I'm suffering like everyone if not more given the city's Covid19 devastation (and the high fixed cost of mortgage, taxes, etc I still have to pay :(. Having said that, here're are some thoughts to put things in perspective:
1) I could have not imagined Airbnb acting in any different way with guests who were coming to NYC from mid March to end of May - how could they possibly not be given a 100% refund in such circumstances; many of my International guests have travel bans who even prevent them from entering the US + coming to NYC now could pose a major health risk to anyone; not to mention that all attractions are close so their experience would have been having to stay quarantined in their Airbnb - nonsense. So as frustrating and damaging as this compulsory "change of cancellation policy" may be, I stand by Airbnb for making the right decision to protect guests - who can still decide to cancel completely and not get a travel credit; in which case Airbnb also refunds 100% their fee.
To me this decision was just good business and is creating guest loyalty.
2) I saw some people arguing that they should have trusted their hosts' judgement and leaving it up to them to manage their own business (cancellations)...I disagree, Airbnb has to maintain a consistent guest experience and trust in its brand across the globe thus making a corporate decision on how cancellations should be managed during this time was a good call - this will ultimately benefit all of us hosts in the long term (I know they could have communicated it to us first but things were moving so rapidly that I have a forgiving attitude here)
2) I am personally very grateful to Airbnb for having created a platform that allowed me and millions of hosts around 191 countries to figure out a new way of making a living (and quitting a stressful corporate career in my case) -Chapeau ! For that, in my view, they deserve a little bit of patience and solidarity from our side.
3) We are all free to leave the platform if it doesn't work for us. It's a personal decision. I don't see a point in being so critical of them; yes in providing constructive feedback. They're not a monopoly, take your business wherever suits you better and makes you happy.
4) Instead of perceiving Airbnb as greedy, always trying to look for their own benefit (as some people here suggested) I see them as a company doing their best to try to help millions of guests and hosts to accommodate their plans and resources to this new terrible situation albeit prioritizing guests ( like almost emulating the Amazon model of putting customers first - that we can all agree it has been pretty successful and created one of the most valuable companies in the world).
And don't get me wrong, I have my own frustrations and constructive feedback to Airbnb on certain aspects (specially reviews!) but I think they're managing very well and empathetically this unexpected global challenge.
