SuperHost Relief Fund fine print

[Jeremy193]

Just spent 2 hours messaging with the folks at AirBnB support... couldn't get a definitive answer, so wanted to see if anyone here had thoughts.

The fine print on the SuperHost Relief Fund eligibility says its by invitation and the criteria for eligibility includes no more than 2 active listings.

In my case, I have one property that has 3 separate listings.  The property is entirely dedicated to AirBnB and I'm on track to have $25000 in cancellations for April and May.  This is also 100% of my income.

Is your interpretation that I'm automatically disqualified from being invited/applying because my single property has 3 listings?  And, if so, can I simply delist one of the listings for a month or two (let's face it, the new bookings aren't rolling in very quickly) to be at 2 active listings?  Seems like a dumb workaround, but so does excluding SuperHosts that work 100% of the time in their AirBnB business.

And, yes, I know about the 25% thing... I'm specifically talking about the SuperHost Relief fund.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

@Jeremy193  Everything you need to know is contained in the "by invitation only" there. What they're really saying is that they have no intention of making this a transparent process or actually reviewing thousands of applications. There's no way in hell that they'll release the actual criteria that inform the selection process.

And there's no guarantee that this is going to happen at all. "Late April" isn't very far away chronologically, but in terms of how the news cycle moves it's almost an eternity. Long enough for the press to forget about following up on a marketing stunt from weeks earlier.

I think your odds of being one of the Chosen Ones for this program are about on par with winning the lottery, so please don't make any plans in anticipation of it. Whatever you need to do to keep your head above water now, do it. Hopefully in the process you will develop a financial plan that is not dependent on Airbnb.

[Louise0]

Exactly, @Anonymous.

I, like so many others, will be excluded because we don't meet the 2 listings rule, even though these multiple listings are all different configurations of the same listing; a clumsy workaround necessitated by the platform's inelegant design. 

But this is all moot, because we all know the process will be far from transparent and the criteria largely subjective.  The chosen will be those whom Airbnb believes can best be used to  repair Airbnb's image.  My expectation is that the lucky winners will need to have no qualms about allowing Airbnb to use the recipient's own story to Airbnb's advantage and also be prepared to publicly acknowledge Airbnb's generosity.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong, and there's no Faustian pact required. However, given events to date, I don't believe my cynicism is unwarranted.

[Cormac0]

@Anonymous 

Nailed it, as usual in one.

[Helen3]

No you can't delist one of your listing so that you fit their criteria of having two listings @Jeremy193  they will still be able to see you had three listings.

It is always difficult when there is a cut off point and you are on the other side of it.

If you have no other source of income, can you look at mortgage breaks and applying for welfare. Here in the UK there are lots of jobs opening up in the key worker sector such as supermarkets, health and care, post office, farm etc.

Might be worth you looking into what's available in your country?

[James-Michael2]

There was no thought or provision for someone like me who decided to make this my full-time income 14 months ago. I’ve had over 70 bookings in a 12 month. Five star rating met super host status twice in a row. It is my only source of income. But I won’t see a dime. My cancellation policy was too easy for people to get out of it without it costing them hardly anything. I havent Been a super host for 12 months in a row I’m on month 11. So they’re not doing a thing for me. As for being able to get an SBA loan. I just now been in business for 12 months. So I won’t qualify for that either. Do I think Airbnb are there for me? Nope. And I generated over $50,000 in revenue for them in a year. March April and May are our busiest months we had $27,000 in cancellations. They really do need to rethink how they’re going to give this money out and to whom. 

[Anonymous]

@James-Michael2   Airbnb has only pledged $10 million here, and that's a pittance in comparison to the positive press it buys them - considering they've reportedly suspended marketing spend to save $800 million. 

As much of a help as it would be to a lot of people, I don't really see a practical reason for Airbnb to hand money out to people just because they've chosen to make hosting their sole source of income. If the travel market rebounds, it will do so in a devastated economy - the kind in which Airbnb will have no trouble recruiting new hosts who are newly unemployed and desperate for an income source. Hosts are the company's bread and butter, but also a completely replaceable resource.

[James-Michael2]

I see your point but in markets where there are limited licenses per the city guidelines and voted regulations good luck in having a host use your platform when you hang them out to dry.  They won’t be able to replace those of us who are in a high demand city or resort that easily.  That’s fine they don’t want to help us.  Just don’t act like the doing ALL of us a favor and spreading that all over the world.  I will make sure the facts are spelled out so that the other 4554 people in my city who host know that we are not to count on them 

[Arturas3]

How can it be

[Sandra126]

There have been surveys in the past asking what percentage of the income is from Airbnb etc. Imagine they will start with those . I can t remember how I filled it out,  a loose guesstimate. 

[Colin150]

Has anyone actually received the grant or relief funds?  It is frustrating to kee getting emails in how wonderful ABNB is yet we have not heard a **bleep** thing. I called them this morning and the folks on the phone are oblivious to the relief funds ... seem like VRBO may be a better option they did not place the entire burden on the host - it was shared between guest and host which is fair as it is no one's fault. 

We qualify for the funds but no news test - maybe it is time to address this on ABNB social media channels - twitter - https://twitter.com/Airbnb  facebook - https://www.facebook.com/airbnb/ Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/airbnb/ 

[Jeremy193]

I’m not hopeful.  Feels like more of a good PR stunt than actual support.  Supposedly tenure as Superhost and actual losses are criteria.  I’m pretty high on both of those lists, but I don’t have any faith that there will be an invite in my inbox anytime soon.  Sadly, I’m sure this program will run out of money as quickly as every other current economical support program has. 

[Stephanie]

Hiya @Jeremy193 et al,

Thanks for sharing your question. Here's some more information on how we are managing the Superhost relief fund for Homes hosts:

Who qualifies as a Homes host?

The spirit of this program is about supporting long-tenured hosts who are in danger of losing their primary homes. To do that, we’ve developed specific criteria for who we invite.

For homes hosts that means:

• Hosts who share their primary or secondary residence—with no more than 2 active properties
• Superhosts for 1+ years
• Verified identity
• Reliance on Airbnb as a vital source of income
• Have lost a significant percentage of their earnings due to COVID-19

How do invites work?

We started sending out invites in mid-April and we will be sending them weekly through Mid-May to eligible hosts around the world. We’re prioritising invitations based on a number of factors, including how long people have been a Superhost and how significantly their earnings have been impacted due to COVID-19. That means, most invitations so far have gone to people who have been Superhosts for 4+ years. All invites will be sent by mid-May, and if you’re invited to apply, you’ll get an email with a link to the application. 

A specialised team is reviewing every application and keeping hosts' information discreet. Everyone who applies will get a response within 2 weeks, and grants will range from $1,000 to $5,000.

Please do let me know if you have any other questions I can help with!

Thanks,

Stephanie

[Ken-And-Desrae0]

It does appear that within the Superhost Relief fund, there is a measure of hype and fanfare to garner marketing miles. One small indication is the way that the goal posts have been moved. The original criteria listed in Stephanie's post, mention, "superhost for 1+ years".

Compare this with the latest "update from the CEO" dated 1 May 2020. This is an excerpt ...

"To start, we’re inviting the longest-standing members of our community—which typically means they’ve had Superhost status for four or more years."  .

The words, "To start ....." implies that the fund will be rolled out at some stage to superhosts with less than 4 years status, but this is already the 1st May, two weeks until the cutoff. While the principle behind the Relief Fund may possibly be a noble one, this does appear to be a departure from the original criteria.

To cap it all, a fund established for the relief of the COVID19-hit tourism industry in South Africa, will be distributed solely along racial lines; according to the level of melanin in your skin. That's if the money even reaches the recipients, as it will more likely end up in the pockets of the the politically-connected anyway.

Best of luck to you all in the rest of the world!

[Jennifer1421]

@Stephanie, and all others who are interested in this program:

I'm confused by the eligibility criteria for this granting program. You've laid it out above, Steph, and the following is from the CEO recap on April 28th, addressing the fund:

"To start, we’re inviting the longest-standing members of our community—which typically means they’ve had Superhost status for four or more years. We’re also comparing these hosts’ earnings from this year and last year to make sure we’re inviting hosts who’ve been most impacted by the current crisis."

Yet, the host who posted in this thread: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Did-anyone-else-get-the-Super-host-relief-fund-invite-but-d...

who, while he certainly has been a host for a long time, (and in this instance, missed the invite) appears to have not hosted guests since June of 2018, and July of 2017 for his respective listings. I'm unable to reconcile how Covid-19 might have affected his earnings year over year, when he doesn't appear to have had any. I realize it's possible that guests he may have had  guests in the interim that may have neglected to leave a review, but it seems unlikely that all guests for both properties, for a period of 2 and 3 years wouldn't have left one.

Is it possible that the algo that is finding eligible hosts and sending invitations has issues?

Is that perhaps why the program has been so delayed?

Or, has the criteria been changed again?

@Jeremy193 @Anonymous @Ken-And-Desrae0 @Colin150 @Sandra126 @James-Michael2 et al

PS - on another (and far less important) note, Steph, can you tell me why my superhost badge has disappeared from my profile here?