[UPDATED April 10] How hosts can provide housing for COVID-19 responders

[Airbnb]

Many of you have expressed an interest in hosting healthcare staff, and first responders on the front lines. So we wanted to let you know about a new program we launched to help you do just that. Airbnb is partnering with our hosts to connect 100,000 COVID-19 healthcare staff and first responders with comfortable and convenient places to stay. 

We know you might be wondering how the Frontline Stays program works, whether or not your space is eligible, and how to apply. We’ve answered these questions and more at Airbnb.com/COVID. If you’re interested in applying for the program, you can do so using the online form at Airbnb.com/COVID19relief. 

As always, we appreciate the resilience and generosity of hosts in the Airbnb community. We know this is a challenging time for so many of you, and your desire to help others is such an inspiration. Thank you again for all you do!

Updated April 10, 2020

We’re so inspired by your enthusiasm for the new Frontline Stays program! We know you still have questions about how it works, so we wanted to take a moment to answer some of them here.

What kinds of guests can I expect to host as part of the Frontline Stays program?

Tens of thousands of COVID-19 responders around the world are looking for temporary housing right now. Many are nurses and doctors traveling to impacted areas to support local hospital staff, medical staff burdened by long commutes and back-to-back shifts, and relief workers who are exposed to patients every day and are concerned for the health of their families—especially those with elderly parents or infants at home. 

I’ve blocked off my calendar but want to help. How long should I leave my calendar open to participate in the program? 

We recommend opening up your calendar through July 31, 2020. Keep in mind that there’s only one calendar associated with your listing. Dates you make available can potentially be reserved by any guest, whether or not they’re a COVID-19 responder. If you only want to host COVID-19 responders at this time, you’ll need to turn off Instant Book so you have more control over who can reserve your space. The normal penalties associated with declining bookings don’t apply to requests from responders, so you don’t have to worry about that. 

Who can book through this program?

Healthcare staff and first responders must be either affiliated with partner organizations or reviewed by Airbnb prior to check-in. This process helps ensure responders have a COVID-19 work assignment and are familiar with safety protocols. If Airbnb is unable to confirm a guest's COVID-related work prior to check-in, the reservation will be canceled.  

How will I know if a guest is a COVID-19 responder? 

These guests will have a special COVID-19 designation on their booking requests and confirmations. So whether you have Instant Book turned on or not, you’ll be able to identify COVID-19 responders right away.

How should I price my space?

Many COVID-19 responders who are signing up through our program are in need of free or deeply discounted listings because they’re paying out of pocket for their stays. If you can offer COVID-19 responders a space for free, please consider doing so. 

If you’re not currently hosting on Airbnb but want to provide free stays for COVID-19 responders, sign up for the program here. 

If you’re already a host on Airbnb, sign up to host COVID-19 responders here—you’ll be able to set the price at your full rate, at a discount, or for free.

How do I set a discounted rate for COVID-19 responders?

If you’re a host with an active listing on Airbnb, you can set a discount for COVID-19 responders when you sign up to host healthcare staff and first responders. If you don’t have a listing yet but you’d like to help, create a new Airbnb listing first and then sign up to set a discounted rate for responders.

Once you set a discount, we’ll automatically apply it to reservations made by COVID-19 responders only, and you’ll get the price breakdown when you receive the booking request or Instant Book reservation. Please keep in mind that your calendar won’t reflect the discounted price for COVID-19 responders.

I’m trying to opt in with a discounted rate, and it’s not letting me. Why is that?

Thanks for your feedback on this issue. There was a technical issue with the opt-in experience for some regions, but that should be fixed now. If you’re still having trouble with this, please let us know in the comments.

We want to remind you that we’ve answered even more questions in our Resource Center article, so please check that out for additional information about the program.

[Yiwei3]

@Lizzie yes it is!  It was fixed a couple of days ago.  Thanks!

[Lizzie]

Great, thanks @Yiwei3. : )

[Helen350]

@Stephanie - Can we just host as normal, using normal platform, or will it somehow be blocked?  Not to accept tourists, cos they should not be traveling, but 'key workers' as they call them in the UK. Because not all key workers are hospital staff working with Covid 19 patients, there are still home carers, social workers & community doctors, GPs needing accommodation. We can come to our own agreements re social distancing & cleaning!

(Nb. UK government hotel bans DO allow accommodation providers to provide rooms for key workers.)

[Susan17]

I swear, this bunch of incompetents couldn't organise a knees-up in a brewery.

By all means, make your space available for medical professionals and first-responders - but do so through a reputable organisation with local links and boots on the ground, who actually know and care about what they're doing: who have safe, sensible protocols in place; and who aren't implementing a poorly-planned, potentially dangerous and hastily cobbled-together PR-focused "initiative", just so they can bathe themselves in glory, at the expense of others. 

Most regions have had established temporary housing programmes for COVID responders in place for many weeks. Offer your home through one of those.. Safer and more secure all round, for both the hosts and guests.

[Betsy13]

@Susan17. Do you know of any reputable organizations that we as hosts can reach out to? In the US for me and for hosts elsewhere? I would love to help first responders.  But it sounds like Airbnb's initiative is a disaster... I'd love to connect to those organizations directly. 

[Erica1023]

Wonderful! But when I click on "offer your space", it just takes me to my listing. How do I sign up?

[Hilary79]

@Erica1023 

On the left hand side, click the box to select your property.  Another menu will open and you'll need to go through the check list.  At the very end, "save" your settings.

BTW, the "save" option didn't show on a mobile device for me.  I had to add my properties via laptop.

[Erica1023]

Got it, thanks! 

[Alexandra316]

@Airbnb there still doesn't seem to be an option to offer a discounted stay. The only option is to host for free. I at least need to recoup some costs. Can you offer any guidance on this?

[Sarah2384]

@Alexandra316 On the main menu for opting-in to host COVID responders there is a section where you can set your normal rate, a discounted rate, or offer free stays. However, the "box" where you can enter your discounted rate appears to be "broken" -- can't click on it or type in it... @Airbnb will have to fix this.

[Mark116]

We just opted in, does anyone know if the 3 day waiting period between guests is automatically done by airbnb or if we would have to do it manually? 

[Hilary79]

@Mark116 

It's automatic - and likely has been added to ALL reservations that you have on your calendar.

[Hilary79]

@Stephanie 

I just registered my properties for this program, and would be happy to help.   HOWEVER, as @Yiwei3  reported, the 72-hour blocking is automatically occurring on ALL PENDING RESERVATIONS - even those I have this November!  

Airbnb is blocking off extra time for reservations that are too far in the future.

Whereas I agree that we don't know what the future holds, I recommend doing the auto-blocking through the end of April, or perhaps even May, then reevaluate as needed (and please notify us hosts!).   If the auto-blocking isn't corrected, I unfortunately will need to withdraw my properties from this program, please don't make me do that.  

[Yiwei3]

I'm also having issues where I had to opt out and unblock those dates, but when someone tries to book, they get something saying the booking is unsafe? @Airbnb 

[Inna22]

@Hilary79 where do you see it? On your regular calendar? I do not see anything blocked on mine