Why would I take any more Airbnb reservations?

[Ray43]

I had a guest not show up for a 4 day stay the day before Christmas.  They didn't cancel until today, 2 days after their due date and Airbnb refunded them all of their money because one in their party tested positive for Covid.   I couldn't rebook my place during peak season because the guest didn't cancel.   Why even have a cancellation policy if Airbnb will give a first time guest back their money instead of supporting a superhost like me?   I'm seriously considering not accepting any further Airbnb reservations.   We get 80% of our reservations from VRBO anyway, who actually follow the cancellation policy.

SO annoyed at Airbnb right now.   Considering small claims court out of principle.   EVERYTHING on the help site says this guest shouldn't have been refunded after cancelling after their checkin.....

[Ray43]

Airbnb admitted their error and issued a payout to me, so credit to them for that.   They key thing here was that the guest cancelled the day AFTER their checkin and so were not entitled to a refund under the mitigating circumstances option.  

Credit to Airbnb for making it right though I agree with the other posters that it's frustrating that anyone that gets Covid can get a refund.   We recommend to all our guests that they get travel insurance, with this policy Airbnb are essentially making the hosts the travel insurance.

[Huma0]

@Ray43 

Glad to hear you got a positive outcome (although you shouldn't have had to waste your time in getting the payout seeing as it was due under the current policies).

However, regarding travel insurance, it's my understanding that insurers will not pay out when there is a way for the guest to get a refund from Airbnb. So, until Airbnb changes its COVID EC policy, there's little point in the guests having insurance to cover this situation as they wouldn't be able to claim it.

So, yes, Airbnb are essentially making hosts the travel insurance.