has any actually gotten an invite?

[Marty169]

Has anyone actually gotten an invite for the grant from airbnb, starting to worry. 

[Donald28]

Nope. They originally said "late april" then that changed to early may I think. 

Is anyone really going to get a free $5000 from airbnb? I highly doubt it. 

[Elad27]

No

[Anonymous]

@Marty169   If Airbnb intended to have an open application process, with transparency about how they would allocate funds, it obviously wouldn't be "invitation only."  Perhaps a lucky few will benefit from this PR stunt, but it would be foolish to wait around in anticipation of an act of charity from a for-profit company. Please, do whatever you must to keep your head above water, and assume that no handouts are forthcoming from Airbnb.

[Marty169]

Thanks Andrew - don't see how the CEO would lie to all of us like this

[Anonymous]

@Marty169   I'm not saying he was lying. But the devil is in the details. At no point did Airbnb guarantee a grant for everyone. 

Considering that Airbnb suspended most of their ad budget, what I think we can expect is that they will choose the beneficiaries that they can leverage for positive media coverage, which is basically free advertising.  

Your marijuana-themed Airbnb listings seems like great fun, I think it's a brilliant concept, but you might ask yourself if Airbnb wants to go to the press as a company that chooses this particular type of host to subsidize.

[Robin4]

@Marty169 

The invite thing has been kept under wraps Marty but here is the eligibility criteria!

It is estimated that there are currently 85,000 Airbnb Superhosts of which 48% will meet the eligibility requirements.

The compensation fund is $17,000,000 so, lets work that out.....

48% of 85,000 = 40,800

17,000,000 ÷  40,800..........er, really...........$416.66  each!

I suppose it's better than a 'smack in the eye with a bent stick'!       or is it!

Cheers.....Rob

@Donald28  @Anonymous  @Elad27 

[Udo6]

@Robin4 

According to Airbnb, there are not tens of thousands, but hundreds of thousands of superhosts.

Which for this calculation would mean that the estimated compensation (per host) would be about 10 times lower :- (

[Susan17]

@Udo6

There aren't hundreds of thousands of superhosts. There are only about 650,000 - 700,000 hosts in total, and even those figures are likely to be inflated. Number of superhosts is estimated to be somewhere between 7% and 10%.

Superhost Relief Fund now stands at $17 million, with the extra $7 million being contributed after the company raised an additional $2 billion in "investor funding" (mostly debt)

Nonetheless, it would be unwise for any superhost to pin their hopes on receiving a payout from this fund. It will almost certainly be strategically disbursed, for maximum PR benefit. Better to assume you'll get nothing, and count it as a major bonus if you do receive a windfall. 

[Udo6]

@Susan17 

I've found the "hundreds of thousands superhosts" info here:

https://www.airbnb.com/superhostrelief

Will all eligible Superhosts be invited to apply?

There are hundreds of thousands of Superhosts around the world. While everyone in our community is feeling the impact of COVID-19, we are using this fund to offer meaningful aid to some of the Superhosts whose earnings have been hit hardest.

That means not all eligible Superhosts will be invited to apply for a relief grant. We’ll prioritize invitations based on Superhost tenure, and award relief grants to hosts that demonstrate the most urgent financial need.

[Susan17]

Lol! Well they must have suddenly bestowed Superhost status upon a minimum of 33% of their 650K to 700K hosts then, as opposed to the 7% - 10% they've always claimed since the inception of the SH programme 6 years ago!

Take that "hundreds of thousands" with a huge pinch of salt, @Udo6 - Airbnb's "stats" change like the wind, depending on their motives and objectives. No doubt, a pre-emptive strike, ahead of fielding the inevitable onslaught of frantic queries from around mid-May, from batallions of superhosts who didn't receive any payout from the fund.. "Oh we only had $17 million to share out between hundreds of thousands of superhosts - that's why so many of you got nada!" 🙂 

[Udo6]

@Susan17 

Makes sense :- )
Do not believe any statistic that you haven't forged yourself...

[Robin4]

@Udo6 

Udo, don't argue with @Susan17  she knows what she is talking about, probably more than anyone else outside the number crunchers in the company, and I re-iterate there are around 650,000 Airbnb Hosts, worldwide.

Don't confuse the number of hosts with the number of listings. It is estimated that Airbnb's 6+ million listings are run by 650,000 hosts. 

Most hosts will list two properties....... 12% list from 4 to 10 properties.....5% list 11-20 properties....some list 100 properties and I am aware of two that list 400 properties and one that lists 1,000.

The number of Airbnb hosts statistical analysts have found has been around  650.000

It is once again, reliably estimated, that 10% of that 650,000 hosts are current superhosts. 30% have been superhosts at some point over the past 6 years but many have either lost that status or become inactive. 

The way Airbnb will probably play this out, they will use the broad eligibility criteria that they posted in that link of yours, which I posted as a screen shot of further back up this page.

Then they will first invite those superhosts who have held the status longest. 20-24 concurrent assessments will receive an invitation first, then the 16-19 assessment superhosts will be invited to apply....and then the 12-15s .

I would imagine that not much, if any will filter down to the superhosts  who only have a few assessments.

The other thing which will govern consideration is how dependant the host is on that Airbnb income that has been lost....and this is where some of the hosts with only a few superhost assessments behind them may actually get some consideration.

Udo, you can be sure of one thing, the Superhosts with 2 or less listings that have been worth the most to Airbnb will be those who will be considered first. It will play out as a..... best for the company, rather than needs of the host, scenario!

That's the way I see it!

Cheers.......Rob

[Udo6]

@Robin4, I do not argue with Susan and I do not confuse the number of hosts with the number of listings.

The real question is, why does Airbnb speak of hundreds of thousands of superhosts on their official superhost relief page when there can obviously only be tens of thousands of superhosts (as your statistics and Susan's extensive knowledge confirm)?

For me, there can only be one plausible answer to this question, and I fully agree with Susan's point of view.

I wouldn't be surprised if either the actual payout from this fund is much lower for the vast majority of superhosts or if many of the superhosts invited to apply were rejected (which both brings me back to the factor of 10 mentioned above ;- )

[Robin4]

@Udo6 

Udo, mate, it's a stunt. nothing more!

I have been a Superhost for 19 consecutive assessment periods, I have never cancelled a reservation, my response rate is 100%, I have hosted Airbnb guests for an average of 312 nights per year for the past three years, I have never made a claim against Airbnb or a guest, I have an rating of 4.93 and I have one listing. 

According to the stated criteria I would be in the top category of superhosts to receive an invite to claim this much touted $5,000 grant.

I haven't received that invite email!!!

I don't want it, we are doing okay and I would prefer my invite to go to someone who really needs it but, that's not the issue! I have not been given the opportunity to state my situation. 

This is just another lot of company hot air and my feeling is the only reason it has been floated is to gain more credible leverage applying for assistance to bolster the company's bottom line!

I really think that $17 m was never on the table to start with!

Forget it Udo,  I hope you can get by in these difficult times and one day we might meet on the other side.

All the best mate.

Cheers......Rob