Airbnb offers free housing to those affected by the US ban

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

Many of you have read in the news about the recent limits enforced on immigration into the US. It is not my intention to start a political discussion here, however I wanted to let you all know that Airbnb is working with partners around the world and has set up a tool to help provide free housing to refugees and anyone recently barred from entering the US. If you would like to read more about Brian Chesky's announcement, see here.

If you would like to help and offer support, here is how you can: Volunteer My Home

An excellent Community Center guide has just been created on how to volunteer your home, do take a look here for more guidance. 

Thanks so much to you all. 

Lizzie

[Mark26]

Yeah...  I see it...   It's right between the "Stop This Madness" button and the "Why did I ever say anything" button.... 

[David126]

Does go back the main point, AirBnB needs to concentrate on providing a booking service rather than playing Politics.

[Gina32]

Yes like it has been doing in Tasmania, Australia recently.

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

This is obviously a subject that we all have an opinion on, many of which feel very strongly about this in one way or another and I understand once this has been raised here you want to share yours, however as I have mentioned before this was not my intention with this post. Whether you believe or not in the tool Airbnb have set up, this is not a chance to air you political views.

My first priority here in the CC is to make sure that this is a respectful environment for every single one of us, the conversation here is challenging this and comments are becoming increasingly personal. The CC is not the place for this.

Please respect my comments above, if further replying in this thread.

Thank you,

Lizzie

[Joe47]

The company jumped into the political discussion.  They should not have done that - particularly since they're offering others' homes as free places to stay.  

I agree with their political view, by the way - but if the company starts it, it will spark discussion.   

[Helga0]

I get my mails a bit arbitrarily, as I'm changing computers and reconfiguring mailboxes to separate business from private. Sorry to those that addressed me, if I did not answer in a reasonable time. 

I just want to answer to the argument, that airbnb should limit itself to be a booking service. We started renting 2003 and there were already online booking services, mostly advertising services for short term rentals. They got a bit more sophisticated over time and merged into a few big ones, losing efficiency for the advertisers on the way, taking years to make small changes, which half the time did not improve the service. 

Then came airbnb with a very different concept. A booking service. Handling payments. Technologically as advanced as can be. Creating websites and applications that are addictive and fun to use - who of you never travelled around the world on the website or app, just for fun? Doing a bit of "vetting" by creating user profiles that get reviews. 

All of that is a good business  offer and much better than everything that existed before or was copied in the first years (I did not check recently). But that alone would still not explain the success. 

The success comes from the brand image airbnb could create. The lifestyle they represent: young, cool, easy, fast, professional, succesful, free (liberty), sharing, connecting the whole world, making everyone belong everywhere. Etc - you get the updates from Open to Open. And it's even called an Open 😉

That image is a political statement and it's one that allows to make huge amounts of money - to the company and also to us. (Not on the same scale, but still, I'm satisfied with my share). 

If airbnb reduced itself to be only a booking service, it would be gone within a few years. 20 % or less of hosts would be back to look for new booking websites every 2 years and the rest would be out of business, as there is a lot of knowledge involved, which airbnb newbies get served in an easy to handle app on their smartphone. 

About 100 high tech companies made the same decision, to make a public statement, and I'm pretty sure their CEOs thought about it very carefully and decided that it would be useful or even necessary for their brand image and further business success. 

[David126]

@Helga0

I am intrigued to see how #weaccept works in practice, please let us know.

[Helga0]

@David126, we just got the Weaccept link on the French airbnb accounts. I clicked it, but it's very general in the introduction wording, you basically sign up for a) natural disasters b) refugies c) propose a cause for which you want to sign up.

After choosing the causes for which you would provide your space, you get a window to choose which listing and then, like said in another post, you have to choose dates when you would offer your listing. It's not very clear, what it means. 

I wondered if you could opt for dates, like the whole year, in case it's not booked and then get a choice on the disaster. Or if you would wake up one morning with an airbnb ping seeing you booked a person for free for a week or whatever and only afterwards read the news that there was a traincrash or earthquake. 

That should be improved. 

I did not enlist, as I'd like to know how much advance warning I would get and if there is a way to limit the occupation, even if generally It could be at any time of the year. 

Personally, I could only do that short term. 

[Sofie6]

We gladly open our doors. Currently, the sign-up only allows for entering specific dates. Is there a way to make the house available to those in need, and not have to click on all of the dates that the place is available? (It is very cumbersome to have to click around months' worth of bookings.) Is there a function that would just allow it to be available if not already booked?

Two part query: And what if we wanted to make our home, (not listed on Airbnb for rent), available to a family in need? Could we list it on Airbnb for the sole purpose of housing a family in need?

Thanks, 

Sofie.

[David126]

@Sofie6

There is a new policy 

#weaccept

I think that once you have listed your house you can show it as being not available for normal bookings but available for those in need.

[Helen3]

Hi @Sofie6

It's great that you want to help. Have you got in touch with your local refugee organisation?

I don't know about the US, but in the UK some of our refugee organisations work with local communities to offer housing.

This maybe a better option because the refugee will not only be offered local housing through hosts but a range of other support to help them acclimatise to their new homes.

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

Just to let you know, I have moved this thread to the Welcome & Announcements board here in the CC. 

Thanks,

Lizzie