Mandatory 24 Hour Wait Between Bookings?

[Stephan-And-Skye0]

I am reading about this new 24-hour mandatory wait all over the news. Has anyone else heard of this?  Are they going to cancel reservations that have already been made?  What about the places that are shared? My niche was one or two night back-to-back stays I can't believe how this will work.  This is probably the end for me.  😞

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/27/business/airbnb-cleaning-coronavirus/index.html

My Calendar with back to back-to-back stays! https://www.dropbox.com/s/xe0cnvxdxxc8ut7/calendar.png?dl=0

[Lizzie]

Hello @Shannon199,

My aim was to insure that everyone has seen the latest Airbnb article regarding the new cleaning initiative and so I wanted to highlight that here so it can be used as a reference point. It also has answers to some of the questions being asked here and elsewhere in the CC so I hoped this would be helpful. For the time being, I unselected my response, but I still hope that will be useful to others. 

I am gathering additional questions that are shared here and am working to come back with more information. 

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Shannon199]

The Airbnb news article states the 24-hour period, but many folks are wanting confirmation that they understand it correctly because it's quite a big deal. It means no long be able to accommodate back-to-back bookings despite sanitizing to Airbnb's standards for the foreseeable future. 

Please advise when you have confirmation that these facts are confirmed. 

[Steve219]

I have at least ten back-to-back reservations in the near term. I wonder how AirBNB is going to decide which guest to cancel and how to compensate me as the host for unilaterally canceling a reservation??

[Lizzie]

Hello @Steve219,

Good question–have you had a look at the article I shared in my post above, as there are answers to questions like the one you mention.

To summarise though, if you have existing reservations with fewer than 72 hours between them, you will need to wait until those are competed before you opt in (that is if you want to opt in–it is not mandatory). 

So in your case, as you have so many bookings, please don't cancel them and maybe look to revisit for future reservations. 

I hope this helps. 

Lizzie

[Emilia42]

Haha, this is giving me a laugh!! So in other words, @Steve219, your May guests aren't subjected to death because they already have existing reservations. But you better try and save the lives of your potential July and August guests by opting into this new program.

Give me a break. There is so much here that just doesn't make any sense.

[Reagen0]

So, I have back to back bookings all the way out to October. According to your summarization above, I will need to wait until these reservations are completed if I wanted to opt in to the cleaning protocol. This makes absolutely no sense. 

[Adam-and-Ike-0]

@Lizzie  -- why were hosts not told about this before the media? It's unacceptable.

[Shannon199]

Because this is to make the public/guests more comfortable with using Airbnb. PR first!

And then, and only then, those who will be shouldering the burden will be advised on the decisions that were made for them.

[Mark116]

I'm curious, for anyone who participated in the last round of 'listening' sessions, did airbnb bring up any type of new health protocols on these calls/web chats?  Or is this another of their ideas that comes totally out of left field with zero vetting from the hosts?

[Shannon199]

Left field.

Was just reading Chesky's first message in March where he apologized for making the refund decision before discussing it with us first, humbling the company by stating the company wasn't being a good partner in that action.

Now, here we are again. Business changing decisions made at the burden of the hosts without our knowledge. 

[Steve219]

Wait a minute. The reason for the 24 hour delayed entry is to allow the corona to die a natural death. And the reason for the heightened cleaning protocols after 24 hours is to kill the corona. But, the corona already died, right. And, if it did not already die, then what is the point of the 24 delay? And, if it did die, what is the point of the cleaner having to wear PPE. When the solution is worse than the problem, it is not a solution!

[Sarah977]

@Steve219  No, the virus can remain suspended in the air for several hours before it settles on surfaces. That's the reason not to have someone do a same-day turnover, both for the protection of the cleaner and the incoming guests, altho good PR certainly enters into the equation.

[Debra300]

This new policy will probably stay in place until a COVID-19 vaccine has been discovered and mass produced.  So, I am not going to complain about it, and have already changed the preparation time setting on my Atlanta listing to one day after checkout. This was not a big change for me, because I already required 24 hours notice for new Instabook reservations.  I am also going to opt-in to the new cleaning guidelines.  I personally want to limit my exposure to the virus and to any potential personal liability. 

Just image if a guest were to get a positive coronavirus test result soon after staying at your space.  If you followed the CDC cleaning guidelines you could have some assurance that you/your cleaner, subsequent guests had a very diminished probability of getting the virus, and may have some defense against any claims.  However, if you don't allow for the 24 hour waiting period, and the guest asserts to have gotten the virus from your space, you open yourself up to potential legal action, de-listing from Airbnb, being dropped from your home owner's/property insurance,  the stress of defending your reputation, and maybe some uncertainty if the claim is valid and your/your cleaner/subsequent guest's exposure.

For the near future, I don't expect business to resume quickly for a variety of reasons, including high unemployment, travel restrictions and weak consumer confidence.  Therefore, I cannot say that the additional day in between stays will have a significant impact, because folks may not travel as much as they did last year.

[Steve-and-Zoe0]

My calendar with back to back bookings - 95% occupancy.  The Non AirBnB bookings are VRBO, Expedia and Booking.com

With the 24 hour buffer between guests it looks like I'm going to be using the other guys a lot more in 2020

[Natalie-And-Jesse0]

They will block a reservation if someone tries to book on the same day someone is suppose to check out.