Do you refund for airline delays?

[Peter1]

Recently, members of our San Francisco Host community asked for advice. 

A guest called to let the Host know that due to "colossal blunders by the airline," the guest will be checking in a day later.  You guessed it, the guest then asked the Host for a refund of the missed first day.

I have seen discussions here when guests cancel their entire booking due to delays, but what would you do if the refund request was for only the first day of the reservation?  Would your decision differ if the refund was for 50% of the reservations (say, the first two days of a four day reservation)?

Unfortunately, with air travel at its peak right now, airline delays are just likely to happen more and more frequently.  It would be good to be prepared for such an occurrence, know what your policy is and perhaps even state your policy in your listing in advance.

[M199]

@Peter1 

I don't think that airline delays are an extenuating circumstance.  It's not the hosts fault.  Find out if the guest has travel insurance from which the can claim the lost day.  Why should the host take the loss. Is the guest double dipping, they may have travel coverage if they paid by credit card.

Just my opinion.

[Dale711]

Hi @Peter1 
I agree with @M199 .

Travel delay coverage is typically available as part of a comprehensive travel insurance plan.

However, my listings  is a shared dormitory room.

in the past, several incidents we do refund to the guest or issue the free nights voucher due to the flight delay, as the guest was unable to check in. 

All are demanding the circumstances and will taken to be in the consideration. 

[Debra300]

@Peter1,

I have said several times before that travelers should always purchase travel insurance or use a credit card that provides that type of coverage whenever traveling from home regardless of the distance, destination and duration of the trip.  If there was availability, I may offer to extend the checkout date, but definitely no refund.  On my listings I have this photo.

[Amanda660]

@Debra300  I’m pinching this pic and adding it to my listing 

[Amanda660]

We found ourselves in this situation at Christmas when our flight to Thailand was late and subsequently missed the connection with us arriving a full 24 hours late.

 I sent a message to the hotel apologising but didn’t  ask for a refund.  I don’t think hosts should be the default Insurance  Policy.  

[Huma0]

@Peter1 

In the UK, if a flight is seriously delayed, which means several hours, let alone a whole day, and the airline is at fault (technical issues, underbooking etc) rather than it being due to reasons outside of their control (weather, security risks etc), it is actually the airline's responsibility to provide the passenger with essentials, which can include accommodation, and also often compensation. 

You can find the different circumstances that apply here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/holiday-cancellations-and-compensation/if-your-flights-de...

Now of course, this will vary from country to country, but it's worth looking into. For example, I remember once when I was in Bangkok a few years ago and my flight was delayed due to technical issues, the airline put the passengers up in a super fancy 5* + hotel. Although they managed to put us on another flight that night (I never got to sleep in that insanely glamorous suite they put me in), once the delay was more than a certain number of hours, they still had to book a hotel rather than make us wait in the airport.

So, guests may have another recourse even if they didn't take out travel insurance. At the end of the day though, it's really not the host's responsibility to reimburse guests for unspent nights outside of the cancellation policy and the stated extenuating circumstances. The listing was ready and waiting for them and it's not like you could have rebooked it, whereas they could have taken out travel insurance.

[Enri1804]

@Peter1  This is a good question and was wondering about this myself. When we flew in April the airline oversold the flight And it was delayed. I imagine this is becoming more of a normal thing for Airlines unfortunately. However, due to it being the Airlines error/fault they put us up in a hotel at our connecting flight location all Paid for by the Airline last minute b/c of their prearrangements with the hotels. We had no travel insurance. My point is, if the airlines can do this with hotels, it would be great if Airbnb execs got on this and made some prearrangement’s with airlines for hosts/guests somehow for Airline delays. Unfortunately in the summer most Airbnbs get booked Saturday to Saturday and there’s not a lot that can be moved around by hosts at the last minute. As a host, I would hate to have to take the hit when the airline should. I do also suggest travel insurance to guests so hopefully I won’t run into this. To answer your question, I would try Not to do any sort of refund especially if it’s complicated, but I would feel bad for the guests, so I’m not sure.

[Huma0]

@Enri1804 

The thing is, if the airline pays for the guest to stay in a hotel for the night, then the guest has not lost any money on accommodation. Sure, they paid for the airbnb for a night that they didn't use, but so what? They have not lost anything financially. If the host were to refund them, that money would go straight into the guest's pocket as a profit, whereas the host will have lost income. 

It might be different if the flight was delayed due to weather conditions, but in this case, the guest has already said it was due to "colossal blunders by the airline". I am assuming the guest was travelling from their home location and therefore did not need to be put up in a hotel, but they should be seeking compensation from the airline, not the host, who has nothing to do with it.

[Enri1804]

@Huma0 yes I agree. 

[Peter1]

Thanks everyone for your helpful and interesting responses.  There seems to be a consensus that the guest had the option to purchase travel insurance and given that, the Host should not feel obligated to issue the refund especially if the airline is ultimately liable.

However, one factor I didn't consider at the start is that the guest may (perhaps is even likely to) leave a negative review or lower their review rating if the Host refuses the refund request. 

Would this possibility alter your decision whether or not to refund?

[Huma0]

@Peter1 

Certainly, it's something that I would think about but I believe that hosts should not be held to ransom over a bad review. 

In this case, I would be as polite and diplomatic as possible, but still firm that I would not be able to refund as I had no opportunity to rebook the room for that night, and ask the guest if they have contacted the airline for compensation.

[Jaja9]

Absolutely.  If they put up a bad review it affects your listing.  They know that and are able to use it against you.