No more Military Houseguests?

[Shawna3]

I live next to a military base and the majority of my reservations come from visiting military, soldiers in town for training, or soldiers waiting for their housing etc.   I recently learned the DoD is now prohibiting all military personnel from using AirBnB for lodging arrangements.  My reservations have come to a standstill.  Has anyone else had this problem?  Is AirBnB doing anything to help get this reversed?

Link to article:  https://www.military.com/military-report/dod-restricts-use-of-online-booking-sites.html

"The Joint Travel Regulation restricts Department of Defense (DoD) travelers in the use of online booking tools designed to rent private residences for short-term lodging. Travelers are required to make commercial lodging arrangements through the Defense Travel System/Travel Management Company, unless exceptions apply. If a traveler fails to use DTS/TMC, the traveler is still authorized the actual and necessary costs of lodging but is personally responsible for any excess costs. Also, travelers who elect to use tools such as AirBnB can face disciplinary action from their commander for failure to follow regulatory guidance. For more information, contact the IMA Travel Office."

[Pete28]

They probably have negotiated rates with certain hotel groups, and as with many corporations, the travel policy insists they use those hotels only. Given its nature, not sure how Airbnb can negotiate such discounts, 

[Letti0]

@Shawna3  I do a lot of military too and I am at a stand still to currently, but it's the families of the military I do mostly for BMT Graduations, so they will not be effected by this. I can tell you in part why this has happened. Most AirBnB, HA/VRBO ect. hosts are charging active work assignments taxes and they should not be. They are tax exempt stays and need to be billed that way. AirBnB makes it very hard to get the taxes they charge reversed for the military they have to jump through a lot of hoops, so I could see AirBnB being excluded. On HA/VRBO I do not charge the taxes, so they don't have issues there with me, but many hosts have no clue they need to remove all taxes and most service men don't even think about it. Therefore it's costing the government more to allow stays in a short term rental. Also the commercial hotels give all military stays at least a 15% discount on base rate (I offer a 10%) right off the bat and will accept the military vouchers which can take 30-90 days to be processed and paid by the government. I am sure there are a lot more reasons, but these are ones I am aware of. 

[Victoria567]

Ahh that explains how this season I had only one military booking.

Most of the Americans the past 2 years were military on European postings and absolutely great guests.

That explains the drop in quality guests then!..

[Anthony723]

Hello all. If this is still a concern for you please contact me at *sensitive information hidden* . I will be able to provide help and get military travels back into your properties.

[Robin4]

@Anthony723  @Lizzie @Stephanie 

Hopefully the administrators will remove this phone number quickly!

In the interests of all users Anthony, if you are offering help of any description, it would be in your interests to supply some sort of information about yourself and the nature of the help you are offering!

You do not show an identifyable image of yourself...... there is absolutely no information whatsoever about you on your profile page. You are just a totally anonymous person offered help that will no doubt have some sort of monetary element involved.

Forgive me Anthony if I am wrong but, we are incredibly suspicious of 'strangers baring gifts'!

Cheers.....Rob

[Susan151]

---

@Robin4 wrote:

@Anthony723  @Lizzie @Stephanie 

'strangers baring gifts'!

Cheers.....Rob

---

Naked gift givers are dangerous!  [heehee] Or are the gifts without their clothing?

[Stephanie]

Cheers for the heads up @Robin4 

[Pamela1104]

I don't know if this applies to me; I booked an airbnb for 2 months (Nov-Jan 2023) but it looks as if my daughter will be deployed to another city so I had to cancel five months in advance and they still charged me $2,000 (strictest airbnb policy). I'm not sure if there is anything at all I can do about this since I'm not in the military myself.

[Cormac0]

@Shawna3 

They have to stay in Trumptan towers, lol keep it  in the family

[Anthony723]

 @Robin4 point well taken. My family and I were tired of cramming our family of eight into a hotel room while we waited for permanent housing during yet another military ordered move. But it was the only approved reimbursable option.
After our third major move in less than three years, we were done with the chaos and discomfort.

When ordered to Texas we did something new. For the price of a cramped hotel room, We rented a beautiful five bedroom home online. Our family was comfortable, less stressed, and we saved money because we did not have to eat out every night. It was the best $1,200 I ever spent. That experience changed everything. It was time to create a better option for military families.

We were determined to bring together convenience, comfort, and online short-term rentals which are safe, affordable, and most importantly approved for use under the Department of Defense regulations. 

Look me up on linkedin. Anthony Gantt - US Marine. Hope this helps. 

[Lear0]

Hi, I own AirBnb, and it’s not that hard to get my property to JTF standards, could DOD add exceptions for my property?