What is going to happen to reservations post 31st May? We need to have a plan.

[Nick-and-Jackie0]

After the initial shock of @Airbnb unilaterally changing the cancellation policies for reservations arriving up to and including 31st May

(which many of us have contrasting views on).

We like many host have been trying to rebuild and recover some sort of order for the remainder of this year.

However we are regularly being contacted by guests whose stays are well after the 31st May deadline (in June, July and August).
They too are asking for 100% refunds. Some are aware of the current policy and ask why we will not offer a 100% refund to them and we have even had a couple of clients who have told us that they will wait until Airbnb extend the date of this policy and then cancel 100% free of any financial burden!

We need to know now what Airbnb's action plan is. We can no longer make plans ourselves as Airbnb have shown that they can and will just rewrite the policies at the drop of a hat and without any consultation, so we must hear from them. 

Will the 100% refund policy be extended past 31st May?

Will a different sliding scale policy be introduced (e.g 50%refund for June reservations, 30% for July and 10% for August)?

Will we return to our normal polices after 31st May?

Will Airbnb offer more protection to its hosts?

We need to know whether we should be trying to encourage the guests to cancel now for them to forfeit their deposits or can we recommend with confidence that they hang on to see how the Covid-19 travel restrictions develop, knowing that then if they still cancel that we will not be left with zero again?

Also what protection do we have if we change the dates for guests? We have some guests who want to deffer their stay to later this year and others want to postpone for 12 months. Effectively they will be extending the cancellation policies.
Will Airbnb guarantee that if at a later date these guests then decide to cancel, that we will still receive the full funds due for these reservations?

We appreciate there is a lot to consider and people from Airbnb are looking into this and are extremely busy, but we do need a plan to move forward.

The loss of nearly three months revenue in our properties has had a massive effect on not only us but the people whom we employ. The season where our homes are is very seasonal. Having lost over 40% of this years season already, we need to be able to limit further damage.

[Nick-and-Jackie0]

@Jessica-and-Henry0 

We are only talking about hosts because that is what we are.
The Airbnb platform (as far as we are aware) does not have travel agencies, tourist attractions, theatres, souvenir shops, hotels, resorts, airlines, restaurants or amusement parks advertising their properties for rental.
So your question is not valid in relation to this forum or thread.

I am certain that most of the businesses you mention above have control of their own cancellation policies and yes they should not be made to loose everything from cancellations,but that is for them to decide upon/discuss in their own forums.
We, just like everyone else on this platform, have NO control over the policies of the above businesses and are not in a position to argue for their cause because we do not know their situation.

Nobody has stated that host are the only group from this industry to be effected and nobody has stated that hosts are in the only industry effected. You totally do not understand what the AIRBNB forum is for.

We could if you want discuss every job position in every industry and how they have been effected, but it is totally irrelevant for the purpose of this forum.

Regarding what seems to be your only valid question  ' But why should travellers be expected to make a contribution to individual hosts?'
In normal circumstances, cancellations do result in a financial penalty and although travellers in no way have caused this pandemic and they should not be penalised in a perfect world, we have to think more of the bigger picture, more long term and what is fair. Leaving host, owners, the tourism industry being the only ones (in this situation) to have 3-4 months minimum wiped off their books with no income will just bankrupt many people, towns, regions and maybe countries. Yet even a small contribution retained from the guest will at least give the chance to make this situation financially survivable. It will keep funds flowing, which is the basic need for economies to continue.

You must also surely appreciate that after this pandemic has passed and life does return to some sort of normality (whenever that will be). Travellers will want to travel again and stay in these regions, but either will not be able to because they have collapsed or not want to because an are that was once full of cute beach bars and markets now only has one crappy hotel open and is empty.

Do you honestly not see the logic and benefit of trying to work together, spreading the burden and helping each other out?
The 'every man for himself' attitude still doesn't work, so we have no idea why so many people want to adopt it.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Nick-and-Jackie0 

Expecting travelers to *contribute* and pay money for services that hosts cannot provide..... according to my logic has nothing to do with working together or helping each other out. IMO, it's nothing more than unfairly expecting a handout. 

Just because this is a forum for Airbnb hosts doesn't change the fact that hosts expecting travelers to provide *contributions* is wrong. 

[Nick-and-Jackie0]

Expecting a handout is standing in the street asking for money from strangers or sitting on your arse at home waiting for benefits from the government.
This is an entirely different situation. One where two parties have entered into a contract, a contract that cannot be fulfilled due to outside forces (neither of the parties involved in the contract), so why should one party take the full brunt of financial responsibility and loss?

Nobody is talking about penalising the travellers, but sharing the burden from the fallout of a situation that nobody created or wanted is quite a reasonable and fair option.

[Helen3]

That is exactly what you are doing, expecting complete strangers to give you a handout to help subsidise your business.  You are talking about penalising travellers many of whom are likely to have lost their jobs/income by forcing them to contribute towards the costs of you running your business.  @Nick-and-Jackie0 

Surely as someone running quite a decent scale property management business you have business disruption insurance and retain profits within your business models to cover the slow times?

Absolutely it is a difficult time for us all.

Hopefully your government in Portugal is putting measures in place to help the tourism industry.

[Nick-and-Jackie0]

@Helen3 
You can not get business disruption insurance in Portugal and you may not be aware, but the majority of business disruption insurance policies mainly relate to the damage of properties and/or machinery leading to a situation where you can not continue your business in the normal way.
Also as with 99% of insurance policies, the small print in the majority of business disruption insurance policies carry a list of exclusions — and infectious diseases are typically one of them. 

With reference to your last sentence 'Hopefully your government in Portugal is putting measures in place to help the tourism industry.'

You are surely joking aren't you?

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Nick-and-Jackie0 

I'd like to quote what @Helen3 said in another reply to this post. (I think it was on page 1) 

"It is not my responsibility or that of any other guest to subsidise tourism efforts or your property management business. That is the responsibility of governments and those working in tourism who made lots of profit in the good times."

Expecting guests to pay for services you cannot provide IS penalizing the travelers. You are expecting money from strangers... and what you are saying is the exact definition of expecting a handout. You are sitting at home expecting others to pay for a stay you cannot allow or provide.  

You are taking the full brunt and financial responsibility and loss because you are in the tourism industry and you are in the business of providing accommodations to tourists and like everyone else in the industry you have been hit hard by covid-19 because governments are banning travel in order to keep everyone safe. 

[Nick-and-Jackie0]

@Jessica-and-Henry0 

You might be 'sitting at home expecting others to pay for a stay you cannot allow or provide.'
We however are busy trying to find different ways to bring funds to the area and trying to find ways to help or employees.
We could like you sit back and say. hey this situation is terrible, but we will find a way to survive, who cares about the housekeepers, gardeners, pool man and the other technicians we use on occasions, but we don't want to. We have known and worked with many of these people for the last 16 years and have endured tough times together before. However we have always had the ability to support each other as the economy has never stopped fully. Removing ALL income for the first four months of a seven month season with the possibility of having to write more off removes any possible chance we have of helping them. Looking at the figures and forecast of the disruption this will bring over the next two years, means we will be lucky to survive financially, let alone be able to support others.

I do not understand why you can not get your head around that we are not saying guests should pay for a service that they can not receive, however contracts have had to be broken through no fault of the traveller nor the hosts and therefore everyone should be prepared to have to loose something not just one side.

It is simple business and logic!

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Nick-and-Jackie0 

I've been very clear from the start - I don't expect people to pay for stays that aren't going to happen, and I personally think it's wrong for hosts to expect guests to pay for stays that will not be taking place due to travel bans. 

You have been clear about your expectations that you somehow deserve to receive *contributions* from guests who will NOT be staying with you.... simply because you have cleaners and gardeners who depend on you?? This is not a logical reason for you to receive the benefits of a handout from strangers. You have been repeatedly saying guests should pay (=contribute) for a service that they cannot receive - you are the one that keeps contradicting yourself. 

All this has nothing to do with how I feel about EVERYONE who is experiencing financial troubles due to covid-19, in these difficult times. 

[Nick-and-Jackie0]

@Jessica-and-Henry0 

Just to clarify. We are not asking for *Contribution* as in a gift or payment to a common fund or collection.

Forfeiting a small part of the deposit would not be a *contribution* in the sense that you keep using the word.

If you really feel there is no need to share the financial burden, then that is your prerogative and we respect that. However, you really should respect that others do have a different point of view than you and are in different situations than you are.

[Helen350]

@Nick-and-Jackie0 "It's simple business and logic." - **bleep**!!!

[Paul60]

So why is it the hosts responsibility to provide accommodation in addition to FREE TRAVEL INSURANCE. to the guests?

[Alex---Michael0]

Sorry to say, but DON'T trust airbnb even after they got the entire **bleep** storm from hosts. Airbnb is already overruling their own new policy by fully refunding guests that cancel bookings end of June. I tried to complain several times but only get unsatisfying standard answers from agents. Forget May 31st, airbnb is doing what they want. 

I'm a host of 6 listings in Berlin (since 2009) and now already took two listings off this platform to rent it out for longer periods. Lower income YES, loosing my soul on airbnb NO! 

[Susan17]

@Nick-and-Jackie0 @Jessica-and-Henry0 @Rodney11 @Alex---Michael0 @Roberta180 et al..

Business Insider article.. 

BI Prime

Airbnb hosts will be charged fees if they cancel summer bookings due to coronavirus concerns

Julie Bort

Apr 16, 2020, 7:34 AM

ome Airbnb hosts have decided they don't want to allow people into their homes through the end of the summer, thanks to coronavirus concerns.However, Airbnb's no-penalty, COVID-19 cancellation policies only cover a very specific period: reservations that were made before March 14 for trips that take place through the end of May. If a host cancels bookings for June and July now, they will be charged $50 per cancellation and they could face other standard penalties, such as losing a Superhost status and being banned from the platform altogether. Airbnb says its cancellation policies are evolving and that hosts should wait to see if will extend its them through June.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Airbnb hosts that have decided to cancel their bookings through the summer over coronavirus safety concerns may be in for a surprise.

Airbnb is currently charging hosts the standard penalty of $50 apiece for cancelling booking for June and beyond. Hosts may also be charged those fees for canceling bookings in April or May if those bookings were made after March 14. In addition, hosts may be subject to other penalties from the platform for cancelling through the summer, including losing their "Superhost" status and the possibility of being banned from Airbnb altogether, according to Airbnb's written policies and according to a host who was told by Airbnb that such penalties would apply to her.

An Airbnb spokesperson tells Business Insider that despite its written policies, it has promised hosts that it won't take such actions. "Specifically, we have communicated to all Superhosts that they will not be penalized or lose their status due to a decrease in bookings or increase in their cancellation rate."

But Superhost Laura Faulkner was told differently by customer support this week when she decided to delist the studio apartment attached to her home. It is typically booked out for months in advance, she told Business Insider.

"After cleaning in between guests in March, we decided we didn't feel safe anymore with people coming in and out (for our own health and the guests). Additionally we had lost so much business that it started to make more sense to temporarily get a short-term tenant that could provide stable income for that unit. So what we decided to do was take our listing off from April-July to limit exposure to other people in our property," Faulkner told Business Insider.

When she went to cancel her June and July bookings, she felt like Airbnb customer support was pressuring her not to. "Basically I was told that if I cancelled on anyone in June or July (which is more than reasonable given how quickly COVID-19 is evolving) that I would be subject to fees and would lose my Superhost status (because Superhosts can never cancel on anyone)," Faulkner says.

The Superhost designation is earned from high customer reviews, fast communications, and requires the host to maintain a cancellation rate of "1% or less," Airbnb says, while allowing at least 10 bookings a year.

Promises, for a limited time only

A month ago, Airbnb promised not to remove the Superhost designation or charge fees for cancellations for hosts that didn't want people in their property. But the Superhost promise only covered the month of April, it said, and the bookings made before March 14 that involve stays through the end of May.

Reservations made between that time frame, before March 14 for stays through the end of May, are covered by the company's COVID-19 extenuating circumstances policy.

All other bookings are not, meaning they are covered by the company's standard policies, including standard cancellation fees. In addition, the non-covered reservations are subject to the policy that says, "If you cancel 3 or more reservations within a year, we may deactivate your listing."

Instead of cancelling bookings now, Airbnb is advising hosts to wait and see if it will extend its no-penalties policies to cover June. A spokesperson tells us:

"We have made significant changes to our Superhost program to allow Superhosts to protect their status during this period of uncertainty. Specifically, we have communicated to all Superhosts that they will not be penalized or lose their status due to a decrease in bookings or increase in their cancellation rate. We are regularly updating our policies regarding Extenuating Circumstances cancellations and will communicate updates regarding future Superhost assessment periods. Regarding the post-May 31 reservations, we ask for patience as we continue to monitor the situation."

But there's some risk to waiting to see if Airbnb will extend its policy to June. If it doesn't and a host cancels within seven days of the booking (that is, waits until the end of May), the host penalty fee increases to $100, according to the current policies. The cancellation could wind up as a black mark against the the host. On top of that, waiting doesn't give the traveler as much time to make other arrangements.

Airbnb is currently advising hosts who already know they want to cancel summer guests to ask the guest to initiate the cancellation request. That way the host won't incur any fees. "So far most people have been cool with cancelling, but let's say I have a guest that refuses - then I will be penalized if I cancel on them," says Faulkner.

Costly for everyone

The decision to allow full cancellations without penalty, even for a specific window of time, was a costly one for Airbnb and its hosts, and reportedly a controversial one within the company.

The company has limited its refund policy to a specific window in part to help the hosts that do want to continue to accept bookings and make money through the crises.Hosts may choose from three cancellation policies from a relaxed one that allows guests to get a nearly full refund as long as they cancel more than a week in advance, to a strict one, which charges the guest up to 50% for cancelling.

Many hosts were so upset that the company allowed guests to cancel for a full, automatic refund, instead of observing the host's fees and cancellation policies, that on March 30, CEO Brian Chesky wrote an open letter apologizing to them. The company has also set aside $250 million that promises to pay hosts 25% of what they would have gotten from their cancellation policy.

Maintaining a Superhost status is critically important for many hosts at this time, too. Airbnb's has created a $17 million fund to help hosts pay expenses during this crises but they must be Superhosts to be eligible.

Airbnb is walking a fine line trying with policies to appease everyone but will still allow the company to generate enough revenue to ride out the storm.

Are you an Airbnb insider with insight to share? Contact Julie Bort via email at jbort@businessinsider.com or on encrypted chat app Signal at (970) 430-6112 (no PR inquiries, please). Open DMs on Twitter @Julie188.

[Cormac0]

@Nick-and-Jackie0 

I think it would be prudent to write of this year entirely...

[Nick-and-Jackie0]

@Cormac0 
We pretty much have and we are also thinking this will have an effect on next year also. The issue we have is without any funds coming in, we nor the people we employ will survive financially.
We just fee that going forward there needs to be some readjustment to the cancellation policies in order to help out the hosts and property owners