Hello all,
I hope everyone is staying safe and doing well during this awful time.
I have a question regarding any help that will be available for regular hosts who rely on the income from Airbnb to pay their rent or other expenses. My 'Superhost' status lapsed by 0.1% of a point in December, so I will not be eligible for the 'Superhost Relief Fund'. Nearly $300million has been pledged by Airbnb to help Superhosts and Experience hosts and people having cancellations during this time.
But what about the regular hosts that rely on Airbnb income to pay their rent and other expenses? I was a Superhost for over a year and a half until December, and in the last 3 years, my income from Airbnb has paid over 1/3rd of my rent during that time - which will now mean a heavy financial loss.
Cancellations happen every day in our community and we suck it up and get another booking, yet $250million is being put aside for cancellations - what if you had no bookings at the time of this decision - we therefore have no cancellations to even receive 25% of, and can't get new ones to cover any booking we may have got. Regular hosts are now sent to the dogs, we aren't included in the privileged categories, yet we, as a whole, host more people worldwide than Super or Experience hosts. Financial difficulties are real for all of us, and we open our homes to welcome people from all over the world to grow the Airbnb community in order to help us financially, as well as enjoy the hosting experiences we have.
I understand that this situation is unprecedented, but the fact that help is only being offered to certain hosts within this community is saddening from a CEO that claims to care about the community he founded.
Thank you for your time,
Paul