I've received several responses from more seasoned hosts since my earlier post. Thanks for the wake up. Clearly the call didn't say it all. We are new hosts (6 months, and Superhosts, but now realize we won't qualify for any of the support funds he mentioned. We, like so many others, also took the company's recommendation to offer the flexible payment option, so we won't qualify for those funds either. We put a lot into remodeling our space to make it attractive to guests, so now have those bills to cover in addition to the mortgage. I have been unemployed for more than a year, so the loss of this income has had a big impact on our family. Maybe he was just reading his announcement, but I noticed he was looking down through nearly the whole call.
I wondered early on why the company didn't offer credit rather than a penalty free cancellation for guests. I reached out to all my cancellations. They all said they wanted to re-book. Whether or when they can re-book with me remains to be seen. I imagine their specific vacation time, impact to their own job and income, and our availability when things start moving again will all be factors. AirBNB should offer a re-booking credit rather than give (and continue to extend) the penalty-free cancellation during this pandemic. They should also offer a discount to those guests who re-book that comes out of AirBNB's pocket instead of ours. They could do this with some kind of coupon.
Going forward it also seems prudent for hosts to look into other booking sources. The old adage to not put all our eggs in one basket comes to mind.
