Hello Mark:
Please note that my impressions are just based on my personal experience with VaCuba/Airbnb :
Often ,it's difficult to undestand the airbnb/VaCuba payout distribution system . Both agencies are hard to contact and both only send out generic-like responses when asked about specific payouts. Once you get to correspond with "direct " staff on both sides, you are told that both have different tracking/reference booking #.
How does it work ?
VaCuba is a Miami-Based travel agency that also offers services such as : remittances , mail and delivery of parcels and packets to Cubans. Yes, they have been in the market for over 30 years. (Va Cuba Website is available and updated if you want to contact them directly ) .
Due to VaCuba is an OFAC-licensed agency ; they are allowed , under US regulations, to send remittances to Cuban nationals residing there . As Cuba lacks a reliable and modern financial and banking system ( blame the Embargo if you wish ) , it is not possible for Airbnb to send payouts to hosts in Cuba directly to a bank account . Therefore, Airbnb transfers the payouts to VaCuba.
VaCuba then includes the payouts as remittances and distributes them to hosts in Cuba paying in cash directly to said hosts .
The problem (s) is (are) that I see here are :
1-The estimated VaCuba delivery timeframe is NEVER according to what airbnb sends/says in their payout confirmantion messages. That is ,there is always a delay ( more so when it's Holidays or anyother significant days throught the year when VaCuba is unable to meet their payout delivery schedules (due to the expected high operations volume.).
2- Like I said before, due to a lack of a common and only one tracking number ( Airbn-VaCuba) , when payouts are hand-carried to hosts in Cuba, it gets very confusing provided that hosts may be expecting late or current payments of similar amount-of-days bookings . For instance , you may have had three-nights bookings in the past two/three weeks. The carrier knocks at your door and hands you two payouts . When you ask the carrier which of the two payments corresponds to what it is due , he/she may simply say that they " don't know and they are just doing the job " and make you sign a paper log ( in exchange of your payout ) which also lacks the airbnb booking reference # or/and name the booking was made under. So, expect to apply common and guessing sense to know what you are receiving .
3- Any host can also designate a co-host anywhere in the world. If the hosts assigns a co-host 100 % of the payment and you live where direct deposit is possible, that would be ideal to keep up with your payments . The down side here would be how to transfer the money to the host in Cuba ( in the event that your bank institution doesn't have connections with Cuban banks) . Due to poor/almost no internet conectivity in Cuba, it is also advisable to have a co-host that could co-manage the listing operations. If that's the case , the co-host may communicate via e-mail wih the host to faciliate communication regarding all the listing operation . That would greatly impact ( in a good way) the response rate and provide the guests re-assurance to all their questions/concerns/requests, etc.
Eventhough, this whole process seems to be difficult to navigate , I must say that the majority of the time the host gets their payouts ( out of the estimated delivery time schedule).
If you are in the US , do not bother to call VaCuba. If so, be ready to listen to different excuses and never get to talk to apparently the only staff handling airbnb operations. The best to contact them is via e-mail ( provided by airbnb when you conatct them and have to pass to different tiers responding to the same question over and over again ) . They is no Customer Service Number for airbnb guest/host where you can call unless it is an emergency .
Also , note that VaCuba doesn't have an established office in Cuba.Their distribution network relies on locals that go to your house on private cars/motorcyclesn and do not have an agency indetification with them.
I hope that this information may be useful for you and Good Luck!!
Floiret Diaz
