Trip Cancellation Insurance

Answered!
Kyle476
Level 3
Poland, OH

Trip Cancellation Insurance

I believe Airbnb should offer guests some sort of insurance policy when booking as an option. This would take hosts out of the equation from having to decide what to do in each situation. I have a strict cancellation policy as I have had my experience in the past with the other options and guests really do some interesting things and or play some creative tricks with cancellations… Such as hold or reserve a place and then simply cancel and I feel in some cases they watch pricing in the area and then cancel and switch properties when you offer these relaxed policies. With this  I offer a strict policy as I  feel it works the best for me and my situation as I don’t live in a high volume area so if someone cancels a week before the chances of me filling that now open vacancy is slim to none, especially depending on the time of year. So the relaxed policy does not work for me. However, now with COVID-19 on the rise again and travel restrictions and testing requirements again going into effect again in certain areas, I now have seen an influx of COVID-19 cancellations. However, with my strict cancellation policy often I still get my payout minus the cleaning fee as this is refunded to the guest if they cancel before check-in, and I do believe it should. However, guests always usually ask for a refund or partial refund and this really puts hosts in a uncomfortable situation, as I would hope the majority of us have empathy for others. So often times I feel bad, but feel it’s only fair to stick with your policy as advertised. If you give some guests back money and others not I feel this is kind of playing favorites and not good business, and truly I believe hosts should not even have to deal with this. However, if the guest checks in for even 1 night and then cancels you run the risk of a possible poor review if you don’t comply with a guests request. Therefore, making refund situations even more of a sticky situation, where you feel like your walking on egg shells, because if the guest cancels they can still leave a review if they only stayed part of their stay and we all know one bad review can be devastating to a host and or a super host in some cases even risk a loss of status. Therefore, I agree if some sort of trip insurance option was offered guests could have something to at least protect them, and if they didn’t purchase hosts would be able to at least say to the guests well sorry, but you had the opportunity to purchase trip insurance, but chose not to…and apologize for the inconvenience but, feel better standing by your strict policy knowing the guest had the opportunity for such protection. So my question would be, Are we as hosts allowed to offer a link to guests to browse travel insurance options to insure their trip? Obviously, I would not be endorsing one specific insurance carrier, but just simply educating guests on travel insurance and or taking a stance and encouraging it… I’m not sure what the rules are with Airbnb or there is any liability related toward hosts who would offer such recommendation and then the guest say the coverage was subpar. However, if we are just providing such a link to compare multiple policies and not one specific and or encouraging guests to purchase travel insurance I would hope this would not be a liability on our part if the insurance did not work out in the end for the guest? I would love to hear from others and how they handle their cancellations and if they stick with their strict cancellation policies and not refund guests? Also, if any of you had any luck offering any such travel insurance  via a link in your listing profile or encouraging guests to buy trip coverage and specifically coverage that would cover Covid-19 this would be greatly appreciated? I just hate when I have to be in a situation with a cancellation as often I do feel bad, but also know it’s important to be fair and fair across the board and sticking with policies in place. I feel that’s how the big hotels run their business. However, on the other side of this and not complying with a guests request, is just one bad review or guest complaint if we don’t refund them could be detrimental to a host and their business, so I would love to hear feedback from others on this? Thanks in advance!

1 Best Answer
Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Kyle476 sadly it is, unless someone can prove me wrong, impossible to get travel insurance for the situation where government travel restrictions stop guest travelling to the accommodation. Guests can get insurance in case they get covid but sadly Airbnb have got their EC policy wrong. They cover covid (which is insurable) but not travel restrictions (which are not). This is particularly dumb as it is easy to check a travel restriction and equally easy to create a positive covid test so guests can game the current situation.

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5 Replies 5
Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Kyle476 sadly it is, unless someone can prove me wrong, impossible to get travel insurance for the situation where government travel restrictions stop guest travelling to the accommodation. Guests can get insurance in case they get covid but sadly Airbnb have got their EC policy wrong. They cover covid (which is insurable) but not travel restrictions (which are not). This is particularly dumb as it is easy to check a travel restriction and equally easy to create a positive covid test so guests can game the current situation.

@Mike-And-Jane0This is helpful, thank you.

 

@Kyle476  is in the United States, and the policies are different country to country, is that correct? This is something other people posting on this topic may be confused about in some other replies I've seen.

 

Regardless, trip insurance would be very, very helpful for guests and hosts, as @Kyle476 said so well.

Nancy146
Level 6
Madison, WI

VRBO offers guets to purchase travel insurance. I don't understand why Airbnb can't do this, too.

@Nancy146  you are correct with VRBO and their offering of trip insurance, and that provides me such peace of mind knowing that as then I feel like when a guest begs for a refund I can say well you did have an option to purchase trip insurance through the site and have a rebuttal to their request. Also, regarding trip insurance I thought of listing insurance options, however decided to not move forward as from the Airbnb policies I have read we as hosts may not endorse any such outside products and services not offered through Airbnb. 

Also, one last note here I have learned that some credit cards offer such travel insurance through their charge card directly, this is common with American Express. So I had one guest cancel, then they provided me big story, and wanted a refund then I came to find out not only did they ask me for a refund, they also had filed a claim with their credit card to use the travel insurance. Therefore, I felt the guest was trying to double dip on refunds. The only reason I found out about this the credit card company actually called me directly asking if the guest had canceled their reservation and if I had refunded any of the funds and or planned to do so. I’m not trying to say the guest was a liar and it is my hope they write not trying to double dip refunds, however I still think hosts should be made aware this could be a situation that arises with more credit card companies offering travel protection insurance as a card benefit. 

@Kyle476That's really helpful info about people trying to double dip on refunds; I've been wondering if other hosts experience this. Thanks for writing about it.

 

Here's language we use in our listing profile description and in our first response to guests; like you, we do not want to play favorites, so our policy is firm:

 

We STRONGLY encourage you to purchase TRIP INSURANCE either through your credit card or a private company in case you need to cancel a reservation within the non-refundable time period. Refunds are only provided through Airbnb based on the cancellation time frame and policy a guest agrees to upon booking, no matter the circumstance. If you think you may need to cancel your reservation within the non-refundable time frame, please reconsider this reservation and book a hotel instead.