Cancellation due to the terrorist attacks in Belgium.

[Fede1]

My guest from Brussels had to cancel her trip to Berlin because all flights were cancelled due to the terrorist attacks in Belgium. I think it is complicated for both of us, cause this is obviously neither my fault nor my guest's. Does she get a refund without me having to give the money back or how does it work? I also had to move my schedule and those dates in my calendar were blocked, cleaning fees included. 

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

She claims on her travel insurance - which is what it is for - you get your cancellation policy....if she is out  of pocket, you can, at your discretion send her a refund for as much as you wish.

[Jonathan6]

You are under no "legal" obligation to offer a refund and yes, they could have insured the trip, but...

I would suggest giving a credit to the guest to travel at a later date (or some hybrid 50% now, 50% credit for a later date, whatever makes sense to you).   At the very least you should refund the cleaning fee since you do not have to clean.

You would gain a customer (call them guest, but they are customers) vs. loosing one.  You need to think of this as a business and it is easier to retain a cutomer than to try to aquire a new one.  

It's simple on AirBnB, just tell the customer that next time they book to make the request and you then give them a special offer.

I have been doing this for over 10 years and have 50% or better repeat customers each year, you can be right all the time from a "policy" standpoing, but wrong in the end from a business point of view.

[Dave-and-Deb0]

Hi @Jonathan6,

Great answer.  I just wanted to clarify that the guest always gets back their cleaning fee back when they cancel under all the cancellation policies.

[Vanessa181]

airbnb  just stoped text i sent to aid my guests. I am in westminster and there is a terroerist attack happening now !