Have any Superhosts received an invite to apply for the $5,000 grant scheme?

[Robin4]

It seems each time the CEO has a video session he has some grand offers he is so exited to share with his partners.

I believe some hosts who are active here on the CC have received the promised compensation for reservation cancellations from a $250 M  compensation fund.

I can understand that the $25-$50 offered here or there would not be too onerous for the company to honour baring in mind the claimable window was set to very narrow parameters.

What I would be interested to find out, has any Superhost received an invitation to apply for the (up to $5,000) compensation grant that the CEO went to great pains to promote back at the start of April. 

There is a certain psychology behinds words and statements and the way they are formed!

I smelled a rat when I read the first line of the eligibility criteria........

"There are hundreds of thousands of Superhosts around the world"........really!! All reliable estimates suggest their are between 650,000 and 700,000 Airbnb hosts around the world of which 10-15% are Superhosts.

Obviously an opening statement like that is designed to prime Superhosts up not to be too disappointed if that invite doesn't come.....there after all 'hundreds of thousands' of Superhosts in the mix here.

There may have been a dollar or two on offer here robbed from the employees incentive scheme but it would be really interesting to hear if any one of Superhosts who are active here on the CC have received that illusive invite! 

I am active on a couple of other sites so I will keep hosts here posted if I should actually come across anyone who has received one of these mysterious invites!

Cheers......Rob

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Anonymous , I can't hate when businesses try to survive with self promotion of their generosity but when the value to the business is far greater than the actual generosity espoused, its just an advertisement. 

 You hit the nail squarely on the head about the "schoolchildren" thing, way too many people depending on answers to every challenge this virus has handed us from Governments, charities and businesses. 

Not sure Millennial are the only demographic entrenched in that category, I prefer to refer to those your talking about as "Toys r Us Kids" (I don't wanna grow up, Im a toys R Us kid...).  They need to be reminded, Toys R Us went bankrupt and if you wait for others to fix problems in your life, you probably will be bankrupt also!!!! They need to empower themselves as thinking Human Animals not just wait for the Santa Clause effect to fix everything.  Here is a little news there ain't no Santa Kids!!!!.  

I don't mean to get biblical but it seems this is a good place to remind people "The lord helps those that help themselves".  We're more powerful than were giving ourselves credit for and miracles are more likely to enter our lives if we begin the process of making them happen ourselves.  Stay well, JR

[Helen350]

Don't worry John, @Melodie-And-John0 , you're not getting biblical; Your quotation is probably the most famous MISquote of all! 😛  😛 😛 

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Helen350 ,  Your certainly correct, "God helps those that aren't able to help themselves" is a far truer encapsulation of the appropriate passages that deal with the subject.  I think it was more of a Boy Scout / Mom type tenet tweaking verses to try to incentivise doing the right thing whenever possible and if you do, "God will help you".  If the facts be known, I do feel like i've been a benefactor of that ill gotten scripture in practice as has been tested in the use of at least a few cat lives so to speak 

In a nondenominational sense, doing the best one can to keep from drowning in any circumstance goes a long way to prevention of "helpless and hopeless" from setting in.  Just sitting in my barcalounger and waiting for some change to happen to make this go away is an awful  way that ensure H & H doesn't  refer to the Healthy and Happy place I thrive and survive in where my cup is nearly always over half full and often overfloweth!   Stay well, JR  

[Michelle53]

I think one has to expect that the search for eligible superhosts under this program will be an algorithm.  The results that are generated will, of course, depend on the search parameters. 

One might expect that one parameter is "highest percentage in {name of currency} lost". 

Also, since tenure of the superhost is relevant, that might be further broken down by length of time on the platform.

One keeps adding parameters until the number of search results returns a volume of invitations that the program could support.

Then, possibly, the dedicated team starts reviewing the list. 

[Mark116]

@Michelle53  Yes, that makes sense, even though that will result mostly in hosts who have very expensive properties getting the bulk of the 'grant' money, which probably means that a lot of these hosts don't really need $5K, presumably if you are listing a $600k+ property for several hundred dollars a night you have already some other source of income than airbnb.  It is the small, single listing, moderately budgeted hosts who are going to be financially harmed, not the people listing an architectural digest house for $700 a night.  Oh well. 

[Helen3]

You are correct @Mark116  $5000 would literally make a world of difference to poorer hosts with young families to support in say Sri Lanka, the Phillipines, Morocco, Kenya, Brazil or Nepal,  who don't have access to welfare benefits and food banks.

It will make little difference to wealthier host communities in the US, Europe or Australia and New Zealand.

The fact they have started this week by prioritised only US host, says it all, they have no intention of supporting hosts most financially affected but just influential US hosts who can impact on their reputation.

[Mark116]

@Helen3  $5K can make a difference to a lot of US/UK hosts as well, and there are certainly many, many super luxurious and expensive rentals in the developing world, so I'm not sure I agree that hosts in the 'West' should not have the same shot at the grant funding.  If a host has relied on airbnb to meet their mortgage and expenses it does not really matter what country they are living in, they will be harmed and possibly financially ruined. 

I'm sure there would be a fair and reasonable way to sort through hosts, as well as potentially using a slide scale for different countries, as $5K goes much further in Sri Lanka than in NYC, possibly looking at hosts whose earnings put them somewhere in the middle range to exclude super expensive properties....just as I am sure that whatever possible structure might help as many of the hardest hit non wealthy hosts will be the structure that airbnb does not use. 

[Helen3]

I think my point is that it absolutely does matter which country you live in @Mark116 

In the UK we have free healthcare, foodbanks and access to free food deliveries and meals under Covid, we have mortgage breaks, the government is paying out 80% to those who are self employed, we get welfare benefits and free education.

I appreciate you don't have free healthcare in the US but your benefits and support are pretty similar.

Now imagine you have young children and you live in a country where you don't have access to food, education for your kids, healthcare, a way to protect your home by getting a mortgage break or welfare benefits to keep a roof over your head.

I do agree there are some wealthy people owning airbnb's in developing countries including  Australians who own in Bali and Thailand, Brits who own in Eastern Europe, those from the US that own in the Caribbean and South America as well as local entrepreneurs.

It is definitely a difficult one. My point is those hosts in poorer countries  who need support have much less to rely on than we do.

Every day I am grateful for that, I live in a country with the best healthcare in the work, accessible based on need rather than how much money you have.

I do hope those who need it most will get support, but by starting by supporting hosts in the US first,  Airbnb sends out the wrong message.

[Michelle53]

Realize it is "up to $5000", not $5000.

That could mean a prorated amount, based on the amount of losses calculated on whatever parameters get used.

A host in a country with a currency exchange rate that's favorable may find that when the dollars are converted, the amount in local currency may be quite good, depending on local cost of living.

[Tara190]

Would you know what happened with Airbnb reaching out to our previous guests and they would be able to donate to a personal fund for hosts?

[Helen350]

@Tara190 Most hosts on this forum think the 'begging bowl' is the lowest & most despicable idea Airbnb has ever come up with.....

Thankfully we can opt out of this cringeworthy disgrace by going to 'Account > Payments & Payouts > Guest Contributions.

See recent discussions: 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/COVID-19-Discussions/How-Can-I-Opt-Out-of-quot-Contributions-to-... 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/A-new-way-for-guests-to-show-you-appreciation-and-encour...  

[Helen427]

@Helen3 

Including New Zealand as a wealthy country is unacceptable.

Our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, is known as Taxcinda Ardern here in New Zealand for a number of very valid reasons.

She has borrowed millions of dollars to cover for the economic damage her Advisors and self have created and added to over the short period she has been our Prime Minister.

 Don't even start us New Zealanders on the billions of dollars of debt we have incurred through Treaty of Waitangi claims.

There are those in life who work extremely hard and make great sacrifices and put aside monies as and when able for a rainy day.

Many small to medium businesses have little likelihood of ever opening again and that includes those starting and having established businesses.

The realty is it's "BORROWED MONIES" & DEBT that we are all having to pay back.

Any money given to anyone for Social Welfare purposes or education is not  free money, & neither is getting a ride with St John Ambulances to hospitals, or eye checks etc - it all has to come from somewhere...

As an aside, a heads up, expect to be left waiting outside hairdressers, shops, or cafes should you venture out to buy coffee or want to meet up with friends in the community as the stupid 2metre social distancing rule that has not ever been lawful has resulted in cafes & such like who were previously lawfully operating premises/ business that were given Council approval to operate are now  been told they are acting against the law if they don't adhere to the "Rules" of Taxcinda.

Gone are the days of sitting on a chair at a table inside or outside in a cosy cafe or restaurant.

At Banks we now have 2-3 people outside the bank as customers arrive, another 2-4 inside taking names, and phone numbers that anyone can see,  ( Privacy breaches), they ensure one is offered alcohol based hand sanitizer that others may or may not have spread germs on or people may be allergic to,  and then one must stand 2metres away from the counter where they have finally put back screens between customers & staff as a transaction is conducted.

There's times where perhaps life in 3rd world countries is much more simple & sensible, some of those people certainly at times seem more happy regardless of what goes on.

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Helen427 , sometimes people mistake a large flow of cash with wealth, they are exclusive in many cases.   The only way to measure a nations true wealth is by balancing the books and when you do that, many if not most nations look more like Baltic Ave than Park Place.   

I also agree with your 3rd world county thoughts, the more we have, the less were appreciative of those things that really matter most.  When your challenged hard to support yourself and family on a daily basis as a rule, many other things that trouble us in progressive nations are not a big concern.   They are rightfully concerned with eating and keeping a roof over their head, it overrides things that really arent helping or hurting prospects of being successful on this day at those things.   Stay well, JR

[Freda34]

Yes, it may make algorithm sense, however, i'ts antithetical to what Airbnb professes to stand for - or, at least, once stood for.  I'm the small superhost who helped grow the business. Loss of my hosting income is hugely significant to me.  Guess I'll stop waiting for my invitation. And, if Chesky ends another "conversation" heralding a host who took in an elderly woman , I'm going to be sick. A lovely thing to do (and make $) but had nothing to do with what's happening to all of us. 

[Anonymous]

@Michelle53  I think if they intended to use an algorithm based purely on the stated criteria, they could have done the selection with a respectable amount of transparency.

But since it's all behind the curtains, the base parameters of the algorithm probably include criteria that they haven't made public. For example, weighting in favor of listings with the most daily page views would maximize the visibility of the scheme, so that would probably outweigh estimated losses (which are impacted by too many unrecorded variables to be useful as a measure). Also, whatever parameters reflect the areas Airbnb is internally targeting for next-phase growth will probably be prioritized while regions and listing types that represent dead weight are bound to be filtered out. A "grant" is really just a type of investment, after all, and it's not always the actual recipient that's being invested in.

It would be fascinating to hear what the real plan is, but then again $17 million is a pretty tiny chunk of their budget - none of this will be a big topic a couple months from now.