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

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Sarah977 @Susan17 

Another solution is provided to the previous solution which the solution before it didn't fix, and that was just a simple problem. They just chose the wrong solution and **bleep**ed it up.

[Robin4]

@Helen3 @Andrew0 @Susan17  @Sarah977   @Ute42  @Freda34  @Howard42  @Grace681   @Melodie-And-John0 @Michelle53 @Mark116  @Helen427 @Jessica-and-Henry0

I get the trend of the conversation, and from what I am reading, it simply reinforces the sarcastic nature of my lead post on this thread.

The hosts who may receive some benefit are not the 'nuts & bolts' hosts! They are host who need it.....but, don't need it.......!

They are the hosts who offer the most prestigious properties who stand the lose the most, (and this word is relevant)....Revenue! They are no doubt backed in other areas and are in a position to offer a desirable property which has cost maybe 3-5 times the norm  for STR properties, for which they charge a premium nightly rate. Their balance sheet looks decimated...many thousands of dollars maybe $100,000 + lost..... they, to Airbnb, are the ones most in need.

It is not the 'homestay' host, it's the host who has proved to be the most dollar productive to Airbnb strictly in a monetary sense.

Once again we are seeing Airbnb do what Airbnb do best. It doesn't matter how good you have been as an Airbnb representative. It doesn't matter how many great reviews you have, guests who just love you, or how much you have spread a wonderful image for Airbnb within the travelling community.That will not be relevant.

I will lay a bet the last thing the selection panel will look at will be the guests interpretation of the host and the host's property.

Unfortunately, I hate to have to say this but you guys who have made Airbnb great, by not being 'professional' hosts but, simply providing and exemplary hosting experience, and made Airbnb look great........ are not going to be the winners here. 

Airbnb puts a monetary value on what ever it does. It has for years told us we need to drop our prices, we need to make guests reservation exit strategy as accommodating as possible, we need to accept guests no matter who they are, what their background is, whatever their culture might be. It's not about us, its about service fees!

We are nothing more than Airbnb's ATM machines, we funnel money into the company whether we get anything out of it or not, the company's only interest is in.......money!

If they were going to do something like this they probably would have been fairer if they simply had a lottery for all 2 listing superhosts no matter where they were in the world, and had 8,500 x $2,000 random winners...I think that adds up to $17,000,000!

That would have given everyone an equal chance of getting a, 'nibble at the yeast bun!' and it would have scooped up at least some of those desperately  in need!

Keep your chins up folks, I hope everyone can come out of this intact, but I think you are best not getting your hopes up for any sort of company handout. I think that has been pretty much earmarked!

Cheers......Rob

[Jay1385]

No way! I did not get anything they promised and feel ripped off!!! I was promised 25% of all reservations cancelled by covid-19 and my months March - May were fully booked. Yesterday I got an invoice I only get paid 25% of 50% of my cancellations and not even all of them! How can that be? Also I am eligible for the Superhost Relief Program because I have been a Superhost from 2016 - 2019 and after relisting under a new account I am superhost again which makes me eligible for the Superhost Relief  Program according to one casemanager and according to another I am not. I really feel ripped off by this company and since this is my only income I can not even pay my bills anymore!

[Stephanie]

Hiya @Jay1385 ,

I think this information may be of use to you:

When will future payments arrive?

We expect to send payments to hosts with eligible reservations at least once a month until the program is completed. We know how important these payments are, and we’re working hard to send them as quickly as possible.

To summarise, this is just first batch of refunds so if you are eligible for more you will be emailed in due course. You will have also received an email with a breakdown of your paid refund if you wanted to learn more about how that is factored.

Many thanks,

[Helen350]

@Stephanie  No link! Please repost! 🙂

[Stephanie]

@Helen350 - do you want a link the FAQ on this? Not sure which link you're needing here (unless I'm missing something which is entirely possible!)

Thanks

[Helen350]

@Stephanie FYI your link just above to Jay1385 was not clickable!

- I found it by googling, out of interest, it's not directly relevant to me cos I'll be getting no payouts, but I just thought, as you gave a link, someone might want to 'click'.... 🙂 

[Stephanie]

Hiya @Helen350 ,

There was no link intended on that one but thanks for checking.

Thanks

[Pilar1]

@Stephanie 

 You say: 

... the latest on the Superhost relief fund:

The invitation process works by inviting our most long-standing Superhosts in financial need (looking at their earnings decline from this year to last) first. Invited hosts will have a 7 day window to apply. We are sending invites each week from now until May 15th.

So, taking into account the large number of Superhosts worldwide I’m assuming this rules out anybody who’s been a Superhost for less than 4 years as there will be many more in the queue before them. If 4000 letters have gone out (when did they start?) just allocating an average of $2000 each, that’s about half the pot gone already so if we have not received that letter by now there’s little chance we will in the next 2 weeks.

Also:

How are you deciding what hosts have been hit the hardest?

We know that this type of information is complex and sensitive—that’s why we’ve put together specific criteria to make it more objective. We start by looking at hosts’ earning trends to invite those whose earnings have decreased the most when compared to last year. Then we use hosts’ responses in their applications to better

understand how that decrease has affected their ability to make ends meet.

Although it is not clear which period last year is going to be looked at, I’m sure for most of us our losses will be substantial during the past moths even if last year wasn’t a particularly good one (for whatever reason that might be). In my case it is a 100% decrease, zero earnings since February and no hope of a booking for the foreseeable future as my city is on lockdown with no date in view to end it. So my earnings couldn’t have decreased more, right? How is this affecting my ability to make ends meet? Greatly!! I’m a single person in a foreign country, long term unemployed, having to self isolate for health reasons, with no right to any of my government’s help schemes and therefore living off savings. I only share a room in my home and was totally reliant on my modest AirBnB earnings when this hit; even though I was about to get back on my feet work wise back then there’s now no hope in hell I’ll get a job for months. I’m sure there will be many in similar situations, my case is by no means unique, or even worse, at least I have no dependants. In spite of all this I doubt that whatever algorithm is used to select who’s chosen to even apply can take into account individual situations like mine. Besides, those who brought more funds into AirBnB arks will have a far higher chance to get chosen by the bots to start with, I’m sure of that; once again that alone will exclude me from the chosen few.

If I had a minimal hope I might qualify, and this was my ONLY hope of any external help to survive this situation, after these last two “clarifications” I now have none because remember: "There are hundreds of thousands of Superhosts around the world"

Apologies if I have rumbled on and made it too personal, it’s the only way I have to vent my frustrations after weeks of worrying alone. Keep safe everyone.

[Helen350]

@Pilar1 Had you thought of advertising for a lodger on 'Spare Room'? Or getting yourself on a list offering Keyworker accommodation? 🙂

[Pilar1]

Yes of course @Helen350 , I’ve used SpareRoom on and off in the past although not for a couple of years. At the moment it’s unthinkable for me to do either option, being in a high risk group. Sharing my home will not be possible until the situation is really under control, ideally when there’s a vaccine, but we’re at least a year away from that. 

[Kris105]

I am in dyer need for the grant. I Qualify and have seen all my reservations canceled March April and may 1 is still pending cancelation. One of my listings got the 25% the other nothing. I have not been able to pay anything since March. Not to talk about food, which I get help with.  Any money I get will go directly to pay bills. @Airbnb @Brian  I contacted you in March letting you know that I am in danger of eviction as my livelihood has disappeared. Please review my case 

thx kris 

[Robin4]

@Kris105 

Kris, I wish there was something that I could do to help you but, I can't!

All I can say to you is, if you have mortgages/rents or utilities that you can't pay, don't wait around hoping that some Airbnb windfall may come your way, mate it won't. Approach those you have commitments to, explain your situation and ask for their consideration in ways to help you out of this crisis.

This is not going to go on forever, your Mayor Bill De Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo are doing the best they can to get the ship righted again, and I can tell you Kris, once the peak is reached the downhill progression is swift. From having a 35% daily increases in COVID-19 cases five weeks ago we are now just 4 days from being virus free in my state.....no active cases. Within a week almost all restrictions will be lifted here in my state. Another of Australia's states (The ACT)  was today declared coronavirus free.

And the government have been smart about it. Restaurants and pubs will be able to accept patrons from next week but, only patrons who make a booking so there is a record of traceable people should another outbreak occur! Travel restrictions are being lifted and I am opening my calendar for booking to state locals only again week after next!

Kris, ask those who you are in debt to for assistance for the next couple of months and try to find out if you are eligible for any federal assistance.....be a bit proactive here, don't wait for Airbnb to come to your aid, because if you do I am afraid your wait could lead you to disaster.

All the best mate!

Cheers.......Rob  

[Kris105]

Thx 

[Kris105]

@Airbnb  I fully qualify for Superhost but got no email yet. Is it in spam. Can’t we get it as a message in our inbox?