Throw the hosts a few peanuts and then screw them by extending the EC policy to May 31st. Thanks.

[James207]

Hosts with strict policies now get 12.5% of the rental (25% of 50%). This is about the same amount as the Airbnb fee which they kept (while refunding ALL of the host's money) and issued guests a 'voucher'. So essentially we're getting the voucher money, which costs Airbnb nothing. So generous of you to give us the money you didn't refund to the guests. Great, that'll pay about 15% of my mortgage.

And you couldn't scrounge up more than $10m out of your $3 Billion dollar cash hoard? I wonder how many superhosts will even qualify given the restrictions. And I'm guessing 'up to $5,000' means a couple people will get $5000 and the rest of us will get 500.

The rest of the 'benefits' are meaningless.

The EC policy is devastating to hosts. By extending it to May 31st you're showing once again how little you care or value hosts. Not surprising but it shows your true character.

[J-Renato0]

Thanks @Stephanie

You are right!  

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

Thank you @Stephanie and I am in perfect agreement that everyone should be respectful of others -  I'm not the one who has been making personal insults attacking others or calling people names.

Also imo, passionate and rude are different. Rude is not a "style".  

[J-Renato0]

I am in perfect agreement with you @Stephanie 

*inappropriate content removed*

[Helen350]

@J-Renato0 I'm with @Jessica-and-Henry0 

[J-Renato0]

@Helen350 

I really appreciate your honest opinion.
Thanks for your time to reach me to manifest your opinion.

However I stand for what I think it is right for all the hosts.

I wish you a good day  🙂

[Helen350]

@J-Renato0 I was just having a laugh really... & thinking 'Poor Jessica'

I have no opinion on the subject, I can't be bothered to give it my attention. - Don't take me too seriously!

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Helen350 

You know....... to be honest....... even "I" thought this situation I found myself in quite funny...... and had a good laugh about it with Henry. Lol~~

[Sam397]

@Jessica-and-Henry0  I am not sure what a flatterer is but if its the same thing as a brown noser or an a** kisser, I am sorry but the your comment about how you were so glad they extended the date to the 31st does make you look that way. Nothing personal. 

[Helen3]

I know this is a difficult time for us all,  but sorry but personal attacks of this nature are completely unnecessary.

Surely you can have a civilised discussion without resorting to nasty personal insults. @J-Renato0 

[J-Renato0]

@Helen3

I have always moderately appreciated some of your comments. But not this one, it was biased.

Stephanie has already done the right thing with great competence. She has already addressed both of us.
Honesty demands that I say your comment is absolutely unecessary and unproper.
Lets move on, please!

[Stephanie]

Hi again,

I appreciate the acknowledgment of my comment here but that only really applies if the tone improves. Continued petty comments and personal attacks will lead me to close the thread which is unfair on the others that are expressing their opinions without targeting each other. 

Thanks for your understanding,

Stephanie

[Sarah977]

@J-Renato0 And guests are all over social media and this forum yelling about how their VRBO hosts refused to refund their money and how they'll never use VRBO again, while their Airbnb bookings were refunded in full. If any of these online booking platforms are still standing when the smoke clears, although I definitely think Airbnb made some significant errors in the way they handled this as far as their hosts are concerned, which platform do you think guests will be more inclined to use in the future? 

[J-Renato0]

@Sarah977 

Thanks for raising an interesting point.

My answer is simple.
In the future, guests will be more inclined to use the platform that has the best properties, best hosts and best prices! (THE BEST HOSTS OFFERING THE BEST ACCOMMODATIONS).

It is no use to have clients if you do not have supply to sell.

However, if you have supply, goods to sell, the clients will come anyway.

Imagine the Roman Empire. Julius Cesare made him great because he paid his soldiers very well and treated them like real comrades.
If he thought that only conquered borders were important to the Empire, he would not spend money on his soldiers.

Comparatively, what Airbnb is doing is destroying its army (the hosts) and thinking it will maintain its borders. Who's going to fight for an Empire that doesn't pay them well? An Empire that left them out in the cold?

There is no point in having an Empire if you cannot maintain it, and that is why there is an army. It is the army that secure the empire.

There is no point in Airbnb surviving if it has no more credibility on the part of the hosts.

We have seen the rise and fall of lots of empires.

As for the future, I cannot make predictions.

However, I dare say, it is not by being weak before the clients, or by leaving the hosts out in the cold that an empire will stands. 

I wish the best to Airbnb, although I do not agree with their way to handle this crise.

[J-Renato0]

@Sarah977 

In addition

Maybe in the future Airbnb will have lots of guest willing to book and less hosts willing to use Airbnb.

Maybe VRBO in the future will have lots of happy hosts and certainly lots of new hosts! 

What is the company that guest will have to use to book accommodations? It is not every day that an epidemic happens or hurricane happens. Do you think they will give up travelling?

If the guests do not want to use a company that ensure strict policy cancelation, they are free to go to Airbnb or to some hotel.

If Airbnb did not had strict cancelation policy, I would not have any listing on its platform.

Would you list your listing on some platform where there is not strict cancelation policy, and where the Extenuating Circunstances are biased toward the guests?

[Sarah977]

@J-Renato0   I couldn't care less about the availability of a Strict policy. I've always had a moderate policy, and I've never had a guest take advantage of it in a way that I felt screwed over. In 3 and a half years of hosting, I've never had a guest cancel before the 5 day 100% refund period, and only one cancel after- she had a death in the immediate family and I still got paid 50%. Almost all my bookings are international- I live in a tourist beach town. Guests have already booked flights, booked time off work, etc- they have a lot in play and aren't likely to just cancel last minute for some less than quite valid reason, like getting really sick or having an accident.

But no, I certainly don't like any company that has policies which unilaterally favor one party over another as a normal practice.