Want to know your Airbnb relief amount?

[Michael Greenberg]

It occured to me yesterday that I had not heard from Airbnb since they announced their "relief" program for Hosts, so I took to social media to search for information.  I came across an article where hosts had complained about their relief being very small and that this was a publicity stunt by Airbnb.  They did not understand Airbnb's stance that it would be 25% of eligible host cancellation policy (which has clarified for me that it is indeed a publicity stunt).  In the past I've had quick responses sending @airbnbhelp a twitter message, and this was not different.  Within a few hours I received the following response...

"Hi Michael, we’ll invite eligible hosts to apply and start sending out relief grants to approved hosts in late April 2020. We aim to have all invitations sent out by May 15, 2020."

Shortly thereafter, I then received an email with the amount they are providing. I guess timing was everything, however if you haven't heard tweet away. My sincere hope is that you all had a strict no-cancellation policy for reservations. 

[Michael Greenberg]

Originally posted by @Chris Gottshall:

Yeah, they basically said "we'll pay you" but neglected to say "... only if you had a strict cancellation policy." Non-ironically, they are ALWAYS trying to prompt me to abandon using a strict policy in favor of more flexible terms to "attract more guests." Well, I feel pretty good about rebuffing those attempts and this has further cemented why we'll be sticking with a strict policy going forward.

I reached out to them via their support chat on Monday of this week to ask where my March cancellations payment was because they said they would send them monthly and today is already the end of April. I just got my email last night confirming the amount they calculated. Yes, it is peanuts, even though I have a strict cancellation policy. Less than $400 for the 5 reservations they canceled on me. Thanks, I guess? I would have rather they let me handle the cancelation myself instead of ripping the rug out from under us for half of March and April. Oh well... Airbnb has always been more than 90% of my bookings, so I'm just gonna roll with it and hope I can make up for it later this year.

Chris, I am 100% in your camp on this, "thanks for nothing".  Airbnb continues to play this game of "lets not upset anyone", though leaving the Hosts holding the bag everytime we turn around.  I too had a strict cancellation policy and ignored their constant barrage of emails encouraging me to change it, promising more reservations and visibility.  The money I have lost could have paid for a significant social media campaign to drive guests to book direct, then I could have managed the cancellations myself.  Another lesson learned.