Airbnb announces relief program supporting guests impacted by COVID

Today we’re announcing a new way Airbnb will support our guest community as they navigate unexpected impacts of the recent surge in COVID cases throughout the world via the launch of Airbnb’s Guest COVID Support Program.

Since the WHO’s declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic in March 2020, we’ve continued to prioritise public health. Our guiding principle has been that people should not travel or host if they are sick with this virus.

In this context, we announced the global activation of our Extenuating Circumstances policy in March 2020 enabling guests who booked before the pandemic to get refunds, making Airbnb the first short-term rental platform to implement such a consumer-friendly approach to COVID cancellations. And Airbnb continues to allow guests who contract COVID to cancel for a full refund even if it’s outside of the Host’s cancellation policy. This is something none of our peer short-term rental companies have done. 

But over the past month, we’ve seen the stress and challenges spurred by Omicron, and we’ve stayed close to our community, which includes both Hosts and guests. As a two-sided platform, it is important to recognize that the Omicron spike has greatly impacted our Hosts, and we know many lost out on income as well as the opportunity to market their listing over the holiday season following last-minute cancellations. For this reason, we are grateful that our Host community as a whole has sought to offer guests greater flexibility — with almost two thirds of active listings now offering moderate or flexible cancellation policies. And many even went above and beyond their cancellation policies to support guests over the course of this unprecedented Omicron wave that hit over the holiday travel season. 

Travellers have been hit hard, particularly with sudden travel restrictions and border shutdowns. We also know that many travellers who may be wary of crowded hotel lobbies during this Omicron spike are increasingly viewing short-term rentals booked through a trusted platform like Airbnb as a safer travel option for family and friends — particularly as Airbnb Hosts remain committed to Airbnb’s COVID safety and cleaning practices.

We understand that our guests are also trying to navigate in a really dynamic environment, and so we’ll be stepping up our support for them.

Airbnb Guest COVID Support Program

We are introducing our new Guest COVID Support Program to provide relief to guests no longer able to proceed with their previously booked reservations due to unexpected travel disruptions caused by government mandates – such as border closures or mandatory extended quarantine requirements. 

For guests in these situations who are unable to obtain full refunds under their Hosts’ cancellation policies, Airbnb will provide relief in the form of a travel coupon for 50 per cent of the cost of the unrefunded portion of the reservation. We are funding this program with $20 million USD initially to help defray these financial impacts to our guests and ensure guests know that we are listening to their concerns.

This program is effective immediately, and applies retroactively to reservations that (1) have a check-in date on or after December 1, 2021 and (2) had to be cancelled by the guest due to border closures, government mandates and certain other Omicron-related travel restrictions not in effect at the time of booking. If guests had reservations for stays with check-in dates on or after December 1, and they had to cancel in advance of check-in due to unexpected travel disruptions caused by government mandates, they are eligible for relief under this program. 

For example, if a traveller in October booked a stay to Queensland with a check-in date for late December – and Queensland’s restrictions on outside travel were announced after the date of booking but before the date of check-in – this program would retroactively apply. However, if a traveler books a stay in Queensland today while the same travel restrictions are already in place, the program would not apply. 

Guests who believe their canceled reservations meet the program criteria should contact our 24/7 Community Support team.

This program is meant to support guests who have encountered extreme and unexpected government-mandated travel disruptions due to Omicron and through no fault of their own. Other circumstances such as a guest testing positive for COVID just prior to a reservation will still be covered by Airbnb’s Extenuating Circumstances policy and therefore will not be eligible under this new program. Additionally, extreme travel disruptions such as earthquakes, wildfires, etc. that are not related to COVID are also covered under Airbnb’s Extenuating Circumstances policy.

Despite Omicron, this New Year’s Eve nearly 4.5 million guests in 53,000 places around the world put their faith in our Hosts and platform to deliver safe and meaningful experiences. This represented our biggest night since the start of the pandemic. 

You can find full program details here, including which bookings are eligible.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 about us that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements about our future performance, prospects, plans and objectives are forward-looking statements. 

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Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the objectives expressed or implied in this press release. Therefore, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the effects and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic on us, the travel industry, travel trends, and the global economy generally; any further and continued decline or disruption in the travel and hospitality industries or economic downturn; changes in political, business, and economic conditions; and the other risks listed or described from time to time in Airbnb’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including Airbnb’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 and subsequent Form 8-Ks, which are on file with the SEC and available on the investor relations page of Airbnb’s website.

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