The new cancellation policy, that Airbnb has already changed, will cover hurricanes, that are connected with travel bans. As far as a flu warning in the U.S., a malaria emergency in Thailand, or a Covid-19 outbreak, these situations would be not covered from Airbnb. It will help the businessmen not to miss and have more profits and bookings but also the customers themselves not to be at risk or lose their money due to extreme circumstances.
Airbnb will be introducing a new cancellation policy on June 6 for weather-related events and government travel restrictions. The “Major Disruption Policy” will allow guests to cancel reservations and receive refunds when a hurricane or natural disaster causes government travel restrictions or leads to massive utility service disruptions. These guest cancellations will apply even if hosts’ cancellation policies state otherwise, according to Airbnb.
The new policy is an update to Airbnb’s “Extenuating Circumstances Policy.” Airbnb Head of Community Policy Juniper Downs said “The changes were made to create clarity for our guests and Hosts and ensure it’s meeting the diverse needs of our global community,” Downs said. “Our aim was to clearly explain when the policy applies to a reservation, and to deliver fair and consistent outcomes for our users.”
The updated policy will apply in cases of declared public health emergencies and epidemics, government travel restrictions, military actions and other hostilities.
“When a large-scale event occurs, we evaluate the situation to determine if the Major Incident Policy applies,” Airbnb’s updated policy states. “If applicable, we activate the Policy for the affected area and the length of time we expect the Event to prevent or legally prohibit the completion of reservations.”
The updated policy would also enable guests to cancel reservations mid-trip during a covered event. They would get refunds for nights that they didn’t stay at the property. The policy does not come into force when a government declares a health emergency, but the disease is endemic, like influenza in the US or malaria in Thailand.
Airbnb explicitly stated that the new policy does not cover Covid-19. Airbnb was the subject of backlash from hosts in the early days of the pandemic when it provided refunds or credits to guests and let many hosts keep their businesses running.
If guests made reservations after May 31, 2022, for example, a host’s cancellation policy determined whether there would be a refund when Covid-19 affected the guest’s travel plans. This policy will not change.
