{"id":2771,"date":"2022-01-21T11:06:17","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T11:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hoteliersweb.com\/News\/?p=2771"},"modified":"2022-01-21T11:06:19","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T11:06:19","slug":"new-insurance-product-and-covid-relief-program-to-support-guests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoteliersweb.com\/News\/articles\/2771","title":{"rendered":"New insurance product and COVID relief program to support guests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Airbnb is set to launch guest insurance and a $20 million Guest COVID Support Program.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Today we\u2019re announcing two new ways Airbnb will support our guest community as they navigate unexpected impacts of the recent surge in COVID cases throughout the world \u2014 an upcoming guest travel insurance product and the launch of Airbnb\u2019s Guest COVID Support Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the WHO\u2019s declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic in March 2020, we\u2019ve continued to prioritize public health. Our guiding principle has been that people should not travel or host if they are sick with this virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this context, we announced the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/news.airbnb.com\/extenuating-circumstances-policy-activated-around-the-world\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">global activation of our Extenuating Circumstances policy<\/a>&nbsp;in March 2020 enabling guests who booked before the pandemic to get refunds, making Airbnb the first&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeednews.com\/article\/alexkantrowitz\/vrbo-coronavirus-refunds-airbnb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">short-term rental platform to implement such a consumer-friendly approach<\/a>&nbsp;to COVID cancellations. And Airbnb continues to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.airbnb.com\/help\/article\/2701\/extenuating-circumstances-policy-and-the-coronavirus-covid19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">allow guests who contract COVID to cancel for a full refund<\/a>&nbsp;even if it\u2019s outside of the Host\u2019s cancellation policy. This is something none of our peer short-term rental companies have done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But over the past month, we\u2019ve seen the stress and challenges spurred by Omicron, and we\u2019ve 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 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Travelers have been hit hard, particularly with sudden travel restrictions and border shutdowns. We also know that many travelers 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 \u2014 particularly as Airbnb Hosts remain committed to Airbnb\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.airbnb.com\/d\/enhancedclean\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">COVID safety and cleaning practices<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We understand that our guests are also trying to navigate in a really dynamic environment, so we\u2019ll be stepping up our support for guests in the following ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Airbnb Guest Travel Insurance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We will launch a custom-built guest travel insurance product offering exclusive to Airbnb guests. The same team that brought our\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/news.airbnb.com\/2021-winter-release\/\" target=\"_blank\">AirCover Host protection product<\/a>\u00a0to life is building our new guest insurance product in partnership with a reputable insurance carrier. We plan to launch this new product in Spring 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Until this new product is available, we urge guests to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.airbnb.com\/d\/travel-insurance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">purchase travel insurance<\/a>&nbsp;outside of Airbnb, or to utilize the functionality of our free cancellation search filter to find listings that have more flexibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized is-style-rounded\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hospitalitynet.org\/picture\/xxl_153136854.jpg?t=20220121114307\" alt=\"New insurance product and COVID relief program to support guests\" width=\"1417\" height=\"1167\"\/><figcaption>Photo: Airbnb<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Airbnb Guest COVID Support Program<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>While we work towards the travel insurance launch, 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 \u2014 such as border closures or mandatory extended quarantine requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For guests in these situations who are unable to obtain full refunds under their Hosts\u2019 cancellation policies, Airbnb will provide relief in the form of a travel coupon for 50 percent of the cost of the unrefunded portion of the reservation. We are funding this program with $20 million initially to help defray these financial impacts to our guests and ensure guests know that we are listening to their concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if a traveler in October booked a stay in Israel with a check-in date for late December \u2014 and Israel\u2019s restrictions on outside travel were announced after the date of booking but before the date of check-in \u2014 this program would retroactively apply. However, if a traveler books a stay in Israel today while the same travel restrictions are already in place, the program would not apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Guests can find full program details&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.airbnb.com\/help\/article\/3182\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>&nbsp;and should contact our 24\/7 Community Support team if they believe their reservations meet the program criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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\u2019s 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\u2019s Extenuating Circumstances policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite Omicron, this New Year\u2019s Eve nearly&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/news.airbnb.com\/welcoming-nearly-4-5-million-guests-for-new-years-eve\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">4.5 million guests in 53,000 places<\/a>&nbsp;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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We will continue to emphasize responsible travel, including communicating updates about our forthcoming guest insurance product ahead of the Spring launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Forward-looking Statements<\/em><\/strong><br><em>This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the \u201csafe harbor\u201d 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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as \u201cmay,\u201d \u201cwill,\u201d \u201cplan,\u201d \u201ccould,\u201d \u201cpotential,\u201d \u201cobjective,\u201d or \u201ccontinues\u201d or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations. Although we believe that we have a reasonable basis for each forward-looking statement contained in this press release, we cannot guarantee that the events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur at all.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>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; our plan to launch a guest travel insurance product and the other risks listed or described from time to time in Airbnb\u2019s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the \u201cSEC\u201d), including Airbnb\u2019s 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\u2019s website.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are based on information and estimates available to us as of the date of this press release. We expressly disclaim any obligation to update or revise any information contained in this press release, except as required by law.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Airbnb is set to launch guest insurance and a $20 million Guest COVID Support Program. Today we\u2019re announcing two new ways Airbnb will support our guest community as they navigate unexpected impacts of the recent surge in COVID cases throughout the world \u2014 an upcoming guest travel insurance product and the launch of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2772,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-offers"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hoteliersweb.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/xxl_153136853.jpg","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoteliersweb.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoteliersweb.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoteliersweb.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoteliersweb.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoteliersweb.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hoteliersweb.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2773,"href":"https:\/\/hoteliersweb.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2771\/revisions\/2773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoteliersweb.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoteliersweb.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoteliersweb.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoteliersweb.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}