Home-sharing company Airbnb has had a remarkably flexible pandemic so far.
Although initially analysts thought the pandemic would hurt the company because of limited travel, Airbnb instead thrived as guests looked for ways to stay someplace different domestically and to shelter in place for a week or two.
The company was also lauded for its flexibility in allowing guests with Covid-related issues to cancel their bookings with no penalty.
That was in line with state and federal health guidelines at the time, which recommended two weeks of quarantine if Covid was contracted, and kept people from traveling to different locations and spreading a then little-understood virus.
Airbnb (ABNB) has also come back stronger than ever as pandemic restrictions have been lifted.
The company posted soaring revenue for the final quarter of 2021, raking in a record $834 million.
"Something bigger than a travel rebound is happening. The world is undergoing a revolution of how we live and work," co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky said on the call.
"For the first time ever, people can travel any time, anywhere, for any length, and live on Airbnb. This trend towards more flexibility will only accelerate."
Now, however, it looks like some of that flexibility has run out.
Forget That Refund
Airbnb has announced that it will no longer accept having Covid or being exposed to Covid as an extenuating circumstance under its full refund policy.
Buried several paragraphs into a blog post blandly titled "Updating Our Extenuating Circumstances Policy," Airbnb first spends multiple paragraphs touting all the money it has spent on helping hosts and guests weather the pandemic.
After that, however, it says that it will now stop allowing Covid as a reason to cancel your trip and get a full refund, even if you or the host are ill.
That's a major reversal for the home-sharing company, which had honored guests Covid-related travel disruptions with a complete refund ever since the pandemic began.
Now, guests can still cancel, but they will only get the refund supplied by their hosts — many of whom charge hundreds of dollars in cleaning fees if you cancel, and have additional cancellation fees of their own.
Airbnb said in that blog post that it allows guests to search listings via a Free Cancellation filter.
Its new guidelines takes effect on May 31.
Is Airbnb Trying to Force Travelers Into Their Insurance Product?
Notably, Airbnb's new policy coincides with the company launching its new travel insurance program.
Under that program, guests will be covered for any interruptions to their travel plans, including those related to Covid.
They will also, of course, have to pay to be covered under that insurance plan.
"As we previewed in January, in the coming months, we also expect to launch our custom-built guest travel insurance product offering, exclusive to Airbnb guests," Airbnb said in its blog post.
"The same team that brought our AirCover Host protection product to life is building our new guest insurance product in partnership with a reputable insurance carrier and will be available to guests in certain countries," it said.
