Airbnb is updating its cancellation policy when it comes to unforeseen events and, from 6 June, it will also cover severe weather events, such as hurricanes.
In general, cancellations and refunds for Airbnb reservations are governed by the listing’s cancellation policy. In the rare circumstances that large-scale events prevent or legally prohibit completion of a reservation, the Extenuating Circumstances Policy, which is being renamed to Major Disruptive Events Policy may apply. When this applies, guests can cancel their reservation and receive a refund, travel credit and/or other consideration regardless of the reservation’s cancellation policy and hosts can cancel without fees or other adverse consequences, although their listing’s calendar will be blocked for the dates of the cancelled reservation.
Previously, the policy only covered changes to government travel requirements, such as unexpected changes to visa or passport requirements; declared emergencies and epidemics, but this does not include diseases that are endemic or commonly associated with an area, for example, malaria in Thailand or dengue fever in Hawaii; government travel restrictions, but not travel advisories; military actions and other hostilities, including war, invasions, bombings, riots or generally civil unrest; and natural disasters, such as volcanic eruptions, tsunamis or large-scale outages of essential utilities.
From June, weather events, like hurricanes, will also be added to the list. However, foreseeable weather events, like a hurricane during hurricane season, are only covered if they result in another covered event on the list, like a government travel restriction or large-scale outage of essential utilities.
“As an example, if a hurricane were to impact Florida during hurricane season and this led to a mandatory evacuation order, under the old policy affected bookings for this destination would not be eligible for a refund. With this update, in these same circumstances, guests with affected bookings do qualify for a refund”, Airbnb explained in a statement.
The changes to this policy, including its new name, were made to create clarity for our guests and hosts and ensure it’s meeting the diverse needs of our global community.
Juniper Downs, Airbnb Head of Community Policy
The new policy clarifies that making mid-trip cancellations is allowed when a covered event occurs, with guests receiving a refund for any nights not spent at the accommodation and without fees and related consequences for hosts.
“Our aim was to clearly explain when the policy applies to a reservation and to deliver fair and consistent outcomes for our users. These updates also bring the policy in line with industry standards”, said Airbnb’s Head of Community Policy, Juniper Downs.
Moreover, the update clearly limits the coverage to large-scale events at the destination location only. This means that the policy will only apply for reservations where a major disruptive event has impacted the location of the listing. Hosts are also obligated to cancel reservations if their listing is uninhabitable or no longer consistent with what was originally booked by their guest. They are able to do this without cancellation fees and related consequences.
