5 ms·

"We also will reimburse hosts, at Airbnb’s expense, the money they would have earned from these cancelled reservations. HotelTonight reservations also will be c

by uptown 6y ago

"We also will reimburse hosts, at Airbnb’s expense, the money they would have earned from these cancelled reservations. HotelTonight reservations also will be canceled." That's got to be an enormous dollar amount.

whymauri 6y ago
Airbnb reimburses hosts for black swan events like these pretty often. My parents are super hosts and some local legislation shut down their Airbnb. Similar to this situation, they got a pretty generous reimbursement (but not complete). At the risk of sounding sappy about a ~100B$ company, Chesky really _does_ care about the hosts ecosystem. They also had the chance to purchase pre-IPO equity, which was pretty cool.
- koolba 6y ago
  Do they check to see if you list your property on a different site and pocket both the reimbursement and separate rental?
  - wasdfff 6y ago
    There’d be almost no way to tell given these ads generally don’t have precise locations for the address until after you book.
    - bruceb 6y ago
      I bet Airbnb has a lot of data and does have some ability to make a good guess if a property is listed on other sites.
adamnemecek 6y ago
I wonder if they have insurance for this.
- peeters 6y ago
  Insurance for them making their own decision to cancel reservations? Who would insure that scenario? It would be like wagering on a dice roll and then allowing me to choose the number instead of rolling it.
  - gambiting 6y ago
    "social unrest" is an insurable event. It would be a bit of a legal dance to classify this as such, but it is a thing. Edit: in fact, the more I think about it, the more I realize it could be the other way around too - the insurers could have told AirBnB to cancel all reservations in DC, because they are unwilling to take the risk. They might have calculated it would be cheaper to pay everyone off upfront for the reservations, than risk much larger liability cases if they go forward with them.
  - adamnemecek 6y ago
    It’s not their own decision, like the threat of insurrection is very real. Army and police are taking it very seriously.
    - mkr-hn 6y ago
      Seriously. There are pictures of National Guardspeople sleeping and resting on the floors of the capitol building. https://twitter.com/DaniellaMicaela/status/1349352529868578816 https://twitter.com/DaniellaMicaela/status/13493525298685788... They're there to protect the building and the people in it from people who would stay at an AirBnB the night before an attack.
    - peeters 6y ago
      I agree the threats are real. When you say "it's not their own decision", do you mean because there are orders/laws banning short-term rentals in D.C. during inauguration? Or do you mean the situation "forced their hand" out of a lack of better options? Because the latter is still their decision, even if it is an obvious one.
frankfrankfrank 6y ago
Am I the only one that is even slightly concerned about where all of this is heading? What happens if you decide that in fact it is not good that Biden instigated a war with the next brown country that is going to get it because the American war machine has lust in its eye and psychopathic military brass needs a promotion for a fatter pension and benefits that depends on killing people somewhere, anywhere? So is this the paradigm for when protests happen that the government and corporations don't like and just want to shut down? No, I know, they would never shut down your righteous cause and protest because you are the good bois. They'll simply not let you board a plane (maybe even put you too on a no fly list?)? Not rent a car to you? Deny you a hotel/airbnb, possibly for life? Your apps/phones stop working within a geofence around any government building? You can't eat in a restaurant? You cannot buy anything by payment processor/visa/MC? The only left over mega corporations will not take cash? People who have done this, which is overwhelmingly on the "left" side of the spectrum, should really take a pause and think really long and really hard about what they have unleashed here; because no matter what I don't see how this demon will be put back into pandora's box without full collapse. Once you have relinquished control over your life to the government/corporate fascist type alliance, you can ask nicely all you want, you aren't getting that power over your life back from these types of people by any peaceful means. History is replete with the proof after proof for how this will all play out unfortunately.
- StriverGuy 6y ago
  Attempting to topple the legitimately elected US president comes with consequences. No matter the reasoning. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Edit: It is interesting to see my comment downvoted. Taking part in such acts and not expecting consequences is naive at best.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - virmundi 6y ago
    Just because a group of morons did something does not mean corporations should take it upon themselves to police the free travel of the citizenry. Why didn’t they shut down operations across the country when COVID became a known, valid threat? They facilitated the spread of the disease.

by uptown 6y ago

whymauri 6y ago

Airbnb reimburses hosts for black swan events like these pretty often. My parents are super hosts and some local legislation shut down their Airbnb. Similar to this situation, they got a pretty generous reimbursement (but not complete). At the risk of sounding sappy about a ~100B$ company, Chesky really _does_ care about the hosts ecosystem. They also had the chance to purchase pre-IPO equity, which was pretty cool.

koolba 6y ago
Do they check to see if you list your property on a different site and pocket both the reimbursement and separate rental?
- wasdfff 6y ago
  There’d be almost no way to tell given these ads generally don’t have precise locations for the address until after you book.
  - bruceb 6y ago
    I bet Airbnb has a lot of data and does have some ability to make a good guess if a property is listed on other sites.

adamnemecek 6y ago

I wonder if they have insurance for this.

peeters 6y ago
Insurance for them making their own decision to cancel reservations? Who would insure that scenario? It would be like wagering on a dice roll and then allowing me to choose the number instead of rolling it.
- gambiting 6y ago
  "social unrest" is an insurable event. It would be a bit of a legal dance to classify this as such, but it is a thing. Edit: in fact, the more I think about it, the more I realize it could be the other way around too - the insurers could have told AirBnB to cancel all reservations in DC, because they are unwilling to take the risk. They might have calculated it would be cheaper to pay everyone off upfront for the reservations, than risk much larger liability cases if they go forward with them.
- adamnemecek 6y ago
  It’s not their own decision, like the threat of insurrection is very real. Army and police are taking it very seriously.
  - mkr-hn 6y ago
    Seriously. There are pictures of National Guardspeople sleeping and resting on the floors of the capitol building. https://twitter.com/DaniellaMicaela/status/1349352529868578816 https://twitter.com/DaniellaMicaela/status/13493525298685788... They're there to protect the building and the people in it from people who would stay at an AirBnB the night before an attack.
  - peeters 6y ago
    I agree the threats are real. When you say "it's not their own decision", do you mean because there are orders/laws banning short-term rentals in D.C. during inauguration? Or do you mean the situation "forced their hand" out of a lack of better options? Because the latter is still their decision, even if it is an obvious one.

frankfrankfrank 6y ago

Am I the only one that is even slightly concerned about where all of this is heading? What happens if you decide that in fact it is not good that Biden instigated a war with the next brown country that is going to get it because the American war machine has lust in its eye and psychopathic military brass needs a promotion for a fatter pension and benefits that depends on killing people somewhere, anywhere? So is this the paradigm for when protests happen that the government and corporations don't like and just want to shut down? No, I know, they would never shut down your righteous cause and protest because you are the good bois. They'll simply not let you board a plane (maybe even put you too on a no fly list?)? Not rent a car to you? Deny you a hotel/airbnb, possibly for life? Your apps/phones stop working within a geofence around any government building? You can't eat in a restaurant? You cannot buy anything by payment processor/visa/MC? The only left over mega corporations will not take cash? People who have done this, which is overwhelmingly on the "left" side of the spectrum, should really take a pause and think really long and really hard about what they have unleashed here; because no matter what I don't see how this demon will be put back into pandora's box without full collapse. Once you have relinquished control over your life to the government/corporate fascist type alliance, you can ask nicely all you want, you aren't getting that power over your life back from these types of people by any peaceful means. History is replete with the proof after proof for how this will all play out unfortunately.

StriverGuy 6y ago
Attempting to topple the legitimately elected US president comes with consequences. No matter the reasoning. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Edit: It is interesting to see my comment downvoted. Taking part in such acts and not expecting consequences is naive at best.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- virmundi 6y ago
  Just because a group of morons did something does not mean corporations should take it upon themselves to police the free travel of the citizenry. Why didn’t they shut down operations across the country when COVID became a known, valid threat? They facilitated the spread of the disease.