Airbnb Now With "Major Distruptive Events Policy" that Includes "Government Travel Restriction" or "Large-Scale Utility Outage"
Applies to All Trips On Or After June 6, 2024. And what does God tell us about individual and collective prepping for an impending disruption?
Airbnb amended its policy on extenuating circumstances to now include power outages and other government-declared events.
I received this Airbnb email on March 30, 2024.
Airbnb’s Extenuating Circumstances Policy Link: Now is their “Major Disruptive Events Policy”
The policy change continues (emphases and some subtitles and paragraph breaks are mine; my personal comments don't include the orange “quote” bar to the left):
Effective date: June 6, 2024
Overview
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 Major Disruptive Events Policy (the “Policy”) may apply. When this Policy 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 canceled reservation.
This Policy applies to reservations for both accommodations and Experiences, and is applicable to reservations that are ongoing or that have a check-in on or after the effective date, except as otherwise notified by Airbnb to users. The Major Disruptive Events Policy is not an insurance policy.
What events are covered
The following events are covered under this Policy if they impact your reservation location, occur after the time of booking, and prevent or legally prohibit completion of a future or ongoing reservation (referred to in this Policy as “Events”):
Declared public health emergencies and epidemics.
Government-declared epidemics, pandemics, and public health emergencies. This does not include diseases that are endemic (for example, the flu) or commonly associated with an area (for example, malaria in Thailand). COVID-19 is not covered under this Major Disruptive Events Policy.
Now this ⬆️ is interesting. The government shut everything down for Covid, and now Airbnb is not covering Covid-related cancellations to reservations, much like hurricanes in Florida during hurricane season. I suppose Covid as a “usual” event.
Government travel restrictions.
Mandatory travel restrictions imposed by a governmental agency, such as an evacuation order. This does not include non-binding travel advisories and similar government guidance.
So the government can issue a travel “advisory” or “guidance” that falls short of an “evacuation”, and Airbnb doesn't cover it. That can be good, so people can think on their own and determine if their destination might offer more protection than their own home (i.e., offer a better food supply, water, shelter, favorable gun laws, etc.).
Military actions and other hostilities.
Acts of war, hostilities, invasions, civil war, terrorism, explosions, bombings, rebellions, riots, and insurrection.
… All of which can cause the imposition of martial law. What are we supposed to do in case of martial law? Be prepared.
Large-scale outages of essential utilities.
Prolonged outages of essential utilities, such as heat, water, and electricity, impacting the vast majority of homes in a given location.
The only homes “not affected” would be… those with alternative power sources, back-up generators, wells, ponds, and such. Or, as happened in Maui, only those houses with a special blue paint, like that of Oprah, were “missed” by the fires that jumped over them.
Please imagine what you would do with a power outage that lasted a month or three months, six months or a year. Get your community together and set a template for food, power, security, water, communications, medical, farming, and livestock.
Natural disasters.
Natural disasters and other severe weather events. Weather or natural conditions that are common enough to be foreseeable in a given location—for example, hurricanes occurring during hurricane season in Florida—are covered only when they result in another Event covered by this Policy that prevents completion of the reservation, such as a mandatory evacuation order or large-scale outage of essential utilities.
Think of a train derailment that contaminates the air and water with hazardous materials. The government can impose an evacuation order and then you may have to leave your home; the government can even decry that your land is unfit for habitation. For these reasons, and because you may have easier access if you come in from out of town, many recommend having an off-site storage unit for survival gear.
What happens if a reservation is impacted by a covered Event
When a large-scale event occurs, we assess the situation to determine whether the Major Disruptive Events Policy applies. If it does, we activate the Policy for the impacted area and time frame where we anticipate that the Event will prevent or legally prohibit completion of reservations. Reservations outside of the defined area and timeframe may not be eligible, though Hosts may still be able to cancel without adverse consequences if they are unable to host. We continuously monitor these situations and adjust coverage as needed to reflect changing conditions. If you believe this Policy applies to your reservation, please contact us to inquire about eligibility.
What is not covered
We understand that other circumstances outside of your control may disrupt your plans. In any situations not listed above, your reservation remains subject to the Host’s cancellation policy for the listing.
Examples of common events not covered by this policy include:
Events that impact a guest or their ability to travel, but not the reservation location
Unexpected injury or illness
Government obligations like jury duty or court appearances
Non-binding travel advisories or other government guidance that fall short of a travel ban or prohibition
Cancellation or rescheduling of an event for which the reservation was made
Transportation disruptions unrelated to a covered Event, such as airline insolvency, transportation strikes, and road closures due to maintenance
For reservations not covered by this Policy, we encourage guests and Hosts to find a mutually acceptable arrangement, such as a full or partial refund or an alteration of the booking dates. Note that any refunds outside of the reservation’s cancellation policy are at the Host’s discretion. Airbnb does not take part in or guarantee such refunds.
How this policy affects Hosts
If a reservation is covered by the Major Disruptive Events Policy, Hosts can cancel without fees or other adverse consequences. If a Host cancels under this policy, their listing’s calendar will be blocked for the dates of the canceled reservation. If a reservation is canceled under this Policy, the Host does not receive a payout for the canceled dates of the reservation, or, if the payout has already been made, the refunded amount will be withheld from the next payout(s).
Regardless of whether a reservation is covered by this Policy, Hosts can cancel for certain valid reasons, such as major damage to a listing, without fees or other adverse consequences. Hosts are obligated to cancel a reservation if their listing is uninhabitable or is inconsistent with what the guest booked; failure to do so may result in listing removal, cancellation of existing reservations, and refunds to guests until the listing is habitable and consistent with the listing description. Failure to do so is also a violation of our Ground rules for Hosts, and can lead to consequences up to and including account removal.
Other things to be aware of
This Policy does not limit your rights under local regulations, and any decisions made by Airbnb under this Policy do not affect your statutory rights.
Extenuating Circumstances Policy
Effective date: January 20, 2021
Overview
This Extenuating Circumstances Policy explains how cancellations are handled when unforeseen events beyond your control arise after booking and make it impracticable or illegal to complete your reservation. This Policy applies to reservations for both accommodations and Experiences.
When this Policy allows for cancellation, it controls and takes precedence over the reservation’s cancellation policy. Guests that are impacted by an event covered by this Policy can cancel their reservation and receive, depending on the circumstances, a cash refund, travel credit, and/or other consideration. Hosts that are impacted by an event covered by this Policy can cancel without adverse consequences, but, depending on the circumstances, their calendars may be blocked for the dates of the cancelled reservation.
What events are covered
This Policy uses the term “Event” to refer to the following situations that occur after booking, are unforeseen at the time of booking, and prevent or legally prohibit completion of the reservation.
Changes to government travel requirements. Unexpected changes to visa or passport requirements imposed by a governmental agency that prevent travel to the destination. This doesn’t include lost or expired travel documents or other personal circumstances relating to a guest’s authorization to travel.
Declared emergencies and epidemics. Government declared local or national emergencies, epidemics, pandemics, and public health emergencies. 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. Travel restrictions imposed by a governmental agency that prevent or prohibit traveling to, staying at, or returning from the Listing location. This does not include non-binding travel advisories and similar government guidance.
U.S. Travel Advisories
The U.S. State Department issues and updates international travel advisory levels for over 200 countries. Risk factors include health and diseases, terrorism, and civil unrest. Travel advisory levels are scored from a range of Level 1 (exercise normal precautions), to Level 4 (avoid travel).
Level 4 advisories are usually associated with civil unrest, crime, kidnapping and terrorism. Here is a recent U.S. State Department map of worldwide travel advisories:
Source: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/places-the-us-government-warns-not-to-travel-right-now
Note: Mexico is notable for its many missing persons:
Source: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/places-the-us-government-warns-not-to-travel-right-now
Military actions and other hostilities. Acts of war, hostilities, invasions, civil war, terrorism, explosions, bombings, rebellions, riots, insurrection, civil disorder, and civil unrest.
Natural disasters. Natural disasters, acts of God, large-scale outages of essential utilities, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and other severe and abnormal weather events.
Note that a “large-scale” power outage is now equivalent to a natural disaster or “act of God”.
This does not include weather or natural conditions that are common enough to be foreseeable in that location—for example, hurricanes occurring during hurricane season in Florida.
What is not covered
Everything else. This Policy only allows for cancellations for the Events described above. Everything else is excluded. Examples of situations that this Policy does not allow cancellations for include: unexpected disease, illness, or injury; government obligations like jury duty, court appearances or military duties; travel advisories or other government guidance (that fall short of a travel ban or prohibition); cancellation or rescheduling of an event for which the reservation was made; and transportation disruptions unrelated to a covered Event like road closures, as well as flight, train, bus and ferry cancellations. If you cancel a reservation in these cases, the amount refunded will be determined by the cancellation policy that applies to the reservation.
What to do next
If we notify you or publish information confirming that this Policy applies to your reservation, please follow the cancellation instructions that we provide. When we have notified you or published information about how this Policy applies, you should have the option to cancel under this Policy by going to your Trips page and canceling the impacted reservation. If you believe this Policy applies to your reservation, but we have not notified you or published information about the Event, please contact us to cancel your reservation. In all cases, you should be prepared to provide documentation that shows how the Event has impacted you or your reservation.
If you have questions, please contact us.
Other things to be aware of
This Policy applies to all reservations with a check-in date on or after the effective date.
Source: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1320?c=.pi80.pkb21uaS8xLzMwODA3NTk4MjI2MTkz&euid=21c9bc17-38ec-3b09-af65-1674e4d4c5d9
The effective date is June 6, 2024.
My first thought is that we are looking at a soft deadline of June 6th to step it up a notch and optimize our survival gear, evacuation plans, community resources, and bug-out bags.
Your thoughts?
WHAT I REALLY THINK
In case of martial law, how will our communities be regrouped? Why shouldn't we initiate a system now, to prepare both individually and collectively?
I received this message and have permission to publish it anonymously. In a
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