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Comment by Hydraulix989 | Hacker News Reader

This is clearly a temporary situation though. I wish I could invest in Airbnb right now.

Meanwhile, I have less sympathy about hosts angry at Airbnb's cancellation policy which offers guests refunds due to the pandemic. If their units are not occupied, then they shouldn't expect to be still making money. Meanwhile, if they were still able to receive their guests' money without said guests actually residing at their units due to the pandemic, it looks like theft on the host's part more than anything else -- they are profiting off a pandemic for free because of an overly strict policy that prevents their would-be guests from being refunded for social distancing and ensuring public safety. That just isn't fair.

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That just isn't fair.

It isn’t fair and it also isn’t smart. The hosts angry that Airbnb won’t let them keep the guests’ money after these forced cancellations are caught up in short-term thinking. The long view is that if Airbnb allowed millions of guests to be ripped off then they’d see an epidemic of account closures, chargebacks, and lawsuits that would probably kill the company. That may also create an opportunity for regulators to close the window, forcing all the professional hosts out of business.

- when guests book a stay, the cancellation policy is very transparent. If they booked a property with a strict policy, they chose to do so, which influences how listings are priced, etc. - While health organizations made recommendations about travel, the choice to cancel is wholly the guests in most cases (given that a few may have had flights cancelled that couldn't be replaced). - trip insurance is a thing and it exists.

Everyone needs to share some responsibility here, so using the term "theft" and saying hosts are "trying to profit off a pandemic" is absurd.

I booked a clearly non refundable flight with an airline prior to the pandemic. The airline did the right thing and refunded (to a credit usable until Spring 2021) it a couple days ago.

I would expect Airbnb to do the similar. It might be up to the government to help landlords out, since the government is forcing the stay-in-place orders.

- Trip insurance doesn't cover pandemics. - Countries have literally closed their borders, making it impossible in many cases to travel to said Airbnb. - Guests should not be charged for Airbnbs that they legally cannot stay in without violating local shelter in place orders.

It's hard for me to side with the carpetbagging rent seekers here who still want to keep their guests money even though they are not able to stay at the units. Either a service is provided and it gets charged for, or it is not.

I wonder if there is a way for you to buy a part of their junk bond offering. 10% interest is pretty nice.

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