Airbnb’s Coronavirus Crisis: Burning Cash, Angry Hosts and an Uncertain Future(wsj.com)
wsj.com
Airbnb’s Coronavirus Crisis: Burning Cash, Angry Hosts and an Uncertain Future
https://www.wsj.com/articles/airbnbs-coronavirus-crisis-burning-cash-angry-hosts-and-an-uncertain-future-11586365860
5 comments
Posted this on a different thread but no one responded, even though many people wanted to ask as well, judging by the votes: "Could someone who is working at Airbnb right now comment (anonymously) on the sentiment within Airbnb right now? It is one of the hardest hit companies in tech from a demand standpoint, so your experience will go a long way to help us understand what is going on. Again, not details of the term, just the general feeling ."
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.
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.
I wonder if there is a way for you to buy a part of their junk bond offering. 10% interest is pretty nice.
- 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Seems like a silly question. It's flu season, and there will be another next year and the year after.
What's there to understand?
What's there to understand?
Are you suggesting we will have a pandemic and global lockdowns and associated hits to tourism and travel every year from here on out?
Unless and until there is a vaccine.
And until that vaccine is widely distributed to both the places where people want to travel to and the places those people are from.
The problem with this flu specifically is that it is much more virulent and more dangerous than the regular flu.
However unlike the annual flu it does not appear to be changing super dramatically so until shown otherwise eventual herd immunity will drastically reduce the effective virulence.
Obviously a vaccine would be a great thing to have, but there is nothing at all to indicate that this is going to be an annual or seasonal outbreak going forward.
However unlike the annual flu it does not appear to be changing super dramatically so until shown otherwise eventual herd immunity will drastically reduce the effective virulence.
Obviously a vaccine would be a great thing to have, but there is nothing at all to indicate that this is going to be an annual or seasonal outbreak going forward.
How certain are we about the low mutation rate? Since many millions of people get the flu each year, there are a lot of opportunities for mutation. Also, perhaps it takes a long time for a mutation to spread widely enough for us to be aware of it. Would it already be apparent if some mutation of coronavirus existed that overcame resistance and allowed reinfection? It seems like the selection pressure in favor of such a mutation would be weak when very little of the population is immune.
SARS-COV-2 is made of a single long RNA segment.
The flu has eight segments. With that you get a substantially higher rate of recombination.
The flu has eight segments. With that you get a substantially higher rate of recombination.
Corona viruses are slow to mutate in general, and flu is especially fast.
That's why you need a new flu vaccine every year - every year a lot of time is (was?) invested in tracking what flu mutations are appearing and trying to predict which ones will be the main ones next year. Once they've determined what they think are most likely, the vaccines are developed for those. Happily flu mutations mostly impact the protein structures sticking out of the virus wall (the HxNy is an actual description of these proteins, hemagglutinin and neuraminidase), so it's mostly a matter of retargeting an existing set of vaccines rather than creating a whole new vaccine from scratch.
That's why you need a new flu vaccine every year - every year a lot of time is (was?) invested in tracking what flu mutations are appearing and trying to predict which ones will be the main ones next year. Once they've determined what they think are most likely, the vaccines are developed for those. Happily flu mutations mostly impact the protein structures sticking out of the virus wall (the HxNy is an actual description of these proteins, hemagglutinin and neuraminidase), so it's mostly a matter of retargeting an existing set of vaccines rather than creating a whole new vaccine from scratch.
Actually, no. We just need to reach herd immunity. This will be faster than any deployed vaccine. The spanish flu lasted 3 or more years because the globalization was not developed as nowadays. At this rate we’ll reach herd immunity a lot faster than 3 years.
This is my personal opinion. No sources!
I feel like "herd immunity" is very speculative right now and not fully thought out. There are even reports and studies suggesting immunity might not be something everyone gets...
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3078840/coro...
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3078840/coro...
Blind is a good place for such discussions due to its pseudo/anonymity.
The answers I saw were rather sanguine- saying Airbnb is in a much better position than most of travel industry because their business is not capital intensive. Makes sense, but being in a better position than a house on fire is not necessarily great. That was also a while ago and the situation is changing rapidly. It does seem that they’re cancelling offers which is not good.
The answers I saw were rather sanguine- saying Airbnb is in a much better position than most of travel industry because their business is not capital intensive. Makes sense, but being in a better position than a house on fire is not necessarily great. That was also a while ago and the situation is changing rapidly. It does seem that they’re cancelling offers which is not good.
Considering most AirBnb's are illegal hostels that lack the safety and fire protections of commercial hotels... It's a bit hard for me to feel pity.
Do you have a greater need for fire protection while travelling than when living at home? Is there some epidemic of people burning up in their Airbnb that I don't know about.
In my house I know exactly where the exits are, I know where it's safe to egress given what's on the other side of windows, I know where flammable materials are, I know where the fire extinguishers are, I know where the breaker box is, etc etc. Commercial hotels are built in a way so they minimize tragedy in the event of a fire and people can just exit without thinking. Residential has a completely different set of standards. So yes, to answer your question.
Another unique aspect around Airbnb is its shares are somewhat uniquely restricted from secondary-market trading. That makes (a) raising money for the company harder , (b) gaining liquidity for shareholders harder and (c) exercising options for employees riskier.
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