Airbnb’s free AirCover insurance could cost you thousands of dollars

Very well said. This is why I simply do not trust Airbnb any more, I have had too many experiences of a host cancelling too late and I end up scrambling around trying to find another Airbnb property which meets my criteria. At least when I book a hotel I know that's not going to happen. Airbnb just isn't worth the stress and yes, this 'insurance' doesn't do much to change things.

Agreed. Host cancelled with a week's notice for accommodation in Tuscany in August. Airbnb refunded however at that stage there was nothing available anywhere near our preferred option. Never used them since.

"If anything, AirCover is really just the basic consumer protection to which everyone is entitled when you don’t get what you have paid for." 100% agreed on this, there is really nothing for Airbnb users here which should not have been there before. If your host cancels your reservation then of course it should be up to Airbnb to find you a suitable replacement oir offer a refund, but really, if the host cancels within maybe seven days of your stay Airbnb should have to cover the cost of a hotel in the same area to the same basic spec, such as number of bedrooms and to four-star standard.

We had a bad experience with them a few weeks ago trying to book accommodation in DFW.  During the booking process, we struggled to upload a picture of one of us, and eventually got that right, and the booking was then passed to the Airbnb Frontdesk.  We then received an email saying they were reviewing our application, and the next day we received 2 incomplete SMSs, one which just said  'Hello! We'd love to...',  quickly followed by another which said 'Dear Frank, I regret...'.  At this point we told them where to stick their booking.

Gees I’ve never used AirBnB just didn’t trust the whole thing and after reading the comments I’m glad. 

What they need to do is make the person who cancelled your stay pay the difference. This will make them think twice...that is, if they can't find an alternative solution, then they may reconsider the cancellation. This is normally how the law works.. the person who breaks the contract pays the price.

I recently booked a 10 day stay in an ABNB location in Sydney's Eastern suburbs so we could spend time with family over Easter.  The four bedroomed house was in a good suburb.  On entering, there was a very damp smell - this was found to be emanating from the bathroom/lower bedroom areas where mould and mildew were very evident.  It could also be seen on soft furnishing.  I had brought some disinfectant wipes and decided to clean the kitchen bench space so that we could have a cup of tea before we went to bed.  It was filthy, even though I had been advised that the cleaning was carried out to make it COVID safe!  On putting the cloth into the kitchen bin I found 4 x used RAT swabs!  There were many other problems and called Air BNB first thing the following morning as we needed to move out.  They offered to refund me 50% for my stay, I politely declined and sent them photographs of all the problems.  They said they would send a cleaner around, I send they needed to get the owners to correct the problems as they were structural problems, hence the mould problems.  We relocated to a hotel and had to pay top dollar for our last minute changes.  To this day, I am still trying to get some sort of managerial response from the company - anyone know a telephone number to use.  

Completely agree. Rarely book Airbnb due to the one sided cancellation terms. If the consumer cancels then you could lose all your money whereas the host can cancel at any time and face no consequences. Admittedly, it seems since the height of covid that more Airbnb now offer ‘free cancellation’ than they used to (up to a certain date). 

the private car rental site, which is huge in USA Turo.com has similar issues, so best to deal with renters who have 100s of rentals under their belt. Some business types get dozen or so cars & make a full time business out of it & want to make everyone happy to get good ratings.

Crazy - how is this considered to be 'insurance'?  If you pay for something from a vendor and then vendor can't deliver isn't the absolute bare minimum any consumer should absolutely expect is to get refunded 100% of your money - otherwise that would just be considered outright 'theft'. The host doesn't get given the money until you've checked in too, so it's not like AirBnB are suffering any loss or risk here.
Actual 'Insurance' would be where where they compensate you financially for your loss on top of refund / alternative arrangements whether it be suddenly having to book a hotel or something else. As per above, I don't like the idea of AirBnB 'finding' an equivalent place, they don't know why you specifically chose the accommodation in the first place so how would they understand what a valid 'equivalent' would even be.
We actually did have problems with this in Europe - mainly Amsterdam, had one booking cancelled so booked another and then that new place cancelled too. At the time (2018?) Airbnb refunded us and gave us additional ~USD$150 credit each time towards a new place as compensation - so with the extra USD$300 we luckily ended up with something nicer (that we had to find ourselves on their site).

Unfortunately it is not just the guests who can get a raw deal through ABNB.

ABNB has a reputation of treating the hosts even worse. Suspending or cancelling hosts use of the platform for unjustified reasons. Many hosts as so pissed off that they do not care much about ABNB reputation. Hosts are leaving the service in large numbers and getting their bookings through other booking platforms. Originally Aircover was intended to make the host pay for replacement accommodation even when the reason was completely outside the hosts control, previous guest trashing the property, bust water main etc. Hosts were so disenchanted by an accumulation of poor treatment by ABNB that they threatened a strike. Airbnb changed the policy as they were already loosing hosts.

Most ABNB host are very small operators they have one house, one apartment or one room they are providing. They do not have the staff and facilities of a hotel chain to deal with unexpected problems. The 15% booking fee ABNB correct should be providing this resilience for both guest and hosts. Instead they just pocket this money and give neither goof service.

A tip, Many Airbnb properties have their own website where they take direct bookings. In most cases it will be cheaper and you will get better service and better cancellation conditions if you google the name of the accommodation and book direct.

Remember the original name of ABNB was "Airbed and Breakfast". It was an air mattress on the floor with a breakfast.

Some aspects of their operation are still back in that cheap and nasty mind set.

Same as the other comments! We had our apartment in New York cancelled by the host at the last minute.... Airbnb - NEVER AGAIN!

I think I read the best description of this on Facebook, it's a 'SHAM', plain and simple. I don't know how Airbnb is getting away with so many articles covering this new 'insurance policy' when it's in essence just Consumer Rights 101, and even the refund will leave you so much worse off for the reasons made very clear in this article and the experiences of all the readers in comments.

Looks like it's back to hotels on my next (plus more ) O/s trip.

Last thig I won't to be worrying about is Airbnb stuff ups!!!!! 

A few years back we had a team strategy day and one of the guest presenters was AirBNB's 'Vibe Manager'. A role created to help 'curate the vibe' at AirBNB HQ...not sure what management were smoking but it must have been 1st grade weed! I have never used AirBNB for accommodation after listening to the BS about AirBNBs culture. 

I am surprised at so much of the negative experiences from above comments. I have used AirBnB many times over the years and have not had one cancellation or an issue I can recall. In fact I struck gold few years back in New York where we had an entire loft apartment equipped with laundry, kitchen, shower spa, and the space to move and relax made all the difference and much better value for the same price of a standard hotel room for a week's stay. I do try and book direct if the property is listed on web, but I put a lot of effort into research and considering past reviews, super host reputations, etc. Can always review the frequency of the host cancelled prior to stay in reviews also.

I've stayed in many Airbnb's across my various interstate and international trips, and have had a couple of cancellations which have made life difficult- the worst of which was in Montreal, which is an expensive-AF city to be in to start with. Unfortunately I've found that Airbnb's reticence to deal with problematic behaviour (hosts or guests) is the issue, and the price difference between reasonable standard hotels and Airbnb has narrowed significantly in many cities. Not saying that Airbnb isn't worth it, but this "new policy" seems to solve very little.

My one cancellation experience with Airbnb was extremely good. I had booked a self-contained studio in Toronto, but when I tried to make contact (email, phone) with the host a few days before the stay, to pick up the keys, there was no reply. Airbnb also tried reaching the host, but it was clear that he and his rental had basically vaporised. This was the night before my trip, and I could see available rentals *literally* disappearing off the map as I searched for a replacement (hotels in Toronto are fearsomely expensive). Airbnb told me to book a flat (one of the very few properties remaining) costing several times my original price, and they paid almost all the extra cost. I was dealing with San Francisco, and the service I received from several agents there was outstanding - some of the best customer service I've ever received.

I've stayed at 30 airbnbs since 2018 - from the all over the US, Australia, Italy, and not had one single cancellation. Given the devaluation in Marriotts Bonvoy program, I'm leaning to book more and more airbnb's. 

So true!  In Australia where we’ve had flooding close to Byron Bay there were multiple news stories before Easter of Air BnB hosts turfing out guests in tourist areas that were affected by flooding.  This was because higher paying guests were due to arrive for the Easter holidays, paying a premium rate for the high season. 

You're absolutely right ... while the premiums are built in, I am out-of-pocket A$2600 (US$2000) for replacing carpet that was badly damaged by a guest accidentally. 

A guest accidentally burned a patch of carpet.  It was in the middle and couldn't be repaired and the carpet couldn't be matched.   As it was an accident, I decided not to pursue the guest for costs.  This turns out to be central to the AIRCOVER system.

We live in the country in a large rural Australian city.  We were in the middle af a COVID lockdown, so nothing was open, including the carpet showroom.  I finally got a quote an proceeded to make a claim.   I also had the carpet replaced so I could let the place.  I had to cancel a couple of long-term bookings during this process, for which AIRBNB fined me, as well!

I tried to follow the convoluted instructions to the letter, but in the end, the SFO HO ejected the claim because I seem to have taken too long.  Considering the number of times I was sent back for more information, the time wasted was a tactic, I think.  They didn't even offer a partial payout ... I would have been happy with 10% as a gesture of goodwill.