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Coronavirus information and extenuating circumstances policy

airbnb.com

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Re: Coronavirus information and extenuating circumstances policy

#11

Post by heligate229 »

evilnames wrote: post #5

Airbnb, and others, cancellation policies will be a major reason for the spread of this virus. The sunk cost fallacy is alive and well here, people don't want to lose money just because they feel sick even though they know they shouldn't go when not feeling well. I think at this time the travel industry needs to stand up and relax it's policies even further. Airbnb will not refund you a stay unless your flight has be…

Can't overemphasised. The fine print of the travel insurance is very important!

However, I don't get why cancellation policies will be a major reason of the spread. Your explanation on sunk cost fallacy and cancellation seems to be missing. Airbnb has a clause to refund under "Epidemic disease or illness"

Re: Coronavirus information and extenuating circumstances policy

#12

Post by geofft »

evilnames wrote: post #5

Airbnb, and others, cancellation policies will be a major reason for the spread of this virus. The sunk cost fallacy is alive and well here, people don't want to lose money just because they feel sick even though they know they shouldn't go when not feeling well. I think at this time the travel industry needs to stand up and relax it's policies even further. Airbnb will not refund you a stay unless your flight has be…

OK, but in a society where we've been taught that the thing that makes money is the right thing to do, simply telling people won't change their decision-making. Should we spend public health funds on cancellations? Should we also fund people with non-salaried jobs to stay home?

I haven't worked through the numbers but it wouldn't surprise me if these were among the highest-efficiency ways to spend government emergency health funds, especially in the early days before a vaccine has been developed.

Re: Coronavirus information and extenuating circumstances policy

#13

Post by throwqwerty »

DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #2

this made me cringe: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/829/how-do-i-become-a-su... maybe their PR department should consider a different name instead of "Superhost"

lol about as cringy as corona beer being called corona beer (their power users have been called super hosts for years)

Re: Coronavirus information and extenuating circumstances policy

#14

Post by simonh »

londons_explore wrote: post #8
msoad wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was told we were not successful developing vaccines for any of previous Coronaviruses unfortunately

Have we tried though? How about the old-fashioned techniques of "culture a load of the virus, then either cook it or put it in a nuclear reactor for a bit to kill it, and then inject it into people"?

Yes a lot of effort has gone into developing treatments. The term vaccine is often used in the press to refer to all sorts of different treatments, such as anti-viral drugs. Actual vaccines are tricky, we know a lot about influenzas for example and have a wide variety of the viruses to study and experiment with and understand how to develop vaccines against new strains pretty quickly. There has never been a successful vaccine against Coronavirus family viruses though, they seem a lot harder to target effectively.

Re: Coronavirus information and extenuating circumstances policy

#15

Post by Shivetya »

evilnames wrote: post #5

Airbnb, and others, cancellation policies will be a major reason for the spread of this virus. The sunk cost fallacy is alive and well here, people don't want to lose money just because they feel sick even though they know they shouldn't go when not feeling well. I think at this time the travel industry needs to stand up and relax it's policies even further. Airbnb will not refund you a stay unless your flight has be…

The major reason is far too many people exhibit an exaggerated state of self entitlement which they use to excuse their actions including those which put others at risk. Some will do it just to spite others, some will do it out ignorance. We just have so many people who have the means to travel that you cannot properly contain any outbreak so you do the best to mitigate the impact

The end result usually is the same, someone else will pay. Which means business big and small for which some litigant finds a twist which a jury is sympathetic to.

Re: Coronavirus information and extenuating circumstances policy

#17

Post by ianburrell »

msoad wrote: post #7
koheripbal wrote: post #3

I remember during the SARS outbreak, one of the most common vectors for mass-contamination was hotel usage. I'm going to stay away from Hotels and airbnbs for the next 18 months until the vaccine is ready.

I was told we were not successful developing vaccines for any of previous Coronaviruses unfortunately

SARS had vaccine candidates but disappeared before testing was completed. It sounds like candidates are being used as basis for some SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.

There have been announcements for vaccine candidates for SARS-CoV-2 entering initial trials. It sounds like the delay for vaccine will be full trials and production and not development.

Re: Coronavirus information and extenuating circumstances policy

#18

Post by Retric »

jpxw wrote: post #4

If you’re in a major city, this is the time to start taking preventative measures. Avoid mass gatherings and public transport if you can.

There are 70 known cases of Coronavirus in the US. Making precautions at this point is reasonable, going to extremes is not.

My suggestion is to prepare for the possibility of major disruption starting 2 to 6 months from now. Avoid non refundable trips etc.

Re: Coronavirus information and extenuating circumstances policy

#19

Post by m3kw9 »

Shivetya wrote: post #15
evilnames wrote: post #5

Airbnb, and others, cancellation policies will be a major reason for the spread of this virus. The sunk cost fallacy is alive and well here, people don't want to lose money just because they feel sick even though they know they shouldn't go when not feeling well. I think at this time the travel industry needs to stand up and relax it's policies even further. Airbnb will not refund you a stay unless your flight has be…

The major reason is far too many people exhibit an exaggerated state of self entitlement which they use to excuse their actions including those which put others at risk. Some will do it just to spite others, some will do it out ignorance. We just have so many people who have the means to travel that you cannot properly contain any outbreak so you do the best to mitigate the impact The end result usually is the same,…

I know a few ppl that are saying the flight can’t be refunded and just be pretty ignorant about everything around

Re: Coronavirus information and extenuating circumstances policy

#20

Post by entwife »

I'm traveling in Seattle, where as of this morning the health department has confirmed 6 cases of coronavirus of which only one was a recent traveler to China.[0] I would appreciate the ability to cancel a reservation if I feel sick, especially at a reservation with a shared bathroom.

[0] https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/Coronavirus

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