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AirCover by Airbnb

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71–80 of 129 posts

Re: AirCover by Airbnb

#72
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember watching an old episode of The Beverly Hillbillies , where an insurance executive was talking to one of his employees, and said: "The job of an insurance company is to take in as much money as possible, then refuse to pay it back."

To be fair, fraud is a serious issue. If there were no checks at all then every innkeeper would be burning their tavern down right after getting an inn-sewer-ants polly-sea.

To be fair, policy opacity with tiny letters clauses is a serious issue. If there were a few hundred execeptions less insurances would still turn a massive profit.

Re: AirCover by Airbnb

#73
post #63

Does it cover the costs of you guests illegally downloading stuff? I've ran into that one myself (in Germany the host can have it dismissed when you can prove it wasn't you).

Someone I know who owns a hotel in germany said it happens so rarely that it's cheaper to pay the fines than maintain router configurations or spend time to dismiss them.

Re: AirCover by Airbnb

#74
post #37

Theoretical insurance doesn't help you when Airbnb will simply ignore you or close your claim without explanation. They have become completely predatory and incompetent towards hosts in the past few years. As soon as something goes wrong they will find a reason to deny your claim. Their support that handles these cases is clearly incentivized to close cases without payouts. The only way anyone sees any coverage from…

> They have become completely predatory and incompetent towards hosts in the past few years. I'm discovering that, having just become an Airbnb host in the last year for my beach pad. My new worst experience is Airbnb doing nothing and saying "too bad" when a guest with a new profile stayed for 3 days, then wrote a scathing review warning people off and demanding a refund. The guest posted in her review that the plac…

Sorry for your experience. I do use Airbnb occasionally as a guest but would never consider hosting. It's just too dangerous, insurance or not, and not worth it IMHO.

> Airbnb doesn't have anyone who can come out because it isn't a real company

This part is especially infuriating. Google, Amazon, Airbnb, etc. they're all the same. They play a numbers game. At one point they may run out of people to trample though.

Re: AirCover by Airbnb

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The monthly decrease in value of the car gets less over time though. It loses the most value in the first month/year, less the next year, etc.

But, a car that is being used for Uber/Taxi service loses way more value over time, as a normal private car (in Europe for example) will make 10k to 15k kilometers per year, while Uber/Taxi cars will make double of that easily.

Yes. The use of a car in Uber service is extracting value from the car. My point was that the rate of that extraction goes down over time and distance, partially (perhaps more than) offsetting the increase in repair costs over time and distance.

Re: AirCover by Airbnb

#76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s basically the gig economy. Shifting all the hidden and one off costs to unsophisticated gig workers who are unable to factor those costs in.

AirBnB is interesting in that it's like the gig economy, but actors that have unlimited capital can participate. If you have a few million bucks, you can park it in real estate in a touristy place and rent it out for $150 a night (compared to This is different than the gig economy where workers are just pouring hours of their lives into a dead-end job. You never get more efficient at being an Uber driver or a Doordas…

I just want to point out that the "Superhost" status is related to your reviews and star ratings, not the amount of properties you run. I rent out half of my house on AirBnB and I am a "Superhost"

Re: AirCover by Airbnb

#77
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember watching an old episode of The Beverly Hillbillies , where an insurance executive was talking to one of his employees, and said: "The job of an insurance company is to take in as much money as possible, then refuse to pay it back."

To be fair, fraud is a serious issue. If there were no checks at all then every innkeeper would be burning their tavern down right after getting an inn-sewer-ants polly-sea.

Had to give a thumbs-up for the Sir Terry reference.

Re: AirCover by Airbnb

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would be sued for a million dollars in damages by the owner, and it would be an open and shut case.

I rent an Airbnb in Miami but fly back to uk after a hangover style party. Good luck sueing me, even if you did most people don't have a 10,000usd never mind a 1m, then enforcement and collection.how does that open and shut?

Actually intentionally trashing place at 1M level is criminal offense (vandalism/destruction of property) in pretty much every state, local police will most definitely open criminal case and it may even rise to the level of extradition (and UK has extradition treaty with US).

If you intentionally trash the place at a few thousand dollars level then year - nobody will probably bother other than banning you from AirBnB for life. One time we sort of trashed AirBnB (my 2 year old got hold of pen and draw on the wall and couch while we were not looking) and the only consequence was paying 400 or so in fine (max liability on listing) and stern letter from AirBnB that they may ban us if it happens again.

Re: AirCover by Airbnb

#79
post #63

Does it cover the costs of you guests illegally downloading stuff? I've ran into that one myself (in Germany the host can have it dismissed when you can prove it wasn't you).

The hosts should have a kind of protection in case downloading illegal stuff is happening in their stays.

Re: AirCover by Airbnb

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except, of course, when it blew up either on social media or in the press. Then suddenly "they made it right" and some spokesdrone trumpeted some bullshit like "In this exceptional case we didn't live up to our members / hosts high expectations". With rare exceptions I also don't see any more advantage compared to staying in a hotel. But to each his own, I suppose.

As a guest, I way prefer Airbnb (or VRBO or similar) to hotels. Having a kitchen, having area that’s both private to my group yet common is great. We rent them for work offsites, family trips, and individual travel. 98% of the time everything goes smoothly.

I used to feel this way and have since flipped. Unless I'm traveling with a large group for an extended period of time, I really prefer hotels. Bed made & bathroom cleaned every day, breakfast served, ample obvious parking, investment in paid support staff instead of an asshole or at-best disinterested "host", etc. Plus hotels are almost always cheaper for parties <= 2.
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