Major Disruptive Events Policy

Overview

In general, cancellations and refunds for Airbnb reservations are governed by the listing’s cancellation policy. In the rare circumstances that large-scale events prevent or legally prohibit completion of a reservation, the Major Disruptive Events Policy (the “Policy”) may apply. When this Policy applies, guests can cancel their reservation and receive a refund, travel credit, and/or other consideration regardless of the reservation’s cancellation policy, and hosts can cancel without fees or other adverse consequences, although their listing’s calendar will be blocked for the dates of the canceled reservation.

This Policy applies to reservations for homes, services, and experiences and is applicable to reservations that are ongoing or that have a check-in on or after the effective date, except as otherwise notified by Airbnb to users. The Major Disruptive Events Policy is not an insurance policy.

What events are covered

The following events are covered under this Policy if they impact your reservation location, occur after the time of booking, and prevent or legally prohibit completion of a future or ongoing reservation (referred to in this Policy as “Events”):

Declared public health emergencies and epidemics. Government-declared epidemics, pandemics, and public health emergencies. This does not include diseases that are endemic (for example, the flu) or commonly associated with an area (for example, malaria in Thailand). COVID-19 is not covered under this Major Disruptive Events Policy.

Government travel restrictions. Mandatory travel restrictions imposed by a governmental agency, such as an evacuation order or shelter-in-place order. This does not include non-binding travel advisories and similar government guidance.

Military actions and other hostilities. Acts of war, hostilities, invasions, civil war, terrorism, explosions, bombings, rebellions, riots, and insurrection.

Large-scale outages of essential utilities. Prolonged outages of essential utilities, such as heat, water, and electricity, impacting the vast majority of homes in a given location.

Unforeseeable natural disasters and severe weather events. Unforeseeable natural disasters, like earthquakes and tsunamis, and unforeseeable severe weather events, like tornadoes. This does not include events that are foreseeable for a given location, as described further below.

What happens if a reservation is impacted by a covered Event

When a large-scale event occurs, we assess the situation to determine whether the Major Disruptive Events Policy applies. If it does, we activate the Policy for the impacted area and timeframe where we anticipate that the Event will prevent or legally prohibit completion of reservations. Reservations outside of the defined area and timeframe may not be eligible, though hosts may still be able to cancel without adverse consequences if they are unable to host. We continuously monitor these situations and adjust coverage as needed to reflect changing conditions. If you believe this Policy applies to your reservation, please contact us to inquire about eligibility.

What is not covered

We understand that other circumstances outside of your control may disrupt your plans. In any situations not listed above, your reservation remains subject to the host’s cancellation policy for the listing.

Examples of common events not covered by this policy include:

• Events that impact a guest or their ability to travel, but not the reservation location
• Unexpected injury or illness
• Government obligations like jury duty or court appearances
• Non-binding travel advisories or other government guidance that fall short of a travel ban or prohibition
• Cancellation or rescheduling of an event for which the reservation was made
• Transportation disruptions such as airline insolvency, flight cancellations, transportation strikes, and road closures due to maintenance
• Weather or natural conditions that are common enough to be foreseeable in a given location, such as hurricanes in Florida during hurricane season or winter weather in the northern hemisphere during winter months—unless the event triggers a covered Event that prevents completion of the reservation, such as government-issued mandatory travel restrictions

For reservations not covered by this Policy, we encourage guests and hosts to find a mutually acceptable arrangement, such as a full or partial refund or an alteration of the booking dates. Note that any refunds outside of the reservation’s cancellation policy are at the host’s discretion. Airbnb does not take part in or guarantee such refunds.

How this policy affects hosts

If a reservation is covered by the Major Disruptive Events Policy, hosts can cancel without fees or other adverse consequences. If a host cancels under this policy, their listing’s calendar will be blocked for the dates of the canceled reservation. If a reservation is canceled under this Policy, the host does not receive a payout for the canceled dates of the reservation, or, if the payout has already been made, the refunded amount will be withheld from the next payout(s).

Regardless of whether a reservation is covered by this Policy, hosts can cancel for certain valid reasons, such as major damage to a listing, without fees or other adverse consequences. Hosts are obligated to cancel a reservation if their listing is uninhabitable or is inconsistent with what the guest booked. Failure to do so may result in listing suspension, cancellation of existing reservations, and refunds to guests until the listing is habitable and consistent with the listing description. This also violates our Ground rules for hosts, and can lead to consequences up to and including account removal.

Other things to be aware of

This Policy does not limit your rights under local regulations, and any decisions made by Airbnb under this Policy do not affect your statutory rights.