How to deal with fourth wave-related cancellations
Wnedy Knowler shares an important aspect of Airbnb, especially for times like these.
“TOTAL DISASTER” - that’s what Otto de Vries, CEO of the Association of Southern African Travel Agents (Asata), calls the knock-on effect of a host of foreign countries putting SA on their no-go list in recent days.
Those who’d planned to travel into or out of South Africa - along with those in the travel and tourism industries - have been plunged into crisis mode, and they're scrambling to figure out what their Plan B is.
For now, though, there are few answers, as Consumerwatch’s WENDY KNOWLER discovered.
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This latest round of travel plan cancellations has also
revealed how important it is for those making Airbnb bookings - both in SA and
overseas - to check on the host’s cancellation policy.
That’s because Airbnb hosts get to choose their policies: from very strict, in which case you’re unlikely to get a refund, to what Airbnb calls “Firm”, which allows you to cancel a booking for a full refund, up to 30 days before check-in.
In pilot tests of this new policy, Airbnb told Consumerwatch that "our data showed that hosts who switched from strict to firm, saw that overall bookings were boosted by an average of nine percent."
Take a listen…
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