Airbnb and Government website nightmare!

millyrosejames

Hello everyone! Just looking for some advice. Myself and my friend booked a holiday to Malta on Friday the 25th of July. However, the following day we saw that the government website got updated A DAY LATE with restrictions that now mean we can’t travel there. The restrictions are that we need two jabs however both of us have only had our first. We booked flights through EasyJet who have allowed us to change the time, date and destination of the flights however had a worse experience with Airbnb. Our hosts policy is a 50% refund if you cancel after 24 hours of booking. Unfortunately we weren’t made aware of these restrictions until the following day (past 24 hours) which means we were eligible for the 50% refund. We asked the host to rebook for September but she has said no and wants us to cancel with NO REFUND. We purchased this holiday with a NatWest debit card however the payment is still pending so we can’t begin a dispute yet. We have also spoken to Airbnb who have said they can’t process a refund as the host has said no. We are really upset as it’s taken us a long time to save for this holiday and it was due to the slow update of the government website regarding the restrictions that mislead us to book. Please can we have some help with who to turn to. Thank you! 

[Deleted User]

It's unclear whether they're offering you the 50% or not.  Can you clarify?

Also - have you looked at bringing your second jab forward?

Upsidedownandaround

I’m unsure as well. It appears you are only entitled to a 50% refund from the terms.

Are you saying they are not going to provide the 50% refund? And AirBnB won’t refund this 50% either even though it’s the refund policy?

sheramber

You can't blame the government for Malta changing the rules to travel from UK after the UK moved them to the green list.

They can only update information when they receive it. They don't have advance notice of what is going to happen.

The  accommodation is available so the owner has no obligation to refund you.

Can you claim on your travel insurance?

millyrosejames

Sorry but I meant that we are NOT eligible for the refund. And we don’t have travel insurance, we didn’t get a chance to get it. 

millyrosejames

sheramber said:

You can't blame the government for Malta changing the rules to travel from UK after the UK moved them to the green list.

They can only update information when they receive it. They don't have advance notice of what is going to happen.

The  accommodation is available so the owner has no obligation to refund you.

Can you claim on your travel insurance?

Definitely not blaming the government. More the fact the website was updated a day late. Even BBC news had the information before the government updated the website. 

sheramber

Depends when somebody was available to update the website.

onashoestring

Do you mean that the terms of your booking are that you can get only a 50% refund if you cancel within 24 hours of booking ?
If that is the case & Malta had changed their entry requirements on any date after that first 24 hours you would be in the same position as you are in now. 

Which is why MSE recommends taking out suitable travel insurance as the same time as you book your holiday.

Upsidedownandaround

You were unlucky regarding the timing of the changes but these changes could have come in at any point between you booking the accommodation and 25th July and you would have still been in the same predicament.

I can’t believe that people are booking non-refundable accommodation abroad at the moment with all that is happening.

Unfortunately I can’t see any other avenues available to you other than to accept the loss.

millyrosejames

Unfortunately the accommodation with the free cancellation policies are out of my price range. 

Upsidedownandaround

A lot of hotels have very flexible cancellation conditions now sometimes as standard.

In future I’d recommend going with hotels rather than private rentals at the moment if cost is preventing you from getting ones with refundable policies.