Booking.com Or Airbnb - Who's Better To Book With Post Covid-19

For the last decade Airbnb have been on the rise in popularity for holiday accomodation, but will they enjoy the same success post covid-19?

There's no sure fire way of quantifying that until the numbers bare it out, but there are some indicators that can help us predict who to book with.

With Airbnb's recent lay off that involved cutting jobs for thousands of employees it seems the company are conceding that not only is the tourism sector declining, but also they do not expect to rebound with any sort of speed.

Can Airbnb bounce back?

The short term advantage for Booking.com seems clear.

Each hotel has a large (usually multinational) company behind them and a host of dedicated staff and cleaners already on hand to install and upkeep strict new cleaning measures. That gives a hygiene advantage to Booking.com

Airbnb to their credit have introduced mandatory enhanced cleaning measures and home owners are going to be under scrutiny on every review given. But with the funds and professionalism on hand at a hotel it's easier to ensure thorough cleaning measures are up-kept.

Booking.com work with the biggest hotel companies in the world.

Refund policies will be more heavily considered moving forward

Given the stories of even major airlines delaying refunds and making it difficult for customers. This again should give a slight edge for Booking.com since Airbnb's are ran essentially by the people hosting as opposed to a company.

Cancellation policies in Airbnb are good, and we are not in anyway dismissing their professionalism, but considering a home owner can cancel the booking last minute due to personal reasons, it's safer to assume your booking will go through more often with a Booking.com reservation.

There's also the fact that cancellation policies and refunds vary
wildly on booking to booking with Airbnb. One customer in the US was
unable to travel after lockdown was announced and requested a
cancellation and refund on a 2 week booking that cost almost £5,000.

They were then only given 50% of the refund due to not cancelling
within 48 hours of booking (which of course was never going to happen
given the lockdown wasn't issued until a week later).

Be sure whoever you book with to check the refund policy, but we again have to give the edge to Booking.com.

More peace of mind with Booking.com?

In the era of social distancing, Airbnb will be leaning on their social distancing measures. With entire apartment bookings you are essentially just living in someone else's home for a short stay with no interactions with other guests (unless you're in an apartment complex).

If you're looking for a private room, you will then actually be less socially distancing than if you were in a hotel so Airbnb's advantage for social distancing only applies for people booking the entire place to themselves.

Otherwise hotels and Booking.com are more compliant to social distancing. Given we predict most people will opt to book the entire apartment - Airbnb has the edge in this element of things to consider.

Social distancing is better in luxury!

To summarise...

Given the hygiene and cancellation/refund policies being of a more reliable standard in booking.com we give them the edge in where to book post covid-19.

If you still prefer to book Airbnb, we just recommend you book the entire place and take your own wipes and hand sanitizers to be extra safe. Also triple check the refund and cancellation policy before booking!