VRBO hosts just received an email from VRBO President Jeff Hurst about COVID19. In it he urges hosts to review their cancellation policy and consider changing it to a more flexible or moderate policy for the time being. “In the spirit of good hospitality,” he strongly encourages hosts to refund guests for cancellations due to this crisis, promising that VRBO will refund any fees associated with the bookings. He also mentions hosts should contact VRBO support to get a refund of the traveler service fees and to ensure that coronavirus-related cancellations do not effect their ranking metrics. Finally, he thanks hosts for their collective efforts. This is very responsible and measured response from VRBO; you can see the full email below:

Update: Check out our post on Vrbo’s emergency coronavirus cancellation policy, which was announced on March 18th.