DAWN C.

My husband, 15-year-old granddaughter and myself had planned a trip to Europe in May/June.
On March >>>> the US State Department declared a Traveler Warning for Europe, specifying that terrorists were targeting US citizens overseas, further stating that mass transit and tourist sites were likely to be the areas attacked. For the State Dept. to issue such an alert (with specifics) the state dept. must certainly have gathered enough information to deem travel dangerous for US citizens.
Therefore, we felt we must cancel, especially since we were traveling with our granddaughter. We had made reservations in 5 Airbnb places. We were required to pay in full, and four of the five owners would only give a 50% refund no matter the circumstances. Airbnb service charges ranged from $32-78 per reservation, which added up to a total for the 5 reservations at $272, all nonrefundable. The total we lost from the owners added up to $1,116, for a grand total of $1,388.
We cancelled on 3/25/16 and our arrivals dates were 5/31,6/3,6/7,6/10, and 6/13, leaving the owners 10.5 to 13 weeks to rebook.
Despite what they advertise, there was no way to communicate with any one at Airbnb, as I tried for an entire afternoon.
We will certainly never use Airbnb again, and feel other potential customers should be aware of their policies. A big thanks to Booking.com for their policies, customer service and being available to communicate with customers!