People say they're using Ukrainian Airbnbs to send money to locals:
The internet's found a new use for Airbnb.
Scores of people on Twitter and Facebook say they're employing a unique method to financially support Ukrainians in need: booking, but not staying in, local Airbnbs. The idea began picking up steam early Thursday, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continued, with numerous people sharing what they say are screenshots of their communication with Ukrainian Airbnb hosts online.
SEE ALSO: How to help refugees fleeing Ukraine
"HOW TO HELP - just booked a Kiev AirBnb for 1 week, simply as a means of getting money directly into the hands of Kiev residents," read one such tweet. "It's really cheap and can make a small difference right now." Kiev is the Russian spelling of Ukraine's capitol, Kyiv.
[...] We reached out to Airbnb in an effort to determine if it's seeing an uptick in this type of activity, and if it has waived guest and host fees within Ukraine.
The company confirmed via email that it is indeed waiving guest and host fees on Ukrainian bookings "at this time," but did not directly respond to our other questions. A spokesperson did point us to a Feb. 28 blog post, where Airbnb said it would offer free housing for "up to" 100,000 refugees fleeing the country.
[...] Several Twitter users who claim to have booked Ukrainian Airbnbs highlighted the lack of fees.
[...] It also, at least in theory, helps donors avoid the scores of scammers attempting to take advantage of people's generosity. However, the Airbnb platform itself is practically synonymous with scams and fake listings (though the company is working on that) — so this approach isn't without risk.
Even so, as the war in Ukraine shows no signs of abating, people have made clear that they're willing to bear any financial risk associated with booking Ukrainian Airbnbs — especially if it helps actual Ukrainians who are stuck dealing with the different, and altogether much more serious, risk to their lives.
[UPDATE: As of 3 March Airbnb have announced that they are suspending all operations in Russia and Ukraine.]
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 05 2022, @10:44AM (3 children)
My country (The Netherlands) write it also that way. My guess is that more European countries write it that way.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 05 2022, @10:53AM
Well it was always "Chicken Kiev" in English.
But if Kyiv prefers to be known as Kyiv by the locals then Nederlands ought to get with the program.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 05 2022, @03:35PM
I'm still surprised Ukraine kept the name Ukraine when they went independent. It means "borderlands" (which is why it was often, prior to 1991, referred to as "The Ukraine"), and appears to have been originally used as a name given to the territory by the Polish in the 12th century (spelling has varied as languages have shifted). While a sensible enough designation of land when used to refer to part of another country, it seems a strange one to keep for a nation seeking independence, and goes a long way to showing why nobody seems to view it as actually its own country.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 05 2022, @06:47PM
If you listen carefully to the natives, they pronounce it "KEYev" or ''KEY'v", not "KEEV" or "key-EV". Once I heard them, I became cool with their spelling.
It's still 'Chicken key-EV' and 'PE-king duck', and 'ThroatWarblerMangrove' for Luxury-Yacht, though.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 05 2022, @11:03AM (1 child)
If I book a room in Kyiv and (from USA) pay Airbnb, how does the money get to Ukraine? Does Airbnb use a direct bank transfer to a Ukraine bank account? PayPal?? Carrier pigeon (with a stop at the border for currency exchange)?
Is Ukraine money ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_hryvnia [wikipedia.org] ) all that useful, if the stores are empty?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 05 2022, @11:19AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWIFT [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 05 2022, @12:45PM (1 child)
I tried to book a few rooms in Kyiv but was told they've already been booked by a Mr V Putin of Moscow for some employees of his to use indefinitely.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 05 2022, @02:36PM
You might try again since they have been indefinitely delayed in their arrival.
(Score: 2) by DrkShadow on Saturday March 05 2022, @03:28PM (4 children)
I'm sure AirBnb appreciates the profit that they're making off of hundreds of thousands, or millions, of bookings of Ukrainian homes that no one is going to stay at. I've seen nothing saying that Airbnb won't keep their percentage of those bookings.
https://www.airbnb.org/help-ukraine [airbnb.org]
Ok, cool. You can host them, and they won't have to pay you, or you can donate to a charity.
Clearly the emphasis is on Ukrainians leaving Ukraine. Nowhere does it say that hosts in Ukraine won't be docked fees to Airbnb.
https://www.airbnb.org/help-ukraine?locale=en [airbnb.org]
For eligible refugees..
All of these people booking stays in Ukraine are certainly helping Airbnb's bottom line, and there's no limit of 100 000. You can help Airbnb's bottom line, too, by signing up for a stay today! In a month or two, European business owners with Ukrainian property will receive a portion of what you pay Airbnb!
(poor local Ukrainian businesses will likely not see even a portion of that, as you're not there to spend money at the local businesses. In fact, you're occupying a space of someone who might. Oh well.)
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Saturday March 05 2022, @04:07PM (1 child)
> In fact, you're occupying a space of someone who might.
OTOH I'm not sure there will be many folks looking to holiday in Ukraine this year.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 05 2022, @06:06PM
Maybe. Apparently there's a big Russian tour group that's going to be there for a while.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Saturday March 05 2022, @04:10PM (1 child)
I have read elsewhere that Airbnb was suspending their fees for Ukraine.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by DrkShadow on Saturday March 05 2022, @08:10PM
Did you read it on Airbnb's site? I specifically looked for that, especially on their Help Ukraine pages.
Just because it's on the internet, and all that..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 05 2022, @03:29PM (1 child)
Conversely, if you'd like to get money to ordinary Russians whose currency has been pushed to being worth less than Robux thanks to the Western response (we'd never target civilians though...), it seems many of the adult entertainment sites are still letting them convert their tokens to dollars.
The idea of a future where the oligarchs of Russia are all camgirls is an amusing one.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 05 2022, @03:51PM
Where does the money go after they spend it on potatoes and cigarettes, though...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 05 2022, @04:30PM (2 children)
It sounds like what they really need are bazookas. Lots of them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 06 2022, @12:40AM (1 child)
Can't Runaway and his Nationalist Republican Army (NRA) help?
(Score: 3, Disagree) by Magic Oddball on Sunday March 06 2022, @03:59AM
Not likely, considering Runaway has gone "full Putin" in his belief that the invasion is actually all Ukraine & NATO's fault...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 05 2022, @06:35PM
wow! that's some crazy hack: financing a war thru airBnB, especially since it will help secure the second B :P