How to cancel an Airbnb if your reservation is affected by coronavirus

Airbnb updated its "extenuating circumstances" policy to allow free cancellations of reservations in the United States booked on or before March 14, 2020 for stays and Airbnb Experiences with a check-in date of April 14, 2020, or earlier, and with at least one night occurring between March 14, 2020, and April 14, 2020, are covered.

Guests who cancel will receive a full refund, and hosts will be able to cancel without charge or impact to their Superhost status.

Keep in mind that the host's cancellation policy will apply as usual to reservations made after March 14, 2020, and to existing reservations made on or before March 14, 2020 with check-in dates after April 14, 2020. Reservations for stays and Airbnb Experiences made after March 14, 2020 will not be covered under our extenuating circumstances policy except where the guest or host has contracted COVID-19.

For the latest travel updates, bookmark TPG's coronavirus hub page and sign up for our daily newsletter.

To cancel a reservation, you'll first need to log in to your Airbnb account. From there, go to "Trips" and find the one you want to cancel. After that, click "Show trip details" and then "cancel."

This will initiate the cancellation process, where you can find out what your options are.

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It's important to note that if your reservation doesn't fall under the aforementioned extenuating circumstances policy, but you want to cancel because of the coronavirus, a banner on the "change or cancel" page will provide information on how to request a refund.

To do so, click "cancel reservation" and select "COVID-19" for the reason why you are canceling. You'll have to ask your host to approve you for a full refund, and should hear from them within 48 hours. If they don't respond or deny the request, note that your reservation is still active.

Related: Coronavirus hotel change and cancellation policies: What you need to know.

While the team at The Points Guy loves to travel, now is not the time for unnecessary trips. Health officials note that the fastest way to return to normalcy is to stop coming in contact with others — and that includes ceasing travel.

We support the travel industry and want to encourage more trips, but only when the time is right. Instead of traveling right now, we suggest this is the time to plan your next vacation. You don't have to book yet, but figure out where you want to go and map out the right strategy for building up the points and miles for those trips.

In the short term, let's all do as much as we can to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and that includes hitting pause on travel.

For more on the coronavirus outbreak, see:

• What does the deadly coronavirus mean for travelers?
• Myth-busting: Will a face mask keep you safe from viruses on a plane?
• Should I travel? Advice for the coronavirus outbreak
• No coronavirus waiver? Some airlines have you more covered than others
• How a global outbreak has left the travel industry reeling