Ongoing safety plan for capital cities
UPDATE: We have extended our refund and cancellation policy through March 15, 2021.
Following the events of January 6, 2021, Vrbo continues to take steps to protect our guests, hosts, and communities. Out of an abundance of caution and in support of local and federal law enforcement initiatives, we have implemented elevated, emergency security procedures across all existing and new Vrbo reservations in and around Washington, D.C. and all U.S. state capitals. In response to their directives, we strengthened existing Vrbo policies to help keep guests, hosts and their communities safe.
Refund and cancellation policy
From Jan 17th, 2021 through March 15, 2021, in the event we cancel a reservation for security concerns, a host chooses to cancel a reservation, or a guest decides to cancel a reservation, the guest will be refunded, and the host will be paid in full. This applies to the Washington D.C. metro area and all 50 U.S. state capitals.
If we have reason to believe that a reservation may be associated with malicious intent, our policy is to investigate, notify law enforcement, and cancel that reservation.
If you have concerns about an existing reservation or any questions regarding the updated policies, please contact (888) 337-0843.
Harassment, violence, and discrimination policy
Vrbo does not tolerate acts of harassment, violence, or discrimination. We expect all members of our community to demonstrate respect and tolerance in all interactions with one another, both online and offline.
If you mistreat people, there’s no space for you on Vrbo. We reserve the right to remove anyone from our marketplace who violates these principles, and we are encouraging hosts to cancel bookings during this time if they believe a guest intends to violate these policies.
We understand the extent to which the events of the last few months have impacted the lives of our hosts, our guests and our communities. The entire Vrbo team is here to assist in any way that we can.
Additional actions for inauguration week
ID verification – Guests with reservations in the Washington, D.C. metro area and all U.S. state capitals between January 17, 2021, and January 24, 2021, were required to provide government-issued photo identification so that we could re-vet those bookings. If guests did not supply the required information, the reservation was subject to cancellation.
As an additional security measure in support of government and law enforcement guidance, we shared guest identification details with law enforcement officials as appropriate.
Paused bookings – The safety of our guests and hosts comes first. Out of extra precaution, there was a period leading up to January 21st, 2021 where we decided not to accept new reservations in the Washington D.C. area.