People Say They're Using Ukrainian Airbnbs to Send Money to Locals

upstart writes:

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.

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