Extenuating Circumstances Policy

When broad-scale travel disruptions prevent or legally prohibit Vrbo travellers from completing their reservations, Expedia Group may activate its Extenuating Circumstances Policy, applicable to all bookings made on Vrbo. If an event covered by this policy occurs and Vrbo activates this policy, partners must provide refunds for impacted reservations, regardless of the reservation’s cancellation policy.

Partners must refund the guest in full if they have not yet checked in to their reservation. For reservations already underway, partners must offer a partial refund for the portion of the stay that cannot be completed due to the covered event. Vrbo will refund the full Traveller Service Fee for impacted travellers.

Cancellations covered and compliant under this policy will be eligible for a marketplace waiver, exempting them from fees and impacts to programme status, such as Premier Host. Partners that do not refund travellers for bookings covered by this policy may face marketplace consequences such as suspension or fees.

• Natural disasters and abnormal weather events. Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, tornados, flooding, wildfires and other historically severe weather events.
  • Note: foreseeable weather disasters (such as hurricanes, cyclones and extreme winter storms) may be covered if they cause or coincide with another covered event. For example, a hurricane that causes prolonged outages to public utilities to the majority of homes in a major region or city (cannot be outages to a few neighbourhoods).
• Declared health emergencies. Epidemics or other public health emergencies as declared by national or local government or regulatory bodies.
  • Note: Expedia Group will follow the World Health Organisation’s definition of pandemic: an extraordinary event that is ‘serious, unusual or unexpected and carries implications for public health beyond the state’s national border and may require immediate international action.’ Emerging national or local government declared pandemics are covered under this policy. Once a pandemic is considered a known event (i.e., COVID-19 and its consequences are no longer unexpected), normal cancellation policies apply.
• Wars, terrorist attacks and other hostilities. War, terrorist attacks, riots, large-scale civil unrest and other hostilities that make it impossible or illegal for a guest to travel to a location or a partner to accommodate a guest.
• Government travel restrictions. National or local government travel restrictions that make it impossible or illegal for a guest to travel to a location or a partner to accommodate a guest.
• Infrastructure travel restrictions. Prolonged outages of essential public utilities to most homes in a region. Travel disruptions caused by large-scale restrictions or outages to critical travel infrastructure that make it impossible or impractical for the traveller to reach the destination are covered if the restriction or outage arises from a covered event near the destination. For example, cancelled flights due to a volcanic eruption near the destination that prevent the traveller from travelling to their holiday rental. In such cases, Expedia Group requires Vrbo partners to refund travellers for the accommodation. The refund of cancelled flights will be subject to the airline’s policies and is the traveller’s responsibility to coordinate.
  • Note: refunds may be subject to regulatory requirements.
• Changes to passport or visa requirements. Government changes to passport or visa requirements that were unexpected at the time of booking, cannot be reasonably met before the date of travel and, without which, make it illegal for a guest to travel to a location.

• Seasonal weather events that do not cause or coincide with another covered event. For example, hurricanes during Atlantic Coast hurricane season; tropical cyclones; winter storms in the Northern Hemisphere; where a covered event has occurred prior to a booking being made, but has subsequently increased in impact (for example, flooding that worsens). See table below for examples of seasonal weather events that would not be covered.