Oklahomans Booking Ukrainian Airbnb's As A Way To Donate To Those Impacted By The War

People all over the world are booking Ukraine Airbnb rentals this week with no intentions of going there, but as a way to get money directly into the hands of Ukrainian hosts quickly. In the past week, more than $2 million worth of Airbnb rentals have been booked in Ukraine, with more than 34,000 of those bookings coming from right here in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom and Canada as well.

Kate Drake lives in Owasso. She is one of more than 60,000 people who have booked an Airbnb in Ukraine with no intentions of making the trip.

“A friend of mine posted he was going to book as a way to support a Ukrainian family,” Drake said. “I decided to do that even though I had never booked an Airbnb before”.”

She said she has been feeling helpless when watching the reports of the cities under fire and was looking for a way to help, even if in just a small way.

“They had anywhere from $8 a night to $100 a night, it’s something that can work for any budget,” Drake said.

She says she began to look at options and went with a room available in Kharkiv since it was a smaller town where fewer people were booking. She said she recognized it because Kharkiv is one of the cities that has been attacked repeatedly by the Russians.

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said in an announcement on Twitter they are waiving all service fees for Ukraine bookings so the hosts can get 100% of the profits. Thousands of messages from Ukrainian hosts say they can’t believe the generosity pouring into their country.

“The host responded saying ‘I will donate the amount to a hospital helping with the casualties thank you for caring,” Drake said.

Another message shows a host will be donating the money to the Ukrainian army, another says they plan on using it to get food for the people displaced, and the messages just keep piling in.

Drake tells us she knows her contribution is small, but this booking is a way to combat the feeling of helplessness that comes from watching a war five thousand miles away. She said she plans on booking another Airbnb in the upcoming days.

According to the Airbnb website, the money will go directly to the host within 24 hours of the reservation date. This means the sooner someone can make the reservation, the sooner the money will go to the host.