Expedia Refund Policy: What You Need to Know as a Host

As one of the largest online travel agencies in the world, Expedia allows travelers to plan their trips and search for and book hotels, vacation rentals, flights, car rentals, cruises, vacation packages, and activities. But sometimes, travelers' plans may change, and they may need to cancel their trips and reservations.

So, if you list your property on Expedia to increase your visibility, as a host, you may have to deal with cancellations and refunds, which is not the most exciting activity. To help you better understand how cancellations and refunds work on this global travel platform, we'll discuss the Expedia refund policy in this blog post.

Listing your beach house or a cabin on multiple booking platforms and creating your direct booking website is an effective strategy that can help you diversify your revenue streams and increase your occupancy rate. Managing bookings across various channels involves a lot of work and can feel overwhelming if you do it manually. So, a smart move is to streamline your operations using cabin booking software like Hospitable. This way, you can ensure that everything runs smoothly and save hours of your precious time.

Expedia Refund Policy: Basics

Since Expedia offers various types of travel services, its refund policy and timeline vary, depending on what product travelers have booked—hotels, vacation rentals, flights, vacation packages, car rentals, or activities. That's why the Expedia refund policy may seem rather confusing. Still, guests can see the details on cancellations and refunds that apply to their booking on their itinerary or in the confirmation email they receive when booking.

When a guest cancels their booking, they also have a chance to see whether their booking is refundable and get a summary of the refund and more details on the timeline. They need to check the confirmation email that they will receive after canceling.

It may take up to 24 hours for Expedia to process a traveler's refund. Once that has happened, the traveler's bank or payment service (such as PayPal) will take care of the rest. It may take them seven business days to send the credit to the traveler's account.

According to Expedia's Terms of Service, refunds will be transferred back to the traveler using the payment method used to make the original booking. Such refunds are made by the party that took the original payment. Expedia doesn't have visibility on a travel provider's refund process. Travelers should remember that Expedia's service fees are generally not refundable, and Expedia may also charge them an administration fee.

Expedia Refund Policy: Vacation Rental Bookings

While it's rather straightforward for travelers to cancel their hotel bookings, and if the booking is refundable, they'll get all their money back as long as they aren't too close to check-in. Travelers just need to go to My Trips, and in Manage Booking, choose the option Cancel Booking.

However, vacation rentals on Expedia work a little differently than regular hotels. If a traveler wants to cancel a reservation, they must contact their vacation rental property manager and discuss the cancellation. Travelers can find the contact info of their property manager in their itinerary.

Vacation rental hosts on the Expedia platform are allowed to set their cancellation refund policies. There are different types of cancellation policies, and hosts can choose the one that best meets their needs as well as the needs of their potential guests:   

• No Refund—guests get no refund if they cancel after their booking is accepted
• Strict—guests get a 100% refund if they cancel at least 60 days before check-in, and no refund after that point
• Firm—guests get back 100% if they cancel at least 60 days before check-in and 50% refund 30-60 days before check-in
• Moderate—guests get 100% refund if they cancel at least 30 days before check-in and 50% refund 14-30 days before check-in
• Relaxed—100% refund for cancellation at least 14 days before check-in and 50% refund if a guest cancels 7-14 days before check-in.

As you see, Expedia gives vacation rental hosts enough flexibility when choosing the cancellation refund policy that benefits their properties. So, while you can expect most of your bookings from your listings on the major OTAs, such as Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo, as well as your direct booking website, Expedia can be a good additional channel to list your property. This way, you'll extend your reach and may attract valuable travelers who prefer to plan their trips and stay longer.  

If you opt for Hospitable, our tool can help you manage bookings on Expedia with iCal imports and prevent double bookings. This functionality lets you connect different niche channels and seamlessly sync your calendars. You just need to copy and paste an iCal import link from your booking platform.

With Hospitable's iCal imports, you can manage all your bookings in one place. Watch the explainer video to learn how iCal imports work, and check out our help article for more details.

Final Thought

One of the top considerations for STR guests when booking a stay is the ability to get a refund if they need to cancel when their travel plans change. So, if you list your vacation home or apartment on Expedia, it can be a good idea to set a more flexible cancellation refund policy for your property. By making it easier for your guests to cancel, you'll be able to meet their needs and ensure a better guest experience. Flexible policies can help you attract more guests and get more bookings, which can positively impact your vacation rental business.

You may also want to check out our blog article comparing Expedia vs. Booking.com.