By The Hospitable Team
Instant booking is a standard option for OTA websites when travelers can instantly book your vacation rental property without waiting for your approval. Guests choose their travel dates, agree to your house rules, and press the booking button to go through with their payment. In fact, they do everything just as they would with a hotel.
Not sure whether you should activate instant booking on Vrbo? And would you miss out if you don’t? Read the article to learn about the advantages of enabling Instant Booking for your listings on Vrbo. You’ll also find out how to turn off Instant Booking on Vrbo.
Vrbo Instant Book: How Does It Work?
When you enable the Instant Booking feature on your listings, all booking requests from guests are instantly confirmed, and the guest’s credit card is charged for the initial amount. And you will receive a confirmation email with the details of the booking. Besides, the reservation will be automatically updated in your Reservation Manager.
To keep you as a host in control, all travelers must agree to the following before they book your property:
- House Rules
- Host cancellation policy
- Damage policy
- Rental agreement
If a guest doesn’t meet the requirements of your House Rules or Vrbo Policies, Terms, and Conditions, you can still cancel their booking.
If you want to do that, it’s best to ask the guest to submit a cancellation request through their account under My Trips. This way, the cancellation won’t affect your metrics. And if a guest meets all your house rules, the reservation should only be canceled at the guest’s request.
Vrbo Instant Book Saves Time
Instant Booking makes it easier for guests to book your vacation rental property when it attracts their attention, instead of having to wait for communication with you. And you don’t need to review each booking request. So turning on this feature makes the booking process more convenient and can save time for you and your guests.
There’s no need to worry. You’ll still be able to communicate with all guests as needed after booking reservations are confirmed, even if you get instant bookings.
Effective communication is critical to ensure a perfect guest experience that will lead to more 5-star reviews, and as a result, more bookings. And with Hospitable.com, you’ll be able to automate personalized conversations with guests and provide them with fast answers to all their questions.
Have conversations with your guests even when you sleep.
Improve Your Performance in the Search Results
In general, your performance in the search results on Vrbo depends on several factors, including
- The quality of your listing content
- Competitive pricing
- The number and quality of reviews
- Your history of accepting bookings (acceptance rate).
If you enable Instant Booking, you will be able to have a 100% acceptance rate. It shows that you’re committed to helping travelers find and book their ideal vacation rental, you’re available for more bookings, and you provide a perfect booking experience. Vrbo takes your acceptance rate into account and shows your listing higher in search results.
Of course, there are times when you may need to cancel bookings. One or two cancellations won’t really have a negative impact on your search ranking. According to Vrbo, it matters only when cancellations add up.
Attract More Guests
Guests love the Instant Booking feature. Vrbo allows them to filter their search for vacation rental properties with Instant Booking. Then guests only see properties available for immediate booking. These listings are easy to identify because they have a lightning bolt icon.
Another benefit is increased exposure for your listing. Rental properties with Instant Booking also appear to guests who visit Expedia Group sites, and that is over 750 million times a month. It will help you reach more travelers and maximize your bookings.
Still, there are some challenges. It can be a headache to keep track of multiple listing calendars, especially if you enable instant booking features on several rental listing sites. There is nothing more damaging to a host’s credibility and reputation than accidentally double booking a guest.
But you can avoid double bookings if you use Hospitable.com. Our tool makes it easy to sync your listings’ calendar on Vrbo, Airbnb, Booking.com.
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How to Turn off Instant Booking on Vrbo
If you don’t think that Instant Booking on Vrbo is a good option for you, it’s okay. You can easily turn it off in your settings. Follow these steps to change your booking type.
- Log in to your Vrbo account. If you have more than one property, click on the appropriate listing,
- Click Property in the navigation menu and choose Rules and policies.
- Click Booking type and select Instant Booking or 24-hour review, depending on your preferences.
- Finally, press Save.
If you select a 24-hour review, you’ll have more time to look at each booking request, ask the necessary questions, and decide whether to accept each booking request. Just remember that you need to respond to travelers quickly to confirm the booking.
Final Thought
Instant Booking on Vrbo makes the accommodation booking process seamless for both guests and hosts, and it’s an extremely important ranking factor. Vrbo admits their algorithms favor listings with instant booking functionality because they believe it’s a huge benefit for their users. Turning on this feature, you’ll increase your acceptance rate and improve visibility for your property.
Airbnb House Rules: Actionable Tips and Templates
Airbnb house rules are just important as a strong description, clear photos, and a catchy headline in your Airbnb listing. Guests just need a bit of information and direction about your home and what you allow.
Make sure to add good vibes to the recipe, and follow our tips.
Vrbo Cancellation Policy: Short Guide for Hosts
Vrbo cancellation policy is a must-have for any host. It will allow you to provide your guests with the necessary information about their booking and be covered if your guests don’t show up. Explore the options and best practices in our guide.
Vrbo Premier Host Program: How to Qualify and Is It Worth It?
Vrbo is one of the largest vacation rental marketplaces that features more than two million listings available in nearly 200 countries. In this article, you’ll find information on how to become a Premier Host on Vrbo and the advantages of this status.
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