Auto Payments FAQs

If a credit card isn't available for a reservation, the payment remains in "Pending" status. The payment is collected, and the reservation is marked as "Paid" once a credit card is added.

The outcome depends on whether the reservation has a credit card on file.

No credit card on file 

Scheduled auto payments convert to canceled recorded payments. These appear with the payment method "Cash".

Credit card on file

• Pending payments, authorization holds, and charges cancel.
• If an authorization hold is active, the future charge cancels. You can still collect or release the funds manually.
• Refunds aren't issued automatically. You can issue a refund manually if necessary, according to the cancellation policy.

The way Auto Payments are structured depends on the booking channel:

• For Airbnb: Auto Payments are always overlooked since Airbnb exclusively handles payments on their end.
• For Booking.com: Auto Payments are not applied to payments handled through Booking.com. You can use GuestyPay for Booking.com to automate payments and more.
• For all other booking channels and reservation sources: Auto Payments are created based on the relevant listing's Auto Payments rules.

You can edit auto payment rules whenever you need to, regardless of reservation status. However, the change will only apply if the reservation meets specific conditions.

When you edit an Auto Payment rule, you must decide if the changes should apply to existing reservations:

• If you choose "No," the changes apply only to new reservations.
• If you choose "Yes," the changes apply to existing reservations only if:
  • No payments have been collected on the reservation yet, and
  • The check-in date is in the future (the changes won't apply if check-in has already happened).

You can currently create Auto Payment rules per listing, but not per booking channel.

When you create an Auto Payment rule, it triggers a payment at the scheduled time, whether you check the Use guest card box or not.

• Checking the Use guest card box results in charging the guest's card.
• Deactivating it results in recording a cash payment instead.

The only exception is Vrbo, which will still charge the guest's credit card.

Any change to the total payout of the reservation—for instance, by changing the accommodation fare or by an update from the booking channel—automatically updates the pricing of any pending Auto Payments. Charged Auto Payments remain intact.

If you update the total payout after one or more Auto Payments have already been charged, only the remaining unpaid Auto Payment updates with an amount matching the preset Auto Payment rules. In some cases, there is still a remaining balance that should be collected.

You have a few options for collecting the remaining amount:

Manually

Add a new payment for this amount and charge it.

Automatically

• Update the amount of the remaining Auto Payment from $750 to $1000.
• If the Auto Payment has a "rest of payment" rule configured, no further action is required, and the remaining balance is collected automatically by Auto Payment.

Vrbo

Auto Payment rules can't collect the payment for the additional fees for Vrbo. For Vrbo, the scheduled payments only collect the total payout synced to the channel.

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Existing Auto Payments will not update, and you must cancel and re-add them (or collect the payment manually)  if you perform any of the following actions:

• Change the actual payments (and not the payout), such as adding, canceling, editing, charging, or refunding a payment (recorded or live).
• Change the authorization hold, such as adding, canceling, editing, charging, releasing, or refunding an authorization hold.

Auto Payments and manual payments work together in Guesty.

For example, if Auto Payments are set to collect 50% on confirmation and 50% at check-in, the full balance is covered, which prevents additional payments (manual or Auto). If extra fees, like a pet fee, are added, further payments can be scheduled.

However, if you have already scheduled manual payments for a reservation, you won't be able to add Auto Payments for that same reservation.

When you collect an Auto Payment early, Auto Payments won't be recalculated, but they will go out as scheduled. We recommend editing any pending Auto Payments for the reservation in question when you collect a payment early.

A common setup for Auto Payment rules is to collect 50% of the payment at confirmation and the rest of the payment 30 days before check-in, for example. If your guest makes the booking of your listing earlier than these days, such as 29 days before check-in, both payments are collected at confirmation (which will happen earlier than the check-in). 

It can take up to two hours for an Auto Payment to be processed.

If a transaction isn't approved on the first attempt, Guesty attempts it two more times, in a one-hour interval, for up to three total attempts. If all three attempts fail, the payment switches from "Pending" to "Failed" in Guesty.

A processing fee is charged for each attempt made.