Use this guide to manage Vrbo reservation cancellations in Guesty. Providing clear information on how cancellations affect your account ensures you maintain a high standing with the channel.
Learn more about all reservation statuses.
Comparing declined vs. canceled reservations
Understanding the difference between these declined and canceled reservations is key as both can affect your Premier Host status.
Declined reservations |
Canceled reservations |
|---|---|
| Occur when you reject a booking request before it's confirmed | Occur when you cancel a confirmed booking |
| Displayed as "Canceled" in Vrbo | Displayed as "Canceled" in Vrbo and Guesty |
| Can negatively impact your metrics | Directly impacts your cancellation rate and may trigger penalties |
Protecting your response rate with auto-decline
Auto-decline helps protect your response rate by giving a Request to Book reservation, known as Quote and Hold request in Vrbo, a "Reserved" status. You must approve these requests within 42 hours. If no action is taken, Guesty automatically declines the request, changes the status to "Declined", and the guest is notified that the booking wasn't accepted.
Understanding reservation cancellation types
Guest-initiated cancellations
Guests can cancel a reservation at any time, even after check-in, as long as the check-out date is in the future.
What happens when a guest cancels:
- Automatic sync: Vrbo sends the cancellation to Guesty. This process may take 1–24 hours
- Notification: You receive an alert in your Guesty Inbox
- Reservation status update: The reservation changes to "Canceled" in Guesty
- Refunds: You're responsible for processing refunds based on your cancellation policy
- Metrics impact: Guest cancellations don't affect your Premier Host ranking metrics
Troubleshooting sync issues:
If the guest cancellation doesn't appear in Guesty after 24 hours:
- Confirm that the reservation was correctly imported into Guesty
- If the sync failed due to an import issue, cancel the reservation manually in Guesty
Host-initiated cancellations
If you cancel a reservation, Guesty reports it as "Canceled by host" in Vrbo. This negatively affects your Premier Host status and increases your cancellation rate. If a host has a high cancellation rate, the listing may be suspended.
Managing refunds for host cancellations
When you initiate a cancellation from Guesty, Vrbo doesn't take the cancellation policy into account. All charges are cancelled automatically.
As the property manager, you must manually adjust any necessary refunds to ensure the guest receives the correct amount. Learn more about refunding a payment.
Note:
Cancellations initiated by a property owner don't sync from Guesty to Vrbo. If an owner initiates a cancellation, manually update the status in Vrbo to keep both platforms aligned.
Preventing penalties
To stay in good standing with Vrbo and protect your Premier Host eligibility:
- Enable instant booking: This reduces cancellations caused by delays in approval.
- Manage Quote and Hold responsibly: Approve or decline requests within 42 hours to avoid auto-decline penalties.
- Request a waiver: If a cancellation is unavoidable (e.g., emergency or double-booking), submit a waiver request to Vrbo.
Learn more about Vrbo's Partner Cancellation Fee Policy.
Cancellation sync timeframes
Action |
Sync time to Guesty/Vrbo |
Status in Vrbo |
Status in Guesty |
Impact on metrics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guest cancels reservation | 1–24 hours | Canceled | Canceled | No impact |
| Host cancels reservation | Immediate | Canceled | Canceled | Negative impact |
| Decline request (manual) | Immediate | Canceled | Declined | Negative impact |
| Auto-decline by Guesty | 42 hours (timeout) | Canceled | Declined | Negative impact |