This article explains how to complete Vrbo Self-Service Onboarding (SSO) in Guesty, connect your listings, and manage multiple Vrbo accounts in Guesty as your Property Management Software (PMS). This integration streamlines setup and ensures your account, listings, and content settings sync correctly.

Important:

Don't delete, archive, or create listings on Vrbo while onboarding is in progress. Making changes such as deleting, archiving, or creating new listings on Vrbo after starting the onboarding process can cause your onboarding to get stuck or blocked. Always complete onboarding before making changes to listing in your Vrbo account.

Understanding your user status

Your user status determines how your account and data are imported to Guesty during the onboarding process. 

  • New users

    Users who don’t have a Vrbo account and want Guesty to be their PMS.

  • Existing users:
    • Users who have an existing Vrbo account and don’t have an additional integrated PMS solution.
    • Users who have an existing Vrbo account integrated with another PMS and want to switch to Guesty as their PMS. 

      Note:

      When switching your existing Vrbo account to a direct connection with Guesty, Vrbo requires all  properties to be published or archived.

      • Published listings will be managed by Guesty.
      • Archived listings will be permanently disconnected from Guesty and archived in Vrbo. Reconnecting an archived listing is not supported.

Proceed according to your user status.

Select a Vrbo brand

Vrbo operates a variety of international brand websites, such as www.abritel.fr in France and www.homeaway.co.nz in New Zealand. During the account set up outlined below, select which brand to connect.

Vrbo brand sites
Site Site ID Country Language Currency
www.abritel.fr 731 France French (fr) EUR
www.fewo-direkt.de 651 Germany German (de) EUR
www.vrbo.com/de-at 656 Austria German (de) EUR
www.vrbo.com/en-nz 133 New Zealand English (en) NZD
www.vrbo.com/en-gb 611 England English (en) GBP / EUR
www.homeaway.com 121 US English (en) USD / CAD
www.vrbo.com/en-au 130 Australia English (en) AUD
www.vrbo.com/es-es 615 Spain Spanish (es) EUR
www.vrbo.com/it-it 614 Italy Italian (it) EUR
www.vrbo.com/ja-jp 143 Japan Japanese (ja) JPY
www.vrbo.com/pt-pt 616 Portugal Portuguese (pt) EUR
www.vrbo.com/en-sg 148 Singapore English (en) USD
www.vrbo.com / admin.vrbo.com 321 US English (en) USD / CAD

The listing language and currency in Guesty must match the brand you select. When you connect, make sure the Guesty listing's content is in the brand's native language. For example, if your chosen brand is Abritel, all listing content must be written in French. Guesty checks each listing's content language against the selected Vrbo brand when you publish the listing. If it does not match, an error occurs.

The brand you choose doesn't affect the way your listings are distributed. For example, a listing in Australia can also appear on other Vrbo international websites. However, each Vrbo brand supports only certain languages and currencies. If your company does not fit into one of the categories below, select your Vrbo brand by currency first and then the language. See full details on page 37 in Vrbo's Self-Service Onboarding guide.

Note:

Vrbo no longer integrates properties into its platform in Asia due to lack of support for required languages and currencies. What remains on Vrbo in Asia are legacy listings exclusively on the Vrbo platform that aren't integrated elsewhere.

You can't change the brand once a Vrbo account is connected to Guesty. Instead, connect multiple Vrbo accounts, each with a different brand, to Guesty.

Complete the SSO from Guesty

Follow the instructions below to initiate the SSO process from Guesty.

Step by step:

  1. Sign in to your Guesty account.
  2. In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Growth mode.
  3. Click Distribution.
  4. Locate the HomeAway/Vrbo thumbnail and click Connect.
  5. Follow the instructions below according to your Vrbo user type: new users or existing users.

Important:

You will be asked a number of questions during the SSO process, including:

  • Do you have an an existing Vrbo Account?
  • Do you currently use property management software?

It is crucial to select the correct answers according to your user status as outlined below, to avoid being blocked from proceeding:

New users

Existing Vrbo users using Vrbo as PMS

Existing Vrbo users using another PMS

Do you have an account with Vrbo? → NO

Do you currently use property management software? → YES

Do you have an account with Vrbo? → YES

Do you currently use property management software? → YES

Do you have an account with Vrbo? → YES

Do you currently use property management software? → YES

Connect your account and listings

Follow the instructions to connect your Vrbo account and listings below based on your user status.

New users Existing users

New users can follow the instructions below to create a Vrbo account and publish listings directly from Guesty.

Step by step:

  1. Click Create new Vrbo account.

    Guesty will generate your Advertiser ID and send it to Vrbo.

  2. You will be redirected to Vrbo in a new tab prompting you to connect your PMS of choice.

    Since you don’t have an existing Vrbo Account, click No.

    Follow the steps required for the SSO signup process.

  3. Once done, return to the previous tab in Guesty to continue your account setup in Guesty.
    • If you completed the SSO process on Vrbo, click Already finished? Continue.
    • If you were unable to complete the SSO process on Vrbo, click Tab didn’t open? Try again.

      Follow the steps required for the SSO signup process.

  4. If the SSO process is incomplete:

    Guesty will notify you by email when the SSO process is complete.

    If the SSO process is complete you continue the process in either of the following ways:

    • Click on the link sent via the SSO completion confirmation email Guesty sent you.
    • In your Guesty account, navigate to the Vrbo integration page, locate the relevant account and click Continue connecting account.

      Note:

      If you finished the SSO process but you see “Continue Vrbo SSO” displayed, wait a few minutes for the sync process to complete.

  5. Define your account and listing settings in Guesty:

    The information you provided during the SSO process will be displayed in Guesty at the top of the page. This information can’t be edited.

  6. Fill in the relevant account settings.

    Account nickname

    Give your Vrbo account a nickname to easily recognize it in Guesty. This is useful when connecting multiple Vrbo accounts. The nickname is only visible within Guesty.

    If any of your Guesty listings are set with a different currency, Guesty automatically converts the listing's pricing to the selected currency when updating the prices in Vrbo. When reservations are received, Guesty automatically converts the pricing to the Guesty listing's currency. This enables payments to be collected via Stripe.

    Primary guest minimum age

    Specify the minimum age required to make a reservation. This is the age of the primary guest, not the age for all guests allowed to stay at the property. This setting can later be edited on the listing level.

    Booking settings

    Choose if you would like guests to make reservations instantly, or if they need to make a request to book. This setting can later be edited on the listing level. Vrbo does not allow same-day reservations.

    Cancellation policy

    Select a cancellation policy from the options provided, or create a custom policy as the default for your Vrbo account. This setting can later be edited on the listing level.

    Payment method

    You have two options:

    • Collect payments automatically: Use a connected payment processor, such as Stripe, GuestyPay, Merchant Warrior, or HYP, and auto payment rules to charge guests through Guesty. This option automates payment collection according to your rules.
    • Collect payments manually via Bill me: Guesty doesn't charge the guest. Collect payments, such as credit card, check, debit card, or cash, and record payments in Guesty manually for tracking purposes. 

      Note:

      If you are located in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, Vrbo requires that you collect payments via Guesty. If you choose to collect payments outside of Guesty, select which payment options to accept. These settings can later be edited on per listing.

    Supported payment processors

    • Stripe: Supported globally.
    • GuestyPay: United States, Canada, UK, EU
    • Merchant Warrior: Australia, New Zealand (ANZ)
    • HYP: Israel
    Rental agreement

    If you choose to send a rental agreement to guests to sign prior to arrival, you can use Guesty's sample rental agreement or upload your own. Check the I agree to legal terms of use box when done.

    Note:

    The rental agreement will apply to all of your listings. Uploading a different rental agreement per listing is not supported.

  7. Click Next.
  8. Click Select properties to select the Guesty properties you want to publish on Vrbo.
  9. In the side panel, click + Filters and select any filters you want to apply. Click the dropdown arrow next to each filter to refine your search.
  10. Check the boxes for the properties you want to publish to Vrbo. Alternatively, check the Select all box to select all properties.

    If the selected listing is a multi-unit, the parent unit and its sub-units must be selected. Publishing a sub-unit is not supported.

  11. Click Save.
  12. Click Next.
  13. If relevant, review and fix any missing Vrbo listing requirements:
    • Properties that meet Vrbo’s requirements are labelled with a green “Eligible” status.
    • Properties that are missing requirements are labelled with a red “Not eligible” status. Click Fix missing requirement to be redirected to the relevant page to make the necessary changes and follow the prompts accordingly.

      Alternatively, you can fix pending issues later from the publish queue where you can search for listings by name, filter by city, property type, and tag, and fix publishing issues.

  14. When you are ready to continue, click Connect to Vrbo.

Your content will sync to Guesty. This may take a few hours depending on the amount of data.

Once completed, you can manage your listings directly from Guesty. Any changes made to the listing in Guesty will be automatically updated on Vrbo, including the listing content, calendar, reservations, guest communication and reviews. Changes made to listings on Vrbo will not sync to Guesty.

Fix publishing issues

We recommend fixing any listings issues that arise during your onboarding process, however you can fix publishing issues at any time as follows:

Integration page Publish queue

Connected listings that display “Show errors” on the Vrbo integration page in Guesty indicate that the listing doesn't meet Vrbo's publishing requirements. To fix any existing errors, navigate to the Vrbo integration page in Guesty and click Show errors next to the relevant account. Follow the prompts in the pop-up.

For other listing errors, see our troubleshooting guide.

Next steps

Enable messaging between Guesty and Vrbo

Once your account is connected, check that your Guesty integration email address is entered in your Vrbo account. This ensures that messages from guests are received in Guesty, and vice versa.

Configure auto payments

You must set up auto payment rules in Guesty for each listing you want to publish to Vrbo or an error will occur. The auto payment rules must be set to collect full payment before the guest checks out.

Vrbo requires a portion of the total payout to be charged at confirmation. If your auto payment rules do not include a scheduled "at confirmation" payment, Vrbo automatically charges a small amount― typically less than 0.25% of the total payout―at confirmation. The remaining balance will be charged according to your auto payment rules.

Additional steps for users with existing Vrbo accounts

Vrbo account was managed in Rentals United

If you managed your Vrbo account via Rentals United (RU), and RU is already connected to Guesty, the pre-existing reservations already exist in Guesty as RU reservations.

After the "software switch" from RU to Guesty, those reservations are migrated to the direct integration with Vrbo, so that any alterations made will be synced to Vrbo. However, the reservation confirmation codes will remain as Rentals United (RU-XXXXXX).

Manage guest payments

Guest payment methods are not transferred to Guesty. You will need to manage the payments directly from your Vrbo account. Alternatively, you can contact guests for their payment details and add them to Guesty, or send them an invoice.

Manage guest messages

Messages for pre-existing reservations may not be received in Guesty, since these reservations are associated with the channel manager/PMS integration email. We recommend moving to email communication with these guests.

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