Vrbo automated payments are not applying or collecting as expected

If you notice that your payment automation rules are not applying correctly or payments are not collecting as expected for reservations coming from Vrbo, it is likely due to specific limitations within the Vrbo platform.

Description of the issue

While you set up payment automation rules in your Guesty account, Vrbo's system has specific requirements and limitations that can cause the payment schedule to be processed differently than for other channels. This can lead to unexpected outcomes, such as:

Authorization holds not appearing
Minor differences in the timing of scheduled payments
Payment schedules not updating after a reservation change
Inability to collect payments for additional charges

Understanding these limitations helps explain why you are seeing unexpected behavior and what actions you need to take.

How to address the issue

Since many of these behaviors are due to Vrbo's system, there is no retroactive fix for how the payment was processed. However, you can adjust your expectations and take manual actions to manage your reservations correctly.

Understanding Vrbo's limitations and expected behavior

Review the following points to understand why your payment automations are behaving differently with Vrbo reservations.

Limitation	Expected Behavior
Vrbo does not support authorization holds	If your rule includes a hold action, that action will be ignored. The guest is charged the correct amount at the scheduled time. If your rule is "Hold and Charge," the charge will still process as expected.
Vrbo only accepts "days" as a time unit	If your automation rule is set in hours, weeks, or minutes, Guesty converts the time to the nearest day before sending the schedule to Vrbo. This can cause minor differences in the exact time a payment is collected.
Vrbo reservations are locked after confirmation	If you change the reservation (e.g., dates or price), the payment schedule is not updated automatically. You must manually apply any payment changes.
Vrbo has a 100% payment collection limit	Vrbo will not collect payments that exceed the original reservation amount.

Action required for payment collection above 100%

If you add fees or charges after confirmation (such as a damage fee or cleaning surcharge) that cause the total collected amount to exceed 100% of the original reservation, the remaining automated payments will not function.

To resolve this issue: Collect the additional fees manually outside of Guesty's automated payment system.

Applying rule changes to existing Vrbo reservations

If you edit an automation rule and activate Apply to existing reservations, this change will not affect any confirmed Vrbo reservations.

Action required: Edit the payment in the specific Vrbo reservation to change the date or amount.

Prevent the issue from happening again

To prevent unexpected payment timing and issues with authorization holds, ensure your Vrbo payment automation rules are set up using days as the unit of time, and be aware that any hold action will be ignored.

When creating automation rules:

Use days instead of hours or minutes for payment schedules to prevent conversion discrepancies
Avoid using "Hold and Release" rules, as they will be ignored entirely

Related to:

GFP: Payments