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Connecting Vrbo to Guesty: I have an existing Vrbo account managed through a channel manager or another PMS

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Before you begin

Please note the following information before you begin:

  • The connection process will take several days, so we recommend switching your listings in Vrbo to "quote and hold" until the process is finished.

  • It is not possible to connect a Vrbo account to Guesty if the master brand is Vrbo BR. As a workaround, you should connect via Vrbo US instead. (See step 6 below.)

  • Your onboarding is not completed until you see the final page "You're all set"", "You're almost done", "You've nearly finished!".

  • Your listings must meet Vrbo's requirements, otherwise, they will fail to publish.

1. Initiating a direct connection

Since we are still deploying our new dashboard, follow the instructions for "Legacy navigation" if your search bar is in a blue line above the top navigation bar.

Important:

The connection process will take several days, so we recommend switching your listings in Vrbo to "quote and hold" until the process is finished.

New navigation Legacy navigation

Step by Step:

  1. Sign in to your Guesty account.
  2. In the top navigation bar, click, the icon drop-down menu and select Growth mode.
  3. Click Distribution.
  4. Click the HomeAway/Vrbo thumbnail.
  5. In the top right corner, click Add account.
  6. In the pop-up, fill in the relevant account settings. Learn more about the account settings.
    1. All supported brands can be found here.
  7. Click Next.
  8. Wait for all your listings to load. This may take several minutes. While your listings load, please note:
    1. Your listings must meet Vrbo's requirements, otherwise, they will fail to publish.
    2. If you have any listings with errors, they will appear on your screen under "X listings could not be added". You must fix these listings before you can publish them to Vrbo.
    3. If you wish to add any new listings, do so now.
  9. Select the listings you wish to publish to Vrbo and click Add Listings to Vrbo.
    1. When switching to a direct connection with Guesty from another channel manager/PMS, all existing listings in your Vrbo portfolio must be published to and managed by Guesty. 
  10. Read Vrbo's instructions and fill out the Self-Service Onboarding Form, taking note of the steps for "Existing Users".
    1. Vrbo might ask for your Guesty Advertiser ID, so be sure to have it ready.
    2. If you encounter any error messages, contact Vrbo. Do not drop out of the self-service onboarding.
  11. An Onboarding Specialist from Vrbo will contact you within 3 working days to match each active Vrbo listing to a property in your property management software. You must be responsive to Vrbo's communication! If unresponsive, the process will be canceled by Vrbo automatically after 5 days.

  12. Add the property's registration information in the Vrbo dashboard. Adding it in Guesty as well is optional.

  13. Fill out this template and contact us once completed in order to upload all of your existing reservations received through the current PMS into Guesty.
  14. Once the connection has been successfully activated, your properties will switch from "Pending" to "Connected" in Guesty. Click here if your properties are stuck in "Pending" for more than 3 days.
  15. 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. Follow these instructions.

2. Managing your preexisting Vrbo reservations

Importing reservations

  • For Rentals United, see If you are Switching From Rentals United section below.
  • For all other connections:
    • Preexisting Vrbo reservations are not imported automatically. It is your responsibility to upload all existing reservations received through the current PMS into Guesty to be managed in Guesty.
      • Vrbo requires that you upload all future bookings with a check-out date in the future, plus reservations with a check-out date within the last 45 days.
      • You can add them manually using the source "uploaded_VRBO" to Guesty, or you can fill out this template and contact us once completed. We will map the reservations within Vrbo.
      • Any new Vrbo reservations received during the onboarding process and before your Vrbo project is activated must be added manually or via template sent to us.
    • IMPORTANT: If you do not manually create the reservations or complete the template, we will not be able to map them to Vrbo. These un-mapped, existing reservations are considered "offline" by Vrbo and subject to the following: 
      • They cannot be edited
      • Traveler service fee will not be refunded and you will be charged 10% commission by Vrbo

If you are switching from Rentals United

If you managed your Vrbo account via Rentals United, and Rentals United is already connected to Guesty, the preexisting reservations already exist in Guesty as Rentals United reservations.

After the software switch, 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).

Guest payments

Guest payment methods are not transferred to Guesty. You could manage the payments via the previous property management software, or contact guests for their payment details and add them to Guesty or by sending a guest invoice from Guesty.

Guest messages

Messages for preexisting 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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