Canceling a confirmed reservation may become necessary in some situations, such as for unexpected maintenance issues, due to overbooking, or for other unforeseen circumstances. You can mark that the reservation was canceled by the initiative of the host, or the guest (for example, if a guest contacts you and asks to cancel the reservation on their behalf).
Canceling a reservation is done either via Guesty or via the booking channel. For the cancellation to be synced between Guesty and the channel, the relevant listing must be in a “Connected” status in the channel’s integration page in Guesty. Otherwise, you will need to cancel the reservation both in Guesty and the channel.
Once a reservation is canceled, it cannot be restored, and cannot be edited. If needed, you can create it again manually. Upon cancellation, the dates will become available on all booking channels. Any scheduled automated messages will also be canceled.
Reservations cannot be deleted.
Group reservations
When a group reservation is created, several “sub” reservations are generated, each shown as a separate event in the calendar. Each sub-reservation can only be canceled separately.
Refunds and charges
When you cancel a reservation, any additional fees you manually added to the reservation will remain as non-canceled invoice items. A guest’s cancellation fee can be added to the invoice, according to the cancellation policy or the rate plan applied. A refund won’t automatically be issued to the guest, and must be made manually. You can also choose to waive a guest’s cancellation fee.
Beware that you may be charged a cancellation fee by the channel and/or by Guesty. Request to Book ("Reserved") reservations will be automatically canceled if not approved within 24 hours ( their status will be changed to “Closed”). Requests to book/ inquiries won’t result in any charges to the guest or host if they’re not approved.
If you have an active rate plan(s) applied to the listing, and you marked that the reservation is canceled by the guest, the cancellation fee will be calculated and displayed automatically in the invoice as an added line item. You can view it in the "Guest invoice" section of the "Balance due / Payout" page.
Accounting users: when a reservation is canceled, reservation-related charges or expenses are canceled automatically. Payment-related or recurring/periodic charges and expenses are not affected by a reservation cancellation. Learn how canceled reservations affect owner statements (Pro users).
Which reservations can I cancel?
Only a reservation with a Confirmed status can be canceled, either by the guest or the host.
If a guest has used an invalid payment method, the reservation will not be automatically canceled. You can set a notification for failed payments, and then you can handle the issue (try to charge the guest again, collect a new payment method, etc.) or manually cancel the reservation.
Through which platform should I cancel a reservation?
Check the reservation's source, and proceed according to the reservation's channel of origin. If mentioned to cancel a reservation via the channel (and not through Guesty), the status update will be synced to Guesty as well (unless stated otherwise). If mentioned to cancel the reservation via Guesty, see the instructions in the last section.
Active reservations, with check-ins in the upcoming 24 hours
For this case, you need to contact Airbnb and ask them to cancel the reservation. Learn more about Airbnb’s cancellation penalties in the Airbnb Host Cancellation Policy.
Future reservations, with check-ins in more than 24 hours
When canceling an Airbnb reservation via Guesty, the request is subject to Airbnb’s approval. Because this may take a few days, you can contact us to remove the block in your calendar sooner. However, this can create discrepancies between your Guesty and Airbnb availability.
Cancel a reservation via Guesty, and then report it to Amplify by StaySense. The channel will deduct the cancellation fee from your monthly commission bill.
As a best practice, we advise asking the guest to cancel the reservation. The guest can easily cancel a Booking.com reservation using a link from their confirmation email or via their Booking.com account.
If you want to cancel a fraudulent booking, do so directly via Booking.com.
Learn below how to initiate a cancellation as a host.
Guesty is the listing’s connectivity provider
If Guesty is set as the listing’s connectivity provider, cancel the reservation in Guesty in the following cases (only):
- Reporting a guest’s no-show to Booking.com will cause the reservation to be canceled.
- If the guest used an invalid credit card, you can report it to Booking.com via Guesty. The guest will have an opportunity to update their credit card details. If they don't update them in the relevant time frame, you'll be able to cancel the reservation via Booking.com.
For all other cases, initiate a cancellation request through the Booking.com extranet. Cancellation requests can be submitted to Booking.com up to 48 hours before check-in via the extranet or the Pulse app. If the guest asks you to cancel their reservation less than 48 hours before check-in, inform them to contact the Booking.com customer service. Once the guest receives and accepts the cancellation request, the reservation will be canceled.
Guesty is not the listing’s connectivity provider
If Guesty is not set as the listing’s connectivity provider, canceling the reservation via Booking.com won’t sync to Guesty, and you will need to cancel the reservation in Guesty as well. Follow the instructions below.
Expedia reservations must be canceled via Expedia. The cancellation will not sync to Guesty, however, so contact us to update the reservation’s status.
Cancel a reservation from a direct integration or a manual reservation via Guesty.
Direct integrations include:
- Guesty Booking Engine API (Pro users)
- Guesty Booking Engine (Booking Website for Lite users), including Guesty Websites (Pro users) and Google Vacation Rentals (Pro users).
Contact us to cancel a direct/manual reservation made for a multi-unit listing.
Cancel via the channel.
Pilot users: Cancel a reservation via Guesty to free up space in your calendar, and then report it to HomeToGo to avoid being charged a commission for the cancellation.
All other users: Cancel a reservation via the channel.
Cancel an owner reservation via Guesty.
A Rentals United reservation can only be canceled through Rentals United or the connected booking channel through which the reservation was made (with the exception of Vrbo). You can, however, cancel a Vrbo via Rentals United reservation in Guesty.
Cancel a reservation via Guesty, and then report it to Rentalz. The channel will deduct the cancellation fee from your monthly commission bill.
You should cancel the reservation on the booking channel from which the reservation originated. This will be updated in SiteMinder and Guesty.
Note:
Guesty Lite users: If you connected to Vrbo after 19 Feb 2024, cancel a reservation directly via Vrbo. If you connected prior to this date, follow the information below.
Guests can cancel a reservation themselves in Vrbo, with no additional action required on your part. The cancellation will be synced automatically with Guesty, with a cancellation notification sent to you in the Guesty Inbox.
Following Vrbo's process, guests will be allowed to cancel after the check-in date, as long as the check-out date is in the future. You will be responsible for charging or refunding the guest's credit card based on your cancellation policy.
Tip:
If a guest cancellation on Vrbo does not sync with Guesty, verify that the reservation was imported correctly into Guesty following our instructions and template. If the sync did not occur due to an import issue, you can cancel manually in Guesty as per below.
Manual cancellation in Guesty
- For Vrbo reservations
If you need to initiate a manual cancellation - such as an owner/host reservation, payment-related issues, or unexpected circumstances - follow the steps below to cancel in Guesty.
- For pre-existing/imported/uploaded reservations
When canceling pre-existing reservations, the pop-up window to specify who initiated the cancellation (guest/owner/host) will not appear.
The cancellation will be recorded as "canceled by host," which could impact your Premier Host status on Vrbo and may face listing suspension.
To avoid this, request the guest to cancel the reservation themselves on Vrbo or contact Vrbo directly to assist you and handle the cancellation from their end.
For all channels not listed above, cancel the reservation in the relevant channel. The cancellation will then sync to Guesty.
Canceling a reservation via Guesty
Follow the instructions below to cancel a reservation via the reservation page in Guesty.
Step by step:
- Sign in to your Guesty account.
- In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Operations mode.
- Click Reservations.
- Click the relevant reservation.
- For Airbnb reservations, click
, then select Edit reservation. For other reservations, click 
.
- Under "Status," select Canceled from the dropdown menu.
For Airbnb reservations: Click
, then click Request cancellation. - In the pop-up window, fill in the relevant fields, then click Update to cancelled.
For Airbnb reservations: fill in the relevant information, then click Confirm to send a cancellation request to Airbnb.
- Click Save.
The reservation status will change to "Canceled".
Step by step:
- Sign in to your Guesty account.
- In the top navigation bar, click More, then select Reservations.
- Click the relevant reservation.
- For Airbnb reservations, click , then select Edit reservation. For other reservations, click .
- Under "Status," select Canceled from the dropdown menu.
For Airbnb reservations: Click
, then click Request cancellation. - In the pop-up window, fill in the relevant fields, then click Update to cancelled..
For Airbnb reservations, fill in the relevant information, then click Confirm to send a cancellation request to Airbnb.
- Click Save.
The reservation status will change to "Canceled".
Tip:
You can also cancel a reservation via the calendar or the Inbox. Find the relevant reservation, then click 
on the side widget.