Troubleshooting: Vrbo reservation issues

If you are experiencing reservation syncing between Guesty and Vrbo, this guide will help you resolve common causes.

Before troubleshooting a specific issue, use the checklist below to verify that your Vrbo account, listings and reservations are correctly configured.

Configuration checklist

• Check your Vrbo account is connected

  Verify that your Vrbo account is connected to Guesty. 

• Ensure your Vrbo listings are connected

  Verify that your Vrbo listings are connected, active and  "listed" in the booking channel. If not, select Guesty listings to publish to Vrbo, fill out Vrbo’s Self-Service Onboarding (SSO) form and submit them to Vrbo.

• Upload existing Vrbo reservations

  If you switched to Guesty's direct integration from another PMS/channel manager, make sure your existing Vrbo reservations are linked to managed them in Guesty. Learn more about uploading existing Vrbo reservations manually into Guesty.

• Allow 24 hour sync time

  Updates to reservations may take up to 24 hours to reflect accurately across both platforms due to the synchronization process between Guesty and Vrbo.

If syncing issues persist, our guide below addresses common issues that you may encounter with Vrbo reservations and how to handle them.

Inquiry not received in Guesty

An inquiry is not received in Guesty if the guest submits a question without specifying reservation dates.

For a question to be considered an inquiry in Guesty, encourage guests to include the specific dates they are interested in. 

Learn more about inquiries in our reservation statuses overview. 

Inquiry was confirmed in Guesty but not in Vrbo

We don't recommend confirming an inquiry in Guesty or Vrbo. Confirmed inquiries in Guesty don’t sync to Vrbo because they exclude important details like contact information and payment method.

In Vrbo, booking behavior depends on the listing’s settings:

• Instant booking enabled: Guests see a "Book Now" button. When booked, the reservation syncs to Guesty as Confirmed.
• Quote and hold (non-instant booking): Guests see "Request to Book." Once the host approves, the reservation syncs to Guesty as Reserved.

If a guest selects "Contact Host", it becomes an inquiry in Guesty. If you manually convert the inquiry into a confirmed reservation in Guesty, it is assigned a manual confirmation code and doesn't sync to Vrbo.

To ensure proper synchronization, which includes all the information required for a reservation, advise guests to book directly via "Request to Book" or "Book Now" in Vrbo. 

Missing reservation in Guesty

If your Vrbo account was managed in Vrbo before connecting to Guesty, and not through another software, existing reservations aren't imported into Guesty due to Vrbo's API limitations. Existing reservations can be identified by an "HA-" prefix, followed by either seven or six digits depending on when it was created.

• Reservations with six digits indicate the reservation was created before connecting to Guesty and won't appear in Guesty. For example: HA-123456. Manage these reservations in Vrbo.

• Reservations with seven digits indicate the reservation was created after connecting to Guesty. For example: HA-1234567. Contact us with a screenshot of the reservation details from Vrbo so that we can investigate further.

Reservation wasn't canceled in Vrbo

Vrbo reservation cancellations only sync between platforms when you cancel a reservation in Guesty. To check if a reservation was canceled in Guesty, navigate to the reservation and ensure the reservation status is "Canceled". If it isn't yet canceled, cancel the reservation in Guesty.

If you cancel a Vrbo reservation in Guesty and the cancellation doesn't update in Vrbo within 24 hours, the reservation may have been moved to a listing that wasn't connected to Vrbo prior to cancellation.

To resolve this issue, relocate the reservation in Guesty to a listing that is connected to Vrbo and cancel it. Once the cancellation is synced in Vrbo, you can move the reservation back to the unconnected listing to retain the record, or remove it.

To prevent this issue in the future, always verify the listing is connected to Vrbo in Guesty before canceling the reservation via Guesty. 

Reservation was automatically canceled

For "quote and hold" reservations, you have a 42-hour window to accept or decline the request in Guesty. If no action is taken within this timeframe, the reservation is automatically canceled. This is Guesty’s automatic decline/cancel feature, designed to maintain your listing's response rate, a key factor influencing your listing's performance.

If you don't want the reservation to be cancelled submit a cancellation waiver form to Vrbo. It is important to act promptly, as temporary suspensions take effect 10 days after cancellation. The waiver must be submitted and approved within this 10-day window to avoid suspension. Additionally, you have up to 30 days from the cancellation date to request a waiver and avoid cancellation fees.

Vrbo reservation updated without auto payments

Auto payments are calculated based on the financial breakdown at the time the reservation is confirmed and don't recalculate if changes are made to the reservation’s financials.

When a reservation is updated, be sure to cancel the remaining auto payments associated with the reservation and collect the payment manually.

Email notification for confirmed reservation not received from Vrbo

Once you connect your Vrbo account with Guesty, you will no longer receive email notifications from Vrbo when a reservation is confirmed. To receive a notification, set up an automated message to be sent at booking confirmation.