There are several reasons why you may experience issues with Vrbo reservations. Review the scenarios below to understand the causes and solutions for missing reservations or status discrepancies.
Before you begin troubleshooting, ensure you know which connection type you have.
Limited sync
There could be several possible reasons for Vrbo reservation issues. Read below to understand the main causes for missing reservations in Guesty.
Missing reservations
In some cases, a reservation status in Guesty may not immediately reflect the status in Vrbo. The following scenarios could prevent reservations from appearing in Guesty.
- When you connect your Vrbo account to Guesty and publish listings, only reservations with a check-out date in the future are automatically imported into Guesty. Past reservations are not imported.
- Reservations that are checked-out don't sync to Guesty.
Export reports directly from Vrbo to view historical data.
Reservations created manually in Vrbo won't sync to Guesty. Create manual Vrbo reservations in Guesty as well.
New Vrbo reservations take up to one hour to appear in Guesty. Wait at least one hour before troubleshooting.
When a guest makes a booking request on Vrbo, Guesty may display the reservation as "Confirmed" immediately, even if Vrbo hasn't yet fully approved it. This occurs because Guesty receives limited updates from the channel during the initial request phase.
A "Confirmed" status in Guesty doesn't always mean the booking is final. Final approval and payment confirmation happen on Vrbo's side. A reservation may still be:
- Waiting for host approval
- Waiting for guest payment
- Set to expire on Vrbo
If the reservation is not approved, expires, or has a failed payment, Vrbo will cancel it. Guesty automatically cancels the reservation when the update is received. There may be a short delay due to system syncing and data traffic.
Usually, no action is needed as Guesty updates the status once the cancellation is received. Always rely on Vrbo for the final approval and payment status.
If a reservation was canceled in Guesty but remains active on Vrbo and doesnt update automatically, contact us for assistance.
Calendar sync issues
Follow the troubleshooting steps below if your calendars show different availability between platforms.
1. Verify the connection status
- Sign in to your Guesty account.
- In the top navigation bar, click Channels and select Vrbo.
- Confirm the connection for the account displays as "Active"
- If disconnected, reconnect the account and authorize access.
2. Check for listing mismatches
Verify that all properties are connected and active in Vrbo.
Read our troubleshooting guide for further assistance with calendar sync issues.
Full sync
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
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Check your Vrbo account is connected
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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.
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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.
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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.
Note:
Although the status is displayed as declined in Guesty, a "quote and hold" reservation in reserved status that is declined is considered "canceled" by Vrbo and may be subject to cancellation fees according to Vrbo's policy.
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.
Auto payments don't trigger for reservations received as "Reserved". In this case, 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.
