Vrbo Connection FAQs

What are the requirements for listing on Vrbo?

• Must have innRoad integrated credit card processing set up
• Vrbo only lists “Vacation Rental”-style inventory, preferably standalone cottages, houses, cabins, or “apartment”-style rooms. Vrbo prefers properties with a closer to 1-to-1 mapping between room classes and rooms. This means that ideally each room would have its own room class and is thus more unique. Vrbo reserves the right to approve or deny room types and will be vetted by them before going live on Vrbo. Click here for more information

What sister sites of Vrbo will I have access to?

Homelidays.com, Stayz.com.au, VacationRentals.com, Abritel.fr, Bookabach.co.nz, vrbo.com/de-at, HomeAway.com.au, AlugueTemporada.com.br, FeWo-direkt.de, vrbo.com/da-dk, HomeAway.es, HomeAway.fi, HomeAway.gr, HomeAway.it, HomeAway.jp, HomeAway.lk, HomeAway.nl, HomeAway.no, HomeAway.co.nz, HomeAway.pl, HomeAway.pt, HomeAway.se, HomeAway.com.sg, HomeAway.co.uk, Homelidays.es, Homelidays.it, OwnersDirect.co.uk

What are the benefits of the Vrbo Expanded Distribution Network?

The Expanded Distribution puts vacation rental listings in front of travelers who might not have considered a vacation rental. Click here for more information from Vrbo.

How long does onboarding take with Vrbo?

New properties undergo an approval process on Vrbo’s side to make sure they match quality standards and overall marketplace fit. Vrbo says that onboarding can take up to 3- 5 business days for new and existing accounts.

How do payments work with Vrbo?

Vrbo reservations will be “Instant Bookings.”  Guests will pay 100% up front via credit card at the time of booking. Their credit card will be charged for 100% of the room charges, fees, and taxes.

Important-You will be required to have innRoad integrated credit card processing to direct connect with Vrbo.

Are Vrbo fees refunded if a reservation is cancelled?

If you cancel a reservation in accordance with your cancellation policy which gives the traveler a full refund or you override the cancellation policy and give a full refund, all previously billed Vrbo fees will be refunded, including commissions and service fees. Click here for more information about which fees are refunded.  

Who do I pay commissions to?

You will be billed directly by Vrbo on a monthly basis. They will require an active credit card to be stored in their Vrbo dashboard for billing purposes. The commissions are billed on the 2^nd of the month after the guest checks out. In the case of a cancellation or no-show, it's important to update the status of the reservation in innRoad accordingly so Vrbo doesn't charge their commission. 

My fees on Vrbo say “Property Fee.” Can I change this?

At this time, there is no way to call them “Cleaning Fee” or “Resort Fee” in Vrbo. Clients can create fees, they can be sent to Vrbo and associated with reservations, guests will pay for the fees upfront at the time of reservation, and they will all be called “Property Fees.”

My guest told me they see two charges on their credit card. What happened?

All guests are charged a Service Fee by Vrbo. This Service Fee is processed by Vrbo separate from the room charges/fees/taxes processed on innRoad. As a result, guests will see two charges on their credit card.

How do minimum stay rules work with Vrbo?

For Vrbo a reservation must check-in on the day that the Min Stay Rule is placed for it to be enforced.

What rates can I send to Vrbo?

We will build a Vrbo Rate Plan for you. This will be a derived rate and can be derived from any rate plan you’d like. We can offset this by any dollar or percentage amount. Only standard, non-conditional, non-interval daily rates are supported. 

What is the Registration Number?

If your listing requires a registration number, your Vrbo Implementation Manager should let you know. Click here for more information.

What is a Rental Agreement?

A rental agreement is an agreement between you and your traveler about your expectations and legal relationship. These documents can help outline your policies and behavior guidelines. If you have uploaded one, travelers receive the rental agreement after booking or inquiring. Click here for a video on rental agreements.

What is the Service Fee?

The service fee that guests pay on Vrbo is processed separately by Vrbo. It's a percentage of the total amount of the reservation, excluding taxes and refundable fees, paid by the traveler. Guests will be charged once by HomeAway for this Service Fee, and once by innRoad for Room Charges and Taxes. Guests will see two charges on their credit card, as a result. 

Click here for more information about the Service Fee. 

How do cancellation policies work?

The cancellation policies within each room class are for display only. We will build a corresponding policy under Inventory > Policies that will automatically apply in the event of a cancellation.

How can my guest cancel their reservation they made through Vrbo?

All reservation cancellations and modifications need to be done through innRoad by the property, there is no way for the guest to cancel or modify their reservation through Vrbo. 

How should a guest rebook a cancelled reservation they made through Vrbo? 

The guest should rebook the reservation through Vrbo so the property isn't liable for the Service Fee.

My Vrbo reservation has a ‘Pending’ status. What does that mean?

The purpose of the Pending state is to hold the room inventory of the confirmed reservation while more time- and performance-intensive booking can occur in the background. This prevents overbookings and keeps hoteliers apprised of reservation progress in the innRoad system.

When a reservation comes in from Vrbo:

• If there is availability, the guest pays and the reservation is confirmed. 
• The confirmed reservation enters the “Pending” state and appears on the Tape Chart, holding that availability until the complete reservation process finishes.
• A secondary process goes through the steps of completely setting up the confirmed reservation. At the end of this process, the reservation moves from “Pending” to “Confirmed.”
• innRoad sends a confirmation email to the guest, and all subsequent changes and communications are done directly with the hotel.

What are the image requirements for Vrbo?

Vrbo requires at least 6 photos per room class which must be a minimum height of 1080px and a minimum width of 1920px. 

What image will display first on Vrbo?

The first image under images on the room class page will be the first image displayed on Vrbo.

My Vrbo Dashboard is showing different availability than my innRoad Tape Chart. What's wrong?

Through our integration with Vrbo, your innRoad Tape Chart will be your source of truth. There are some delays on the Vrbo Dashboard and so updates to availability may not be immediately displayed on the Vrbo Dashboard. 

If I have an existing listing, what information will stay the same? 

• Listing numbers - during the implementation process, Vrbo will complete an ID mapping for existing listings so you can keep the same listing number
• Guest Reviews

How do I edit the check in/check out times that display on Vrbo?

• Go to the Setup module > Property > Options tab > Check In/Out Process section > edit the check in/check out times > Publish to save

What if one of my room classes is located at a different address than the others under the same property?

• We'd suggest building the room class which is located at a different address under a separate property in innRoad.
  • If you must keep it under the same property, Vrbo is the only OTA that can assist you to override the Physical Location data feeding from innRoad on their end.

Can guests "add on" a pet when making a reservation through Vrbo so the fee automatically gets added to their folio in innRoad?

At this time, Vrbo is unable to offer this feature. The pet fee can be a part of your Vrbo Rental Agreement and description and then you'd be required to manually add the fee to the guest folio.