Connect to Vrbo/HomeAway

This integration allows you to connect your HomeAway / Vrbo / Abritel / FeWo-direkt rentals to your Lodgify rentals.
💡 Note: Even though in the following explanations, only the names of HomeAway/Vrbo will be used, all details regarding the integration apply equally to Abritel and FeWo-direkt.

Once the connection has been completed, you will be able to keep your calendar up to date by importing reservations and synchronizing availability. Your prices will be exported from Lodgify to HomeAway/Vrbo and you will also be able to export all your Lodgify rentals to HomeAway/Vrbo. Reservations will be charged directly through Lodgify, using our credit card gateways.

🔎 If you are searching specific information, do not hesitate to do a Control F (Command F for Apple) to search your keyword and get your information easily

💡 Notes:

  • The Vrbo icon shows once the connection has been set up on Lodgify side. However, in order to complete the synchronization setup, Vrbo must take steps on their end. Learn more.
    Screenshot_2022-05-04_at_16.35.17.png
  • Find out here how to disconnect from Vrbo.

Read about:

Requirements to connect to HomeAway/Vrbo

Please note that in order to be able to connect with HomeAway/Vrbo, you will need to meet the following requirements: 

  • Each Vrbo/HomeAway account can only be connected with one Lodgify account. 
    And each Lodgify account can only be connected to one Vrbo account.
    💡️ Notes:
      • If you do not have a Vrbo account yet, it will be created for you.
      • If you do not yet have rentals inside your Vrbo account, the rentals can be pushed from Lodgify into Vrbo for you.
  • Vrbo has the following VAT requirements:

    • EU and UK: valid VAT number of Tax identifier

    • Australia + New Zealand: valid ABN number / NZBN number

    • Quebec region: valid GST / QST number
      💡️ Important Note: If you are a Private owner without a VAT number, Vrbo will not proceed with the integration project.

  • Your Vrbo listings need to be set up as 'pay per booking' or you need to have an active subscription with Vrbo for all the properties.
  • You need to have a Credit Card payment gateway or Paypal active in Lodgify as all reservations will be charged via Lodgify. You can use Stripe, Braintree, Authorize.net, Payyo or Paypal. Learn how to activate a credit card payment gateway or how to activate Paypal.
  • Existing reservations or closed periods cannot be imported from HomeAway/Vrbo into Lodgify, so they will need to be created manually in Lodgify before the connection to avoid double bookings.
  • You need to use the currency of the master brand of HomeAway/Vrbo (EUR, USD, GBP, CAD, AUD, NZD, JPY) and you need to have the same currency in Lodgify. To edit your currency in Lodgify you can do so in the rental's Prices section.Screenshot 2024-12-27 at 10.40.50.png
    💡 Note: To prevent currency inconsistencies in your rental, it's important that the currency of your prices aligns with the currency specified in your policy. This could, for instance, include the currency used for your security deposit.

    Currencies and Vrbo Master brand sites

    Vrbo has a number of brand sites for which the integration is initially configured. Once live, listings are then distributed to additional Vrbo sites.

    • The master brand currency will be used for all online transactions, and you must specify this currency code in all listings and online integration files.
    • If you do not know your master brand, contact your Engagement Manager at HomeAway/Vrbo.

    Here is the list of HomeAway/Vrbo master brand sites and currencies:

    HomeAway/Vrbo master brand Currency
    Vrbo US
    www.vrbo.com/admin.vrbo.com /www.homeaway.com
    USD or CAD
    FRANCE 
    www.abritel.fr      
    EUR 
    England
    www.vrbo.com/en-gb  
    GBP or EUR
    Austria
    www.vrbo.com/de-at   
    EUR 
    Germany
    www.fewo-direkt.de  
    EUR 
    Spain
    www.vrbo.com/es-es  
    EUR 
    Italy
    www.vrbo.com/it-it  
    EUR 
    Portugal
    www.vrbo.com/pt-pt  
    EUR 
    Australia
    www.vrbo.com/en-au 
    AUD
    New Zealand
    www.vrbo.com/en-nz  
    NZD
    Japan
    www.vrbo.com/ja-jp 
    JPY
    Singapore
    www.vrbo.com/en-sg  
    USD

Please note that there are also content requirements for your Lodgify listings in order to be able to connect them with HomeAway/Vrbo:

  • Your rental must have a name.
  • The rental's name must be between 20 and 80 characters long.
  • The description must be between 400 and 10,000 characters long.
  • Your rental must have an accurate address and latitude/longitude coordinates.
  • Your rental needs to have between 6 and 50 high-quality photos, with a minimum size of 1920 x 1080 pixels.
  • You must have at least 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom photo.

💡 Note: If you choose to add a rental agreement, you must enter text. Adding a rental agreement in the form of only a link will stop the synchronization.

Connect Lodgify to HomeAway/Vrbo

To set up a connection between Lodgify and Vrbo you’ll need to carefully read the steps described in the form and execute the actions required for your rentals. Please select the form in your preferred language: English | Spanish | Italian | French | German | Portuguese 
💡 
Note: You can also access the form from the Channel manager section of your Lodgify account, when you click on Sync Rentals to create a new connection.

Once you have submitted it, we will be notified and we will be able to start the mapping for you. We will send you an email to confirm the mapping has been done from our side. This will include a form with which you can finalize the connection with the HomeAway/Vrbo team.

💡 Note: You will then be contacted by the HomeAway/Vrbo commercial and implementation team to finalize the connection. 

Synchronizations

Find details on the information that will be synchronized between Lodgify and HomeAway/Vrbo regarding rental details, prices, availability, and reservations.

Rental Details

The rental details Export Notes
Name ✔️  
Description ✔️  
Rental type ✔️  
Rooms ✔️

💡 Note: One toilet in Lodgify will be counted as a half-bathroom on Vrbo.

Amenities ✔️

Not all amenities are exactly the same in Lodgify and HomeAway/Vrbo, therefore not all of them will be synchronized.

💡 Note: The following amenities are considered House rules for Vrbo and should always be managed from Lodgify:

  • Events (allowed or not allowed)
  • Pets (allowed or not allowed)
  • Children (allowed or not allowed)
  • Smoking (allowed or not allowed)
Custom amenities  
Number of guests ✔️  
Size (m²) ✔️  
Units ✔️  
Location (+longitude and latitude) ✔️  
Directions ✔️  
Photos ✔️ You need to have between 6-50 photos.
Registration Number ✔️

If required by the local jurisdiction.

 

Prices, availability & restrictions

  Export Notes
Availability ✔️

💡 Note: Vrbo does not allow same day bookings.

Bookability ✔️

At the time of connection, you can choose between Instant Booking or Booking request.

💡 Note: If you choose booking request, you will have 24 hours to either accept or cancel the request. Else it will expire and Vrbo will charge you a fee.

Policies - payment schedule

✔️

 
Policies - cancellation policy Contact us to create/edit your cancellation policy for Vrbo/HomeAway.
Policies - damage deposit ✔️

The damage deposit can be set up in the following ways:

  • Protection method Manual with a flat amount
  • Protection method Manual with a percentage amount
  • Protection method Pre-Authorization with a flat amount
  • Protection method Pre-Authorization with a percentage amount

To synchronize the damage deposit with Vrbo, please contact our Connectivity team to activate this functionality for you. Once this is done, you can learn here how the damage deposit works.

Currency ✔️ You need to use the currency of the master brand of HomeAway/Vrbo (USD, CAD, EUR, or GBP) and you need to have the same currency in Lodgify.
Nightly price ✔️  
Markup ✔️ Can be added once the connection has been confirmed from Vrbo.
Season rates ✔️  
Daily, weekly, monthly price ✔️  
Extra charge per guest  ✔️

The extra charge per guest is exported for both, your Nightly price and Season Rates.

💡 Note: Lodgify cannot send more than 10 different prices for each bookable day in the calendar, so there is a limit for the extra charge in case of many guests booking.

For example: You charge 100€ per night and 10€ extra per guest after the 2nd guest but have a booking for 13 pax. We will only be able to export the price up to 12 guests.

  1. guest: 100€
  2. guest: 100€
  3. guest: 110€
  4. guest: 120€
  5. guest: 130€
  6. guest: 140€
  7. guest: 150€
  8. guest: 160€
  9. guest: 170€
  10. guest: 180€
  11. guest: 190€
  12. guest: 190€
Minimum Stay ✔️ The minimum stay is exported for both your Nightly price and Season Rates.
Fees and taxes ✔️

Fees will by default be added to every applicable booking. Optional fees must be set up as Add-ons in Lodgify, and then manually added to bookings once the booking has been imported.

Pet fees ✔️

 If you want to set up a pet fee for Vrbo, you need to:

  1. Create a derived rate for Vrbo with a 0% adjustment and select the Vrbo policy assigned to the rental.Screenshot 2024-10-14 at 16.04.40.png
  2. Create a new fee: set the Fee type to Pet Fee and choose a flat price, either as a single charge per stay, with VAT excluded.
    Screenshot 2024-09-12 at 19.16.30.png
  3. Edit the fee restriction to apply this fee to your derived rate for Vrbo only.Screenshot 2024-10-08 at 14.18.09.png
  4. Go to the Sync settings of your Vrbo connection and link the derived rate for Vrbo.Screenshot 2024-10-14 at 16.17.41.png
    Click here to watch a full tutorial video on the steps to create a pet fee for Vrbo.

Limitations:

  • Pet fee configured as a percentage are not supported.
  • The "Short Stay Restriction" in pet fee settings is not supported.
  • "Per Guest Per Stay" or "Per Guest Per Night" pet fee are not supported.

💡 Note: For pet fees that include VAT, no separate tax is sent. For pet fees that exclude VAT, Vrbo supports sending taxes separately.

Promotions ✔️ 

Promotions that do not use a promotion code are synced with HomeAway.

💡 Note: If multiple active promotions are applicable to a specific booking without a promotion code, only the highest-value promotion will be applied.

Example: You have a last-minute promotion (10% if booked 3 days from check-in) and a length of stay promotion (15% if the booking is of at least 7 nights), a discount of 15% will be applied to bookings that meet both requirements.

Check-in / check-out time + days ✔️ Check-in/check-out days and times are exported from Lodgify. If you have not set check-in /check-out times in Lodgify, we will send 11 am for check-out and 2 pm for check-in.
Booking window ✔️ The Booking window defines how much time in advance a guest can make a booking, e.g. max. 365 days in advance. 

💡 Note: This information is configured in your Rental's Booking Settings. 
Advance notice ✔️ The Advance notice defines a minimum advance reservation time establishes the minimum amount of time before check-in that a guest can book a room or unit.

💡 Note: This information is configured in your Rental's Booking Settings. 
Extra charge for short stays ✔️  
Preparation time ❗️ The preparation time set in Lodgify will be synchronized with Vrbo availability calendar and will mark preparation days as 'unavailable' for bookings. Availabilities will be blocked, but no "preparation time" will appear on Vrbo.
Add-ons 

These settings are not exported from Lodgify.

Rental Agreement ✔️

The Rental Agreement is exported from Lodgify to Vrbo.

💡 Note: If you choose to add a rental agreement, keep in mind that you must enter text. Adding a rental agreement in the form of only a link will stop the synchronization.

Import reservations

The following reservation details will be imported from HomeAway/Vrbo to Lodgify.

  Import Notes
Existing reservations Existing reservations need to be manually created in Lodgify.
Future reservations ✔️  
Reservation details ✔️  
Credit card details ✔️ Credit card details are imported for charging the guest in Lodgify, but those details are not visible to you in your account.
Guest details ✔️  
Changes in reservations ✔️

All changes to HomeAway/Vrbo need to be done in Lodgify.

For cancellations: when the guest requests to cancel, you will receive a notification from Vrbo and you will need to cancel the reservation in Lodgify to update the status of the reservation to Canceled.

New messages ✔️

All pre-booking and post-booking messages, including attachments in PDF, JPEG, PNG, and GIF formats, are synced between Vrbo and Lodgify inboxes.

💡 Notes:

  • Only messages sent after June 5th 2024 and reservations with check-in dates after May 25th 2024 are synchronized.
  • For offline bookings (bookings that were converted to Vrbo on the Lodgify side), messages will not be synced between platforms. Therefore, communication should be done via email between you and the guest.
  • The following information is redacted in messages before booking:
    • Competitor information
    • Credit card information
    • Bank routing numbers
    • IBAN numbers
    • Phone numbers
    • Email addresses
    • Domain names
    • URLs (except for these: host.virtualkey.co, o.hmwy.io, t.hmwy.io, homeaway.tumblr.com, facebook.com/homeaway, pinterest.com/homeaway, twitter.com/homeaway, plus.google.com/+homeawaycom, linkedin.com/company/homeaway, instagram.com/homeaway, youtube.com/homeawayvacation)
  • Email addresses are redacted from messages after booking.

Payments ✔️

Payment is taken in Lodgify according to your payment schedule in Lodgify.
💡 Note: If you selected the PayPal payment method, it is not possible to schedule automatic payments or make automatic refunds. You should send a manual request to your guests to collect payments.

 

Mark your Vrbo bookings on Lodgify

If you've received Vrbo reservations through another channel manager before the connection with Lodgify, you can create these bookings in your Lodgify account. Then, a Vrbo Onboarding agent will prompt you to identify them as Vrbo bookings in your Lodgify account. This allows the Vrbo Onboarding agent to update the respective booking in Lodgify with the credit card details of the guest so that you can charge them for their stay via Lodgify.

Converting bookings to Vrbo is done in your Lodgify account. To do so:

  1. Open the menu and select Reservations.
  2. Click Create booking and select Create booking with quote.
  3. Create the booking filling in the information from the existing Vrbo booking. When you reach the last step of the policy, please ensure you deactivated the policy and quote workflow.
  4. Then Save the booking.
  5. Next, set the Quote status to Agreed.
  6. Lastly, scroll to the very bottom of the page. There you will find the option to click Convert to Vrbo.
    Screenshot

Frequently Asked Questions

How frequently does Lodgify update my prices and availability information in HomeAway/Vrbo?

Prices and availabilities are synced every few minutes. For content, HomeAway/Vrbo requests an update from Lodgify once per day.

For how long will the Vrbo booking request be valid?

You have 24 hours to either accept or cancel the request, else it will expire and Vrbo will charge you a fee.

Can I generate a quote for inquiries I receive? 
Inquiries that lead to a booking request or an instant booking will be upgraded to a reservation with a quote. You should then direct potential guests to book through your listing, and you can then create a promotion in Lodgify to offer a different price. 

How can I make changes to HomeAway/Vrbo reservations?

HomeAway/Vrbo reservations can only be edited, charged, and deleted in Lodgify. New quotes need to be created in Lodgify and not in HomeAway/Vrbo. When the guest requests to cancel, you will receive a notification from Vrbo and you will need to cancel the reservation in Lodgify.
Learn how to edit a booking.

Where can I find my Merchant Name?

For Payyo, you can check your Merchant Name in your Account Menu. Select My Account and go to your Billing Contact details. If you have a Company Name, this would also be your Merchant Name. If you do not have a Company Name, your Merchant Name is your first name and last name.

For Stripe, Braintree, or Authorize.Net, please contact their support if you are unsure of where to find the Merchant Name.

What happens to future booking payments if I cancel my Lodgify subscription?

Some booking payments may be scheduled to be made after the paid-through date has expired, when you lose access to Lodgify. In this case, you must charge the customer's credit card before this expiry date or manage this payment separately from Lodgify or Vrbo, for example by asking them to pay the balance on arrival.

 


 

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