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Looks like no users have commented on this yet. I can tell you, Chad, that many users do use PriceLabs and we don't see it being turned off much. From what we've heard, they are happy.

Has anyone turned on PriceLabs with AirBnb and OR? How's the success rate? Would like to hear of someone using them and how they are doing with their pricing.

Thank you,
Chad

My neighbor's guest house only uses booking.com and gets a lot of bookings.

VRBO, ABB, BDC, etc seem to be regional. Wise for host to try them all and see which works

Maybe in Europe. In my US market booking .com brought TWO bookings between TWO properties in about 10 months. That is it. Very unimpressed and will dump them after the last guest's stay is over. If you have a property on Homeaway/VRBO with Instant Book, it is already listed on Expedia. Also not impressed, as Expedia vacation rentals listings look like booking dot com vacation rental listings which is crummy. No real descriptions, etc. USELESS.

Hi,

You should extend to Expedia asap. It is going to be a big player here in Europe.

Extension from Homeaway to Expedia is very limited and can not make complex settings. Homeaway is not a real competitor to booking.com. Expedia IS a real competitor and sales VR rooms with its travel packages, so it brings very good customers.

Today I have to put rates manually in Expedia:(

Please, it is very similar to BCOM to implement so please GO ON :)

Regards

Glad you're loving it!

Channel Bridge is amazing!

A large update went out yesterday afternoon, and I wanted to drop a quick note about some of the major changes that were part of that release.

Security Deposits now automatically release in [x] days

For many years, users have been asking for this and we finally got around to it.  Instead of being emailed every day endlessly, the system will now automatically release security deposits based on your settings.

You are still reminded - once after departure and then again the day before release - that the release will happen, but there's nothing you need to do in order for the release to happen.  If you take a look at your property rules, you'll notice that the security deposit rules have changed a bit.

The Release Days field is still there but now it's the number of days after departure when the system will auto-release instead of the system just emailing you.  We updated the Release Days setting for all properties, system wide, to be 7 more than what was there so that you have plenty of time to adjust it before your first set of open security deposits are automatically released.

You can turn off the Release Reminder email if you don't want to get anything, and you can select the type of email template the guest should get when the auto release happens - system default, nothing or a custom template.

If you want to extend the time period for a particular booking, holding onto the funds a bit longer, you can do that too.  Go to the open security deposit and you'll see an "Extend" button that you can use to push back the release period.  The Extend button only shows if it's 7 days or less until the security deposit is going to be released.

We have a lot more work to do with security deposits - like adding refundable deposits instead of only holds - but we are excited about this update and believe that it will help users a lot with their post-departure workflow.

Menu customization for Hosted Websites

This is another frequently-requested update. You can now customize the menu bar on your Hosted Website to nest menu options inside other menus, easily indent and re-order and create menus that link to other pages or websites.

Let's start with the easy one.  Instead of having to type in a numeric order on every page to change the order of the menu, there is now a special Menu Layout button above the list of pages:

Clicking that will take you to a drag/drop page showing the current list of menus in order and showing their indent level.

To change the order of the menus, click on an item and drag it up or down in the list.  You can also do this on touch devices, such as mobile phones or tablets, by long pressing on an item for a second until you see it move and then dragging your finger up or down in the list.

Clicking the little indent button will move the page under a parent menu if that is available for that particular page. You can only have one indent level - that is, each menu can only have one menu inside it. We do not support multi-level menus.

It's important to understand that "pages" are now different than "menus".  Previously, the menu bar just showed pages.  Now, you can create menus independent of pages.  Each page has a setting for it's Parent Menu.  If you want the page to be the menu itself, select "Main Menu" as the menu.  If you want the page to be underneath (or inside of) a different menu, you would select that other menu as the page's parent menu.

Menus can be clickable, linking to a page on the site or some other page on a different site (ie. a URL that you enter), or they can have a list of items inside them.  If they only have a list of items inside them, when you click the menu, it opens to show what's inside without redirecting away.

In the picture below, the "Raw Menu" menu is an example of a menu that only has a list of items inside it.  It opens when clicked to show those items.

In the picture below, the "Properties" menu is an example of a menu that is both clickable and has a list of items.  Clicking on the word "Properties" directly will redirect away, while clicking on the caret to the right will open its menu of items.

Play with the menus and let us know what questions you have!  This should solve a lot of problems that users have had with nesting items and being able to link away to other sites.

Manual Mode for Channel Bridge bookings

Another user-requested enhancement was to make it so that charges can be edited for Channel Bridge bookings.

Previously, when Channel Bridge imported the charges for a booking, those charges were not editable.  We did this on purpose so that we could separate and keep track of the charges from the channel versus the ones you add yourself.

However, there are many times when you need to change the charges from the channel because of things like channel errors, bad imports or special situations that Channel Bridge doesn't translate correctly.

To solve this, we have added a "Manual Mode" button that will put the booking into a mode where you can:

a) edit the charges directly
b) make sure that future Channel Bridge imports do not overwrite your changes

To find the button, go to a booking's charges and click Change.  You'll now see a little button above the charges for Manual Mode.

Follow the prompts and warnings and then you'll be able to edit the charges.

Please be aware that once you go manual mode, there is no way to go back to Channel Bridge mode for the booking.  You are responsible, from that point forward, to keep the booking's charges up to date.  Payments, refunds and fees will still continue to be imported via Channel Bridge, but the charges will remain in manual mode.

That's it for now!  Lots of other minor things were fixed or updated, but these are the big three.

As many of you have already noticed, Airbnb bookings are coming in (via the calendar import) without any guest name, phone, email address or other details on them.

This is happening because, sometime yesterday, Airbnb changed their calendar sync engine (the iCal feed) to remove all of the guest information.  They have not offered any explanation for this; the guest info just disappeared.  They still show the Airbnb reservation # and dates but nothing else.

Will Airbnb put the guest information back in the calendar sync?

We don't know.  It's possible that this is a temporary glitch and Airbnb will fix it soon, but that's a pure guess on our part.

If you have a contact at Airbnb, try reaching out and asking about this.  Many PMs are part of a "Airbnb PM support group" that you can email directly with questions - see what they say.

Our guess is that Airbnb did this, on purpose, for security or privacy reasons.  Frankly, it was always strange that Airbnb included the guest's phone number and (proxy) email address in the calendar feed.  This is unusual for iCal feeds.  No other major channel did this except for Airbnb, so it was probably a matter of time before they plugged the hole.

How do I get the guest's name, phone and email?

Two words: Channel Bridge.  Our Channel Bridge tool will continue to find and download everything about the booking regardless of what the calendar import (iCal) includes.

The reason we created Channel Bridge was precisely for situations like this - VRBO and Airbnb do not provide users with guest and booking data, and the data they do provide is often incomplete.  Channel Bridge attempts to correct this problem by logging in to your channel account, as the user, and normalizing and downloading all the information possible about the booking.

We are continuing to make Channel Bridge better.  We are days (hours?) away from releasing a "manual mode" for Channel Bridge that will allow you to make manual tweaks to the charges that Channel Bridge creates in case you need to fix something.  We are working on a "direct injection" process where you can bypass the Excel file download and have Channel Bridge do direct imports.  We are also designing a future "auto" mode that will run every 10 or 15 minutes on your machine.  So lots in store for Channel Bridge.

We are tracking updates to this Airbnb sync issue on our forum here.  So if you want to ask questions, to us or other OwnerRez users, or provide updates that you find on your end, please do that so everyone can stay on the same page.

It is a great deal. I dont know about your area. But I have posted before - in our Smoky mountains group a lady just had her window bashed out to a tune of $1400 . Most of our insurance policies have typical $2500 deductible so that is not high enough to claim form insurance, but not a small peanuts either. I guess it depends. If you have small 1bd cottages, it is less likely. With group cabins you are bound to have rowdy people and damage no matter how much you try to screen. So while this particular option may be an overkill, I am starting to think about the ARDI option.

....but that's not to say that it isn't a good deal. I should add that that price ($29 for 10k coverage and other background checks) is quite good. I wonder if that's a spread risk model where they require that it be paid for on all bookings. I would think it would have to be.

It is extremely rare (if ever) when you need to make a claim beyond a few hundred dollars.

Chris and my rentals have been running for 12+ years and we've had over 6,000 bookings. In that time the most expensive damage claims we've made is a $800 fridge screen (one of those stupid touch-screens on the front of fancy fridges that are more trouble than they're worth) and a $700 love seat. Cracked windows, broken doors, damage to lawns, deck boards, floor scratches, stained sheets, etc - all are never more than a few hundred bucks at most. Having 10 grand of coverage is pointless if you never use all that.

PS. Our regular HOI insurance on the houses covers really big stuff with a 500/1000 deductible (and short term renter/liability is specifically mentioned as a named coverage) so anything that would be 10 grand we can cover with that.

True. But the ARDI coverage here is $20 for $1000. This is $29 for $10,000 plus a lot of other stuff.

HomeAway is trying to get people to elect $49 pdp. This is much better compared to that.

Thank you, $29 being cheap is relative. My lowest rates start from $139 per night, and our market is very stingy. we are competing against 10K of other properties. People literally bargain over $5 per night.. this would add $10 per night. So that;s why I asked if there is lower amount.

$29 is the lowest. That is for a 3-day booking. But again, it includes 10,000 property damage with only $100 deductible. And it provides $100,000 liability and building coverage. And it does a background check on the booking party. And checks their own million night database of problem renters

Seems a bargain. They are a significant company and have been around for a while. If API used, I think it can auto background check the booker.

They offer an API that is supposed to work easily with others. .. https://www.safelystay.com/technologyplatform

Do they integrate with OR? and are there lower coverage amounts?

For $29 (3 day booking) , the safelystay I mentioned in other post gives you $10,000 in contents coverage with $100 deductible, $100,000 of liability and building damage coverage, and does a background check on responsible party! Through their API. They also maintain a database a problem guests from over a million booked nights.There are other costs for longer stays or more liability/building coverage.

Yes. You can define $10, 20 or $35 per booking which is equal to $500, 1500 or 3500 of coverage per booking.

Is it possible to turn insurance on but define different coverage for different properties? I.e smaller property - smaller coverage? Thanks

here's example:

$219 x 3 Nights $657
Cleaning fee $130
Taxes (12.75%) $100.34
Total $887
Security Deposit $300
Total + Deposit $1,187

"total" being bold face

But in any case, if I go with hod secdep , how do you do hold on those who pay by check/venmo? They have to send additional check or payment?

Right, yes, I get the part about the difference in types and how the charges show. We're working on it (and we have updated TI to let the guest specify the amount so they can remove the secdep or add air travel costs etc).

However, my point is that the hold vs charge doesn't really matter if it's on a credit card. If a security deposit charge is disputed, the bank will remove the funds just the same as they would for a security deposit hold. In your example, it wouldn'tve mattered if the PM had done a full charged secdep instead of a hold -- when the dispute was made the money would have been removed even if it was a charge. When a dispute comes down, regardless of whether it's a charge or a hold, the bank will yank the money until the dispute is resolved. If they don't settle in your favor then your only recourse is a lawsuit.

The only way around that is to take the deposit via some non credit card means like check/cash/venmo -- something that doesn't have a dispute process.

here is what my quotes look like

Item Description Rate Amount
Rent 3 nights (4/26 - 4/28, departing 4/29) during Standard at Weekend Night rate at $189.00 per Weekend Night $567.00 $567.00
Surcharge Cleaning Fee based on $130.00 per stay $130.00 $130.00
Tax TN Sales + County Lodging Tax 12.75% $88.87
Surcharge REFUNDABLE DAMAGE DEPOSIT based on $300.00 per stay $300.00 $300.00
Total: $1,085.87

So as you can see "refundable damage deposit" shown before total, and it makes quote looks larger than it is. So if there was a way to show it after total or something like that. That way the Travel insurance would also not include the deposit amount ( as that does not need to be insurable anyhow).

Every time I am on the verge to go to CC hold (vs actual money charge), I get some new example why I should not. Like in our Smokies group, just happened. A lady has a PM. PM rented her cabin to a group. There was no actual money charged as secdep but was a CC hold. The group had a drunken fight and bashed out a window and window frame. $1400 in damage. But here is the kicker. One person who signed the rental agreement and gave their CC is now refusing to pay and disputing secdep because it was the OTHER person in their group who was brawling and broke the window. That is what I do not like about CC holds. This may be not likely if you have small 1 bd properties not conducive to groups. Mine accommodate 10-12-16 people so groups are common. I do not want "he did - she did" in a group should something happen. I want actual $$$ in my account :-)

@BlueMtn - We're on the home stretch with our channel integrations now, which have been taking up most of the time. Once that's done we'll get into some much needed overhauls in other areas like secdeps.

What are your worries with holds? Like @Stacy said, going with ARDI doesn't mean you have to drop the secdep -- on my properties I do both ARDI and a hold.

I am with Chris on this... I charge a security deposit AND have the ARDI damage insurance for every booking at $20 for $1500. I increased my cleaning fee by $20 to cover that cost. I agree that renters need some skin in the game but you want to also be covered for anything that exceeds the deposit. (I learned this the hard way with my very first guest in my 2 month old house!) For guests that are returning and took good care of my home on the prior stay, I only charge them $100 security deposit since I know the likelihood is low that they'll need it and I have the $1500 just in case. This also allows me to keep my deposit lower than it used to be on the listing sites which helps with the total that they see. -Esp when the sites fees are steadily increasing.

Any update on showing actual damage deposit differently (i.e maybe after the total). I am having cold feet going with cc hold secdep or the ARDI insurance in lieu of actual deposit changed to renter. bUt I think that total looks overstated as many ppl do not take time to actually look at line items...

Do you have pre-existing bookings or quotes that were in place before setting the 2nd payment to 60 days out? If so, those pre-existing bookings or quotes will retain the rules from before. You have to adjust those rules on the booking or quote directly.

My property is set for second payment 60 days out, yet the reminder emails are creating a date 90 days out so I'm not using them. I double checked my property setting and it's definitely showing 60 days. Is there another area that I am forgetting about where the email reminder pulls from?

Thank you!

I don't think there is a Sam here anymore...?

@Sam , was this ever applied (changing when/if and how many reminders are sent for security deposit)?