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Can't remember if I've asked about this before - when I convert a blocked period to a booking, it doesn't seem to trigger the usual 'create booking' triggers.

Can that be fixed?

It's not a huge problem because it's rare, but maybe it's an easy code fix. I rely on triggers when bookings are created to send certain information to another database where I can help track upcoming cleanings and whether I've properly set the custom field for keycodes.

We have many who do this and some who do have a "NO CANCELLATION" AND NO REFUND POLICY

Is that what other rental properties in your area are doing?

Hello All,

We are moving over to a new booking process where we are requiring travel insurance. We are realizing that this is a must have as we are susceptible mother natures fury on the gulf coast. Has anyone ever implemented this year round? What are the pros and the cons, if any?

Starting in August, it looks like a portion of our cleaning fee is no longer being shown as deducted on Owner Statements. For example instead of showing as $200 (which is the normal fee) it is showing as $176.99. I can't figure out why it is displaying that way. I checked the surcharges section and didnt see a reason there. I am trying to figure out how it could be shown as $200.

Thank you for your help!

Hi - is there a way to print the monthly calendar just to have a hard copy for when you are not at your computer? I saw something about it on the forum but it didn't describe how to print it. Thanks

Yes, after posting we did some more digging and found that setting. Took a little while for it to take effect and sync but lol is good now thanks.

Perfect, thanks! Works like a charm.

Yep, for sure. We are planning to add an option on the hosted website to turn off the table for that exact reason. In the meantime if you go to the site settings and put the following in the CSS box, it'll hide the rates table:

.multiproperty #rates,
.multiproperty #rates + table
{
display: none
}

Yep, it's been a long time and we've added a feature for this :-D

The calendar will use the property time zone you have set on the General Info tab of the property.

Looks like you've got that set to Eastern right now, and I double checked the iCal and it is showing Eastern there as well.

If you look in the Google Calendar side is it showing that Eastern time designation?

Pluses of being the merchant of record:
-Faster payouts (Airbnb and TripAdvisor don't send you the funds until after your guest arrives, and HomeAway defaults to the same but now offers an "Early Payout" feature to qualifying owners that disburses the funds about a week after the guest pays)
-Better processing rates (Airbnb, TripAdvisor, and HomeAway Payments all charge 3%; it's not hard to find a processor that will do 2.7% (like Lynnbrook) or possibly even better, especially if you're pushing any kind of decent volume through your processor
-Often easier to integrate with your accounting software and accounting workflow

Pluses of letting the listing sites be the merchant of record:
-Avoid monthly service fees (beneficial to lower-volume owners)
-Slightly less confusing to guests (a single charge to their card for the entire transaction, including listing site service fees)
-Some level of insulation from fraud and chargeback risk (the listing site takes on some portion of responsibility of verifying the validity of the guest's information; it's a bit murky as to whether they'll claw back funds from you after a fraud-based dispute, but at least you'll avoid chargeback fees and black marks against your merchant account)

I have, and the payment came through and as far as I can tell, no transaction fees were assessed.

As a frequent international traveler myself and thus an occasional user of Booking.com, I truly despise them and everything they stand for...their customer service is crap (they're based in the Netherlands, and the "the customer is always right" mindset seems to be an American one), their website's design is straight out of 2003, their user experience is confusing and convoluted with conflicting information, etc.

But, they are (inexplicably) the world's largest accommodation booking site, so I thought it was worth a try. I listed two of my properties (as an initial experiment) a little over a month ago and, going into the slower fall season, I've gotten 4 bookings so far--not as many as Airbnb/HomeAway, of course, but not zero. Of course, hard to tell if I would have filled the same dates through my more traditional channels, but a booking is a booking. I will say that I didn't expect much traffic through Booking.com because my area is not a hotbed of international visitation (Booking.com's primary audience), but on the other hand, there doesn't seem to be much competition in my area on Booking.com, so I'm a little closer to the top of the search results. :) Interestingly, all of my Booking.com bookings so far have been from my state or neighboring states, so the idea of appealing to the (few) international visitors we get doesn't seem to yet be happening, but there apparently are US residents using Booking.com, too.

Anyway, so, how hard was it to set up on Booking.com? Well, let me tell you that I now know why property information on Booking.com is so frequently confusing and conflicting. One example: there are like 3-4 different places in the Admin portal to set up wifi information. I have no idea how, but somehow now I'm marked as having free *wired* Internet but no mention of wifi. And I have my check-in time set to 4pm, but most of the bookings have come across to me with a note that the "guest will arrive between 12:00 and 13:00." And when I message them through the Booking.com contact portal to advise them of the check-in time or other information, they never respond. (My one guest who has arrived/departed so far texted me on the arrival day to ask for directions and the door code, so she obviously didn't get my emailed welcome letter with directions.) Have I mentioned how much I despise Booking.com? :)

Anyway, the set-up was mildly tedious--there are FAR more boxes to fill and options to select and pages to comb through on Booking.com than Airbnb, HomeAway, TripAdvisor, or other sites, and the OwnerRez integration doesn't push any content over to Booking.com, so all of that must be set up and updated manually. That said, it wasn't terribly oppressive to do so, just plan on taking an hour or two per property to get it all set up.

The most annoying thing was that Booking.com made me verify the location of the property by *mailing* a paper verification code to the property's address. I don't know if I never got the mailbox key from the previous owner we bought one of our condos from or if I lost it, but I had to pay the USPS $40 to re-key the lock just to get the code (obviously, we don't usually receive mail there, ha). Waiting on that didn't keep the property from being listed and bookable, but I still felt compelled to take care of the verification in hopes it did something to boost my listing's visibility. It's one of the things giving me pause about listing my other properties, though, since several of those will also be hard to access the mailboxes for.

The other thing to consider is that Booking.com defaults to "Payments by Booking.com" and there's no facility there for a security deposit. The admin page lets you choose an option that will tell customers (in the fine print, which of course no one reads) that you require a security deposit, but it tells the customer that it will be collected in cash upon arrival. If you want to use OR to collect one by card, then you have to email the customer a link to enter their CC info. So far, I haven't had luck with people even seeing, much less using, that link, though I haven't pushed it very hard (the people who tend to come to my area in the fall here tend to be older and less of a risk). I'm still evaluating options there, including using OR's built-in damage protection coverage option, though that would end up costing me thousands of dollars per year, and I have yet to even hold a single person's security deposit, so the ROI there is not high. ;)

If you can move from Payments by Booking.com to having OR charge the customer, then you'll of course have the customer's CC number and can run a security deposit, but I'm still evaluating whether I want to go that route. The lack of a transaction fee may make it worth sticking with Payments by Booking.com, although if I only get a handful of Booking.com reservations a year, it may not make a big difference. We'll see...

I know this is an old topic but had there been any progress with this? We have our calendar synced to Google but bookings display 4 hours earlier than they are supposed to.

HomeAway and booking.com allow you to be the merchant of record which means OwnerRez will receive the guest credit card number securely and process the credit cards on your merchant account. This is beneficial because you've got a lot more control over payment processing and scheduling and don't have to worry about payout schedules etc.

Airbnb and TripAdvisor do not allow this -- they will always process the payments on their end, then pay out after arrival (or whatever the schedule you have set up with them).

Go to the Reports area and run a Booking Detail or Booking Summary report. The detail report has an ADR column that will show you that information. The summary report has an "Average Daily Rent" option to summarize.

Yep, exactly! I didn't realize you were on the path to API integration but that's highly recommended and simplifies everything. Once you're API integrated with HomeAway the taxes will be configured based on what you've got set in OwnerRez and they will send the entire amount to you and you'll be in charge of paying the tax to the authorities.

Airbnb works the same way with the "Custom tax" option -- as long as that is supported in the area for the listing, you'll be able to switch to that and all taxes will be configured in OwnerRez and Airbnb will send those all to you and you'll do the remittance.

The Airbnb API does not let us force this option though like HomeAway -- Airbnb has to enable it on their end and they're rolling it out in different areas. So contact them about the CO property and see if they can enable the Custom tax option there and that'll be solved as well.

Is there a specific report to show just the rent? Other items are mainly pass through for us (not much margin in cleaning for example, and no margin for taxes). I want to see just the actual charged rent per night. Can I see that easily?

OK - I am purchasing the WiFi locks... not sure if that is the same. I will update the experience. So far, getting in touch with help took a minute, but they were very helpful once on the line.

Hoping to be up this next week with the Merchant account (using the OwnerRez recommendation). Is it possible to be shown as the merchant of record? Is it beneficial to be shown as the merchant of record?

You don't need a merchant account for the TripAdvisor integration -- they'll still be the merchant of record and process all of the payments. The only one you need a merchant account for the API integration is HomeAway.

VRBO does not allow owners to specify any other tax than the amount that VRBO themselves are collecting & remitting. So I have to send the guest a payment request to pay the additional 2% local lodging tax that the site did not collect.

On Airbnb, one of the properties that Airbnb does not collect the entire tax for (located in VA) DOES have the "Custom > Add a tax" option, but the other property that Airbnb does not collect the entire tax for (located in CO) does not have that option.

I think you are saying that at least for the property that does have the "Add a tax" option on Airbnb, if I choose that option then Airbnb will collect the entire amount required and remit all of it to me, and then I would be responsible for remitting the tax to the appropriate authorities.

Let me ask you this: I am in the process of having all of my VRBO listings (and soon Airbnb now that it is possible) to be handled through your Channel manager. Do I understand correctly that once that happens then going forward any VRBO or Airbnb bookings will have 100% of the tax paid through to me and then I'll pay the tax to the authorities?

Thank you for your help. Since I am new to OR I am reviewing each booking that has been imported from those sites and need to make sure I am getting the $$ correctly allocated for each booking.

We have the 5 properties... I am assuming I need a merchant account to do the API Integration?

Ah, thanks.

1) Yes, I mean the rate table, because it basically doesn't apply to me (since I'm 100% using spot rates set up by PriceLabs). I'm just trying to avoid the inevitable question from a prospective guest along the lines of "it says your fall rate is $99 per night but when I submit a quote, it is $127 per night, why won't you honor the $99 rate?", etc.

2) Aha, the key is that there's no global setting but rather it must be specified in each property. Thanks for the clarification.

3) Thanks! That's a workable hack. :)

For VRBO, how do you deal with those now? Do they allow you to set an additional tax % over what they remit?

If you look in your Airbnb account at those properties where they don't get all of the taxes, is there a Custom option there on the Local taxes and laws section?

Thank you Chris. Just to make sure I understand....in locations where Airbnb collects & remits 100% of the required taxes, in our Taxes settings for those locations we should choose "Everything but Airbnb" in the Listing Sites criteria.

What should we do for those locations where VRBO and/or Airbnb collect & remit only a portion of the required taxes? In the other 2 locations of our properties those sites both collect & remit all BUT 2% of the required taxes.

Do I need to create a separate 2% tax in OR, associate it with the particular properties in those locations, and then in the Tax settings choose "Only" "VRBO, Homeaway, Airbnb"?

I have heard urban legends that TA produces bookings. It no longer does in my market (smoky mountains)., maybe couple a year. API integration only if you have 5_ properties.

Sure thing, some answers:

1) Do you mean hiding just the Rates table on the property page? Or the Rate range per night that's displayed on the list of properties and a couple of other spots?

2) To set a max days in advance rule, go to the Rules section of each property and enter the maximum side of the "Time From Now" restriction

3) To mark up or down the rates for a specific property/listing site combination, use a Discount. Set it up so it's only applicable to that property and only applicable to HomeAway.

Yes, the system is assuming that the tax is built into your rates because of the criteria. To fix this, go into the settings for that Tax and set the Listing Sites criteria to "Everything but Airbnb".

The Airbnb API is in beta right now so you can't just connect it yet without a special link.

Shoot an email to us at help@ownerreservations.com and we'll get you in the beta program.

On the time-based lock, I had the keypad go bad multiple times over a 1-2 year period. They asked for us to send video, which we did. Certain numbers (like 2 or 3) on the keypad would not work whatsoever. You had to mash your fingernail in it super hard or even use a nail or something sharp and strong and eventually even that stopped working. So we sent videos. They sent a keypad replacement. It worked briefly then started having the same issues. After a bunch more back and forth, they sent an entire new lock. That stopped working after a few more months. They sent a third and that, later in the year, also had the same issues. I asked them if it was a bad batch or what all happened and never go anything but standard CSR boilerplate. In the end, we ate the $300 lock and switched over to eRL. I get the feeling that RemoteLock mainly wants to push their internet/Wifi locks and monthly subscriptions, not the older style time based ones.