Effective April 2nd, 2018, Vrbo charges a 10% fee for off-platform bookings.
Off-platform bookings are those made outside of the Vrbo checkout process. They are the result of a phone call or inquiry that can be attributed to a Vrbo site (e.g. HomeAway.com, Vrbo.com, VacationRentals.com). In MyVR, an off-platform booking can be created in two ways:
- When an inquiry from Vrbo comes into Messages (Inquiries), you send a quote to the guest with a request to book through your MyVR site, and the guest completes the booking process outside of Vrbo.
- When you create an inquiry/reservation in MyVR and set the source to be a Vrbo site.
Vrbo charges the property manager (i.e. the owner of the Vrbo listing) the fee for each off-platform booking. The fee amounts to 10% of the pre-tax total to be charged to your guest for their stay.
The number of off-platform fees can be minimized or completely avoided by directing your guests that inquire through Vrbo to also complete their booking through the Vrbo site they found the listing on. When guests go through the Vrbo checkout process and complete their bookings on a Vrbo site, you will NOT be charged a 10% off-platform fee.
MyVR wants to help users avoid extra fees. The MyVR Vrbo application you use "HomeAway/Vrbo for Owners" or "HomeAway/Vrbo for PMs" will determine how best to prevent getting charged an off-platform fee:
Vrbo for Owners
If you manage a Vrbo listing with MyVR's "HomeAway/Vrbo for Owners" application, we restrict the ability to create off-platform bookings. There are two restrictions we've put in place to prevent off-platform bookings:
Online Bookings Requests are Redirected to Vrbo
When an inquiry from Vrbo is received in your inbox, you can still respond and send a quote with a request to book as you always have. However, the link sent to the guest will direct them back to Vrbo to complete the booking instead of to your MyVR Site. This will ensure the guest books on Vrbo and avoid an off-platform booking fee.
Creating Reservations with Source of Vrbo is Restricted
Creating reservations and setting the source to a Vrbo site will not be allowed since the reservation would be classified as an off-platform booking. If your guest came to you through your Vrbo listing they must complete their booking on Vrbo. If you attempt to create a reservation directly in MyVR with a source of Vrbo, you will receive an error that looks like this:
Instant bookings, or any bookings that are completed on Vrbo, will not be impacted in any way. As always, Reservations that originate on Vrbo for fully integrated listing will appear as reservations in your MyVR account. MyVR users can add fees, make changes to a reservation, etc. after the booking is received using your MyVR account as you always have.
While we've done our best to restrict the ability to create an off-platform booking within MyVR, in the event an off-platform booking is actually created, you will be responsible for the off-platform booking fee. MyVR will charge your account the entire amount per MyVR's terms & conditions for any off-platform booking fees paid to Vrbo on your behalf.
Vrbo for PMs
If you manage a Vrbo listing with MyVR's "HomeAway/Vrbo for PMs" application, your ability to create off-platform bookings will NOT be restricted. When an inquiry from Vrbo is received in your inbox, it is recommended that you direct the guest back to Vrbo to complete the booking process. In the event an off-platform booking is created, Vrbo will charge you directly the off-platform booking fee - MyVR will NOT charge your account for the off-platform booking.
MyVR is obligated to report all off-platform reservations made on properties with integrated Vrbo listings. This means any reservation with a Vrbo source (including HomeAway, Vrbo, VacationRentals.com, etc) will be reported back to Vrbo as an off-platform booking.
For any questions or concerns regarding off-platform bookings & fees, please post a question in the MyVR Community forum.
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