Why can't I use Request Booking on some websites?
Many holiday rentals websites only support Instant Booking properties, and not Request Booking.
The main reason for this is that Instant Booking properties have a higher conversion rate than Request Booking properties - and sales channels will always prioritise these in their search order. Instant Booking properties receive more than 15 times as many bookings as Request Booking properties.
If your listing is published with Request Booking, you will see an alert in Channel Manager notifying you that a particular channel only supports Instant Booking properties. This means that your listing will not be published in that channel.
We encourage everyone to use Instant Booking for their listings if possible.
Find out more about Instant Booking versus Request Booking.
Why should I change to Instant Booking?
By changing to Instant Booking, you can:
-
Access more sales channels via Your.Rentals
-
Generate more bookings
-
Achieve a higher placement in sales channel search results
How do I change to Instant Booking?
Before changing to Instant Booking, you should ensure that:
-
Your calendar is always up to date - use our Calendar Sync to automatically update your calendar from other calendars. If you are new to Calendar Sync - we strongly recommend reading our blog post about choosing a Calendar Sync strategy before you do this.
-
Your rates are set correctly - both your Basic rates and booking rules, as well as ensuring you have Seasonal rates set for at least 12 months in advance.
-
If you have a fixed term contract over the property close the calendar so you do not receive bookings after your contract end date.
-
You check your listing calendar and rates from our Listing Preview page. Choose some dates to ensure your availability is correct, and the price to guest / payout amounts are as you expect.
Once you are sure that your booking rules, rates and availability are set for at least the next 12 months, you can change your listing to Instant Booking as follows:
-
Go to the Listings page.
-
For the listing you wish to change, choose the option "Change to Instant booking" from the ... menu on the right side.