Booking.com’s “Request to Book” feature is a way for hosts and property managers to manually manage bookings. This feature offers you full control. Guests are required to send a booking request which you have 24 hours to review before it expires.
Why should I list on Booking.com with Request Booking? [aka Request to Book on Booking.com]
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Gain access to a diverse pool of reliable and credible guests.
Booking.com has a huge pool of trustworthy potential guests. With more than 1.1 billion vacation rental guests since 2010, 75% of nights were booked by guests with five or more previous bookings.
- Enjoy the flexibility of choice
Approve when you receive a booking request you can accommodate, or decline when you can’t. And if you receive overlapping requests you can choose between them.
- Prevent overbookings and last-minute bookings
You have time to check availability across all of your platforms. No need to worry about syncing calendars. And, since guests must request at least 3 days in advance, you can avoid last-minute bookings to make sure you have enough time to prepare.
How can I receive Request Booking from Booking.com through Your.Rentals?
Please note: Your listing must be a new addition on Booking.com. This implies that it should not be previously listed as an Instant Booking on Booking.com. If this does not apply to you and you are interested in utilizing this feature, kindly reach out to your Account Manager for further details.
- Log in to https://app.your.rentals. Click “Channels” at the navigation bar.
- Choose the listing for which you want to activate the Request Bookings on Booking.com
- Click the “Choose how guests book” button to select “Approve each request first” and “Save”.
- To activate Booking.com, simply toggle the corresponding button. You'll then be all set to start receiving booking requests from Booking.com!
- When a new request is made, you'll receive a message in your Your.Rentals inbox, along with an email notification prompting you to check your inbox. To find the new booking request, simply navigate to the "Guests" section, and click on "Messages".
- By opening the message thread, you will be able to view all the essential booking request details on the left-hand side "info menu". This includes information such as the dates and location, number of guests, cancellation policy, and expiry of inquiry. On the right-hand panel, you will discover supplementary guest information along with their messages (if any) displayed in a message-threaded format.
At this point, you have 24 hours to either "Accept" or "Decline" the request.
Please note that you will only be able to message the guest after the guest has finished the booking.
- If you accept the inquiry, the guest has 24 hours to finish the booking. Please note your calendar is not blocked. It will only be blocked if the guest completes the booking.
What is the experience like for guests on Booking.com?
- Guests with a check-in that is more than 3 days in the future will be able to find your property in the search results and send a booking request. Please note Guests will not be able to see properties using the “Request to Book” if they are searching for dates within 3 days of check-in.
- When booking on Booking.com, guests can simply click "I'll reserve".
- Guests can provide the host or property manager with additional information and complete their reservation by simply selecting the "Request to Book" option.
- The guest sees the Booking request sent - waiting for host screen.
- The guest will receive email from Booking.com about the reservation.
- If the host or property manager has accepted the request, the guest will receive another email from Booking.com, asking them to finish the reservation. The guest has 24 hours to complete the booking.
If the guest does not complete the booking within this time frame, the request will expire and no reservation will be made. Please note that this booking request is not a confirmed booking until the guest has finished the booking process.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can guests book last minute?
If a guest wants to make a last-minute booking they will only be able to book an Instant Booking property.
- Can I communicate with the guest before the booking is confirmed?
For the time being, you will not be able to communicate directly with the guest until after the booking is confirmed.
- What notifications will I receive?
You will receive emails when the following events take place:
- You receive a new booking request
- A booking request expires before you can take action
- A booking request expires before the guest can confirm the booking
- You have too many pending booking requests
You will receive push notifications when the following events take place:
- You receive a new booking request
- A booking request will expire soon
- You have too many pending booking requests
Please note if you use Your.Rentals mobile app, make sure you have your notifications turned on.
- How do pricing and payments work?
Pricing - The price you see when a booking request is sent is the price that the guest would pay if they were to book your property directly at that time, which may be different than the price they end up paying when they confirm their booking. This could be due to a number of reasons, for example, if you start offering a promotion or change the price of your rooms. If the price changes after the guest has submitted their booking request, they will be notified of the new price after you have accepted the request. If the guests are okay with the new price, they can continue and confirm their booking. If they are not okay with the new price, they can look for another property to book. There will be no penalty if they decide not to complete the booking after they see the price has changed.
Payment - The guest can only confirm a booking if you accept their request, but they will not pay until after they confirm the booking. When exactly this payment takes place will depend on the due date of their payment.
- Can I switch from Request to Book to Instant Booking?
Yes! You can switch from Request Booking (Request Booking) to Instant Booking anytime. Opting into Instant Booking allows you to get booked without delay and offers a seamless experience to your guests. If you want to avoid the risk of your booking requests expiring and protect travellers from a negative experience, it is recommended that you choose the Instant Booking model.
- Does Booking.com have a non-discrimination policy in place?
More details of Booking.com’s non-discrimination guidelines when accepting or declining a booking can be found here.