FAQs related to online booking system for vacation rentals

Technology has evolved immensely. Now, you don’t have to worry about walking for miles or researching for hours before booking something. From booking tickets to shopping for groceries, or even renting a vacation home online, everything is just so convenient. In fact, more and more number of property owners are enjoying the perks of online booking.

Overall, online booking is quite beneficial for vacation rental owners and property managers. Firstly, it provides an accurate calendar and rates table, which allows the potential guests to plan their stay. Secondly, it allows the property managers to respond to the reservation request as soon as possible. Lastly, both parties are saved from paying too much commission to vacation rental booking agents or middleman.

Below are mentioned a few FAQs, which make help you understand the importance of the online booking system and why has it become an absolute necessity in the current times.

With online booking systems being into play, how will the managers interact with guests?

An online booking system works like a reservation request, where the traveller makes the commitment to pay. In turn, the property managers or owners can confirm their booking with just a single click. This saves time and provides the convenience of a streamlined reservation process to both the parties. It expedites the entire process. Usually, the vacation rental listing will charge property owners for creating an account, but wouldn’t charge them for the reservation, which is a win-win situation for all!

Are credit cards required for online booking? What are the other accepted modes of payment available?

Online booking doesn’t necessarily require credit cards. This option is solely based on the preference of the management handling the property. While some only accept payments through credit cards, rest may allow other secure modes of payments as well (such as cheque, demand draft, bank transfer, PayPal etc.)

Are online booking systems free?

Usually online booking system is a commission-free subscription model that doesn’t require an owner, property manager or traveller to pay any incremental commission on top of a subscription. However, for non-subscription listings, which use pay-per-booking option, one has to pay extra 10% commission. Some listings may simply charge members once instead of charging commission for every single booking.

How will the owners or property managers communicate with their guests?

Once an online booking request is made, the property manager is required to accept or decline the request with the 24 hour window. The property listing website, which is providing the online booking feature to the advertisers, will continuously monitor their percentage of accepted and rejected requests. Based on that, the website may choose to cancel their subscription if the requests are too often being declined.

Why should property-listing websites adopt online booking?

The biggest advantage of adopting online booking is to gain more bookings, even during off seasons. Studies suggest that online booking serves as a significant component of a website’s listing quality score, which helps in generating 100% more bookings as compared to those that do not have this feature.