Vrbo FAQs

This article covers the most frequently asked questions about the Vrbo integration with Homhero.

Will my Vrbo listings appear on Expedia?
While Homhero does not have a direct integration with Expedia, enabling Instant Booking for your Vrbo listings through Homhero allows those listings to appear on Expedia Group affiliate sites. This is because Vrbo is part of the Expedia Group ecosystem, and any Vrbo listings set to ''Instant Booking'' are eligible for cross-platform visibility. For Vrbo Listings that are set as "Request To Book", they will not be displayed on Expedia Group affiliate sites.

The Expedia Group affiliate sites include:

• Expedia
• Hotels.com
• Hotwire.com
• Lastminute.com
• Travelocity
• Trivago
• Wotif

How are payments collected?
When the traveller books on Vrbo , they will be prompted to enter their credit card details. Vrbo will then send you those card details and the traveller's contact information for the payment to be completed in your Homhero, through your payment processor.

How is commission charged?
You will be invoiced each month for the bookings that checked out in the month prior. Your commission invoice will be emailed to you in a Booking Statement monthly, but you can access them from your Vrbo dashboard as well. Navigate to the icon in the upper right-hand corner > Booking Statements. You can download the invoice in a PDF and the breakdown of the invoice in CSV format. Note, you will receive one invoice each month, containing all bookings across all of the listings in your account. They cannot be separated into individual invoices.

Where can I find pending commission transactions?
In your Vrbo dashboard, head to the icon in the upper right-hand corner > Pending Transactions to see all the upcoming commission charges that will be invoiced on the first week of the month.

How can I improve my listing performance?
The Vrbo Host site has a wealth of information on how best to manage your listings and performance. It can be accessed from any page in your Vrbo dashboard by clicking Help in the top-right corner from the dropdown menu. There you can find tips for making your property more bookable and successful, as well as news and upcoming events.

How do I set the deposit for Vrbo?
The deposit can be added under Settings > Online Bookings/Quotes > Booking Options.
Enter the Deposit Amount, then select the Deposit Type by clicking the drop-down arrow and choosing either % Percent or $ Fixed. The "Minimum Deposit" field does not apply to the Vrbo connection.

What cancellation policy should I choose?
Vrbo recommends the Relaxed or Moderate cancellation policy as this allows IPMs to show up in search filters and have higher conversion rate.

• Guests are currently booking properties with a relaxed (42%) or moderate (28%) cancellation policy about 70% of the time
• Listings with the Firm (13%) Strict (11%) or No refund (6%) are booked at a much lower rate.
• No refund policys should be a thing of the past. Utilitise the custom cancellation policy with Homhro today

How many amenities/features should I have setup on Vrbo?
Adding more amenities increases the likelihood of your listing being viewed and booked.

• Guests typically choose 8 filters when searching for properties on Vrbo.
• The top searched amenities are Pool, Beachfront, Private Pool, Hot Tub, Oceanfront, Kitchen, Internet, Outdoor Spaces, Waterfront, Air Conditioning, and Parking
• Listings with 30 to 50 amenities appear in search results 23% more often than those with 20 amenities, while listings with 50 or more amenities show up 62% more frequently
• Properties with 30 to 50 amenities are booked 15% more often than those with 20 amenities, and listings with 50 or more amenities are booked 30% more often

Why are reviews important on Vrbo?
It's important to request reviews from guests as this will lead to increased booking conversions.

• 93% of bookings are generated by properties with reviews
• Listings with 0 reviews received on average 0.4 bookings per year, whereas listings with reviews have on average 7 bookings
• Listings with at least 1 review are 13 times more likely to get a booking than those with no reviews
• Listings with at least 1 review see a 40% lift in booking conversion
• Listings with 5 or more reviews see a 50% lift in booking conversion
• Listings with 20 or more reviews see an 80% increase in booking conversion

Can I update the listing address via Homhero?
Listing addresses don’t update automatically through our Vrbo connection. When a new listing is created, it is set and verified. The Vrbo team can assist with changing addresses manually after the fact.

The steps to follow are:

• Update the listing address in Homhero (this is to ensure there is parity across other channels)
• Contact Vrbo Support to request the listing address to be updated