Everything to Know About Vrbo Refunds as a Guest and As a Host
By Kay FleuryUpdated on May 7, 2021
If you need to cancel your upcoming vacation on Vrbo because of an unavoidable last minute meeting or an unfortunate injury, you may be concerned about wasted money on your booking. Let us take away one less worry by telling you everything that there is to know about Vrbo refunds. If you are new to the platform, then you can learn all about it from our article about Vrbo and how it works.
In this article we will be covering all topics related to Vrbo refunds that both a host and a guest will find useful for their listings and the reservations they make on Vrbo.
What is covered in this article
Let’s jump right into it and assist you with getting your refunds processed as quickly as possible.
Vrbo refunds as an owner
As a vacation property owner, whether you like it or not, there will be times when your guests have to unexpectedly cancel their stay. For these types of situations, you must have a clear and fair cancellation policy that protects your interests and also allows travelers to book without any hesitation, knowing that they won’t lose their money if they had to cancel due to an unforeseen situation.
Processing refunds on Vrbo can be done through the property owner’s Dashboard in a few easy steps. Let us look at the different types of situations in which you’d have to process a cancellation request for a booking on your property.
How to approve a traveler’s cancellation request on Vrbo
If a guest who had booked an upcoming stay at your property has requested a cancellation, then you can follow these easy steps to approve their cancellation request from your profile.
- Log in to your Vrbo account.
- In case you have more than one listing, select the appropriate one.
- Go to your Inbox > All Messages to filter through your conversations.
- Select the Guest’s Name whose cancellation request you want to process after confirming from the My Trips section that you are processing the correct request.
- Click on Confirm cancellation from within the chat area to cancel the booking.
How to cancel and refund a Vrbo booking as an owner
There might be situations where you’d need to cancel a booking due to maintenance or repair work that needs to be done at the property or if you need the place for your personal use. In such cases, your ranking on Vrbo can be adversely affected. But if you plan efficiently and update your calendar to let travelers know the dates when the property will be available, you won’t need to cancel a booking.
Let us look at how you can cancel and refund a Vrbo booking as an owner:
1. Log in to your Vrbo account to begin.
2. Select the appropriate property, in case you have more than one listing.
3. Go to Inbox > All Messages to filter through your conversations and select the correct guest name.
4. Click on Cancel booking at the bottom of the screen.
5. Select the most accurate reason for cancelling the booking from the options given in the drop down menu. Depending on the reason, you may qualify for a cancellation waiver. If your reason doesn’t qualify for a waiver, it will affect your ranking metrics.
6. Review the refund amount and click on Continue.
7. Click on Confirm to process the refund and cancellation.
How to refund a Vrbo traveler without canceling the reservation
There may be situations where your guests will only require a partial refund; they may want to reduce their stay by one day or they may want the pet fee or parking fee waived since they decided against bringing their pet or car.
In these quick and easy steps described below, you can process a refund without cancelling the reservation:
1. Log in to your Vrbo account
2. If you have more than one listing, select the correct one to proceed.
3. Go to Inbox > All Messages
4. From the drop-down menu, select the Guest’s name whose refund needs to be processed.
5. Go to Payment Schedule and click on Send refund.
6. Enter the correct amount that you need to refund and click on Continue.
7. Click on Send refund so that the amount is sent back to the guest.
Vrbo sends an email with the details of the refund to you and your guest, which will also be reflected on the Payments Schedule of your dashboard as refunded or partially refunded.
The 3% processing fee that was charged by Vrbo at the time of the booking is directly credited to the guest’s account, while you as the host only have to pay back the booking amount on which the processing fee was calculated. For example: If a guest who paid $1000 for their stay at your property is now asking for a refund, Vrbo would take out $970 from your account and pay $30 (which they charged as a processing fee on the total amount) back to the guest to refund them the full amount.
Vrbo cancellation policies
Vrbo has different types of cancellation policies that a host can choose from for their property. They can choose the policy that works best for them based on the demand for their rental, peak tourist season, or any other reason that aligns with their goals. The cancellation policy that they choose supersedes the rental agreement. If necessary, the host can choose a cancellation policy that is more restrictive than the one stated in the rental agreement.
If a guest cancels their stay and has to be refunded, they will only receive a percentage of the total amount the traveler paid at the time of cancellation. As a host, you may want to align your cancellation policy with your payment schedule. You can also override the cancellation policy and refund a custom amount to the guest. If your listing has a pay-per-booking type of model, then as the host you keep a portion of the payment after cancellation. You will still be charged a booking fee on the amount you kept.
Policy Level | Time Window | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
No Refund | None | Bookings are not refundable. |
Strict | 60 days |
|
Firm | 30 - 60 days |
|
Moderate | 14 - 30 days |
|
Relaxed | 7 - 14 days |
|
Custom | Custom | Some properties may draw out a custom cancellation policy that differs from the ones listed above which will have different terms and fees associated with it. A potential guest can review these terms at the property page. In case they are not able to see the cancellation policy, they should contact the host directly to review the cancellation terms. |
How to cancel a Vrbo booking and get a refund as a traveler
While making a booking on Vrbo, it is extremely important as a traveler to check what the cancellation policy is for the property. It is advisable to book a property that allows you to cancel your booking for a full refund. That way, if you have to cancel an upcoming stay for any reason, you will at least get your money back.
How to cancel a Vrbo reservation
The following steps describe how easy it is to cancel your Vrbo reservation in an unfortunate situation when you have to.
1. Sign in to your Vrbo account.
2. Go to My Trips to select the reservation you want to cancel.
3. Go to Details to select Change or Cancel the trip.
4. Go through the property’s cancellation policy before cancelling.
5. Once you have reviewed their policy, select Cancel booking.
6. Click on Request cancellation if you see the option and wait for the host to approve and process your cancellation request. In case you don’t hear back from the host within 24 hours, reach out to them directly with your request.
7. In case you do not see a Cancel booking or Request cancellation option, reach out to the host directly.
This covers everything that you need to know about Vrbo refunds from a guest and a host’s perspective. As a host it is important to have a fool-proof cancellation and refund policy to protect your interests and as a guest, you must be fully aware of what you are signing up for when you are making a booking on Vrbo.