Lessons Learned: VRBO Pre-Approval is not for me (or most people)

[Christina B.]

I'm going to try to post snippets of things I've learned this past year as a way of paying it forward and gratitude for all I've learned and keep learning via this community. Today's lesson: why I won't use VRBO Pre-Approval anymore.

I get inquiries from time to time asking things like- is your place truly ski in/ski out? Answer: yes, we're less than a 5-minute walk to the lift but you need to be skiing at blue+. Alternatively, you're a 5 minute drive to the resort. When it seems like a good fit, in the past, I've gone ahead and pre-approved the stay. Recently, with two separate inquiries (different dates, different groups), things didn't work out.

VRBO Pre-Approval blocks those dates in your calendar for 72 hours. !!

I'm in one of 2 peak seasons currently. If someone's not truly interested, I want those dates released ASAP. I had to call VRBO and push repeatedly for those dates to be freed. They warned me I'd take a hit on the algo. I pointed out the guest already notified me they had booked a different property, etc. VRBO then said they cleared the dates but when I refreshed the calendar, I could see it was still blocked. Second attempt on their part freed up the VRBO calendar, but not Airbnb's (and yes on sync'd). ONLY when I pushed further, did they actually release those dates (and I received an email with the subject: Your reservation XXX was cancelled at property YYY), and those dates showed as truly open across both calendars. (They also assured me I would not take the algo hit.)

I no longer default to pre-approval as for me, it's bad for business. If they're serious, I encourage them to send me the request which I accept (after I've also made our House Rules clear). TLDR: Pre-approval seems like a good thing but it can lead to lost bookings or a time sink (has anyone spent less than 20-30 minutes on the phone with VRBO trying to fix something??).