Updated : Mar 13, 2025
When you start hosting, you will have registered on multiple platforms such as Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and maybe more! If you’re not careful, there’s a higher chance that you will have a double booking scenario. This should cause you frustration, but you can easily avoid double booking with multiple solutions. We will discuss the solutions and provide you with actionable tips to implement once you have a double booking.
What is Double Booking?
Double booking refers to a situation in which your property, which has been reserved for someone else, is booked by a different person during the same time period. Two separate guests booking the same room on your property at the same time can cause problems!
25% of Booking.com’s partners face double bookings during their first year on the platform. The platform has posited that this might be due to errors in the initial setup processes. If you haven’t come across this issue yet, you’re lucky! However, it is important to understand double booking and the steps to tackle it.
Addressing it is important to avoid double booking for you to maintain a positive guest experience and ensure the long-term success of your operations.
Define Double Occupancy Rooms
A double occupancy room is designed and priced to accommodate more than one person in a single unit. Depending on your guests ‘ preferences and needs, you can set the room up with two double beds or separate single beds.
This differs from a double-booked room because double-booked rooms are not designed to be occupied by more than one person. Those are rooms designed for a group of people in a single travel party. However, double occupancy rooms are designed to be occupied by different travel parties.
What Causes Double Bookings?
- Listing the same property on multiple websites: Listing your property on multiple OTAs is important. While it can lead to increased exposure, it can also open you to the chance of double booking. If you list on Airbnb and Vrbo but haven’t synced your calendars, then it is up to you to manually update your calendar on Vrbo if you receive a booking for a particular date on Airbnb.
- Separate listings for each room: If you have a 5-BR villa and a person can book 1 BR and the entire villa through multiple channels, this is chaos in the making! For example, a person can book a 1 BR using one of the listings, and another person can book the entire villa! You are now successfully double-booked.
- Long-term and mid-term stays: If you run a short-term rental property but have blocked a month for a regular guest, you should block your calendar on all OTAs for that long-term/mid-term guest’s time.
- Scheduling conflicts with check-in/check-out: If you accept early check-ins or late check-outs and then get an adjacent booking, your property might be double booked. If a guest requests an early check-in, you agree without verifying the availability for the requested date. If someone has already booked the property for the previous night, it could lead to a double booking.
- Changing guest plans: If a guest books for a certain date but then suddenly changes their travel plans, they request that you change the dates. Without checking the dates, if you accept the change, you might get double booked.
What is the Impact of Double Booking?
Double bookings can have significant negative consequences for both property owners and guests:
- Negative guest experience: Guests who arrive to find their reservation has been double booked are understandably frustrated and disappointed.
- Lost revenue: When a double booking occurs, you will have to cancel one of the reservations, which will result in lost revenue from that booking.
- Additional costs: You may have to find alternative accommodation for the displaced guests, cover the cost difference, and potentially pay penalties or fees to the booking platforms.
- Reputation Damage: Repeated double bookings will lead you to repeatedly cancel reservations, leading to many negative reviews and, hence, reputational damage.
How to Avoid Double Booking Airbnb?
- Sync calendars across platforms using channel managers or property management systems.
- Opt out of Instant Book and implement a waitlist system to maintain occupancy levels.
- Enforce clear cancellation policies, integrate payment processing solutions, and coordinate with housekeeping staff to minimize double bookings.
- Analyze booking history to forecast demand, plan for peak and low occupancy periods, and make informed decisions on demand-based pricing to optimize occupancy and revenue.
PriceLabs Can Help you Avoid Double Booking by Providing Historical Data
PriceLabs is a revenue management solution for the short-term rental and hospitality industry, founded in 2014 and headquartered in Chicago, IL. Our platform helps individual hosts and hospitality professionals optimize their pricing and revenue management, adapting to changing market trends and occupancy levels.
With dynamic pricing, automation rules, and customizations, we manage pricing and minimum-stay restrictions for any portfolio size, with prices automatically uploaded to preferred channels such as Airbnb, Vrbo, and 110+ property management and channel integrations.
PriceLabs Market Dashboard analyzes historical booking data to help vacation rental owners and managers accurately forecast demand and identify peak periods. This will help you identify high-demand periods and adjust pricing and minimum stay requirements to maximize revenue.
Every day, we price over 400,000+ listings globally across 135+ countries, offering world-class tools like the Base Price Help and Minimum Stay Recommendation Engine. Choose PriceLabs to increase revenue and streamline pricing and revenue management. Sign up for a free trial at pricelabs.co today.
How to Resolve a Double Booking?
If you can’t avoid double booking, it is important to take quick action once one occurs. It is crucial to resolve the issue as quickly and amicably as possible to minimize the impact on guests and your vacation rental business.
Here are some effective strategies for resolving double bookings:
#1 Offer Alternative Accommodation
If you have another similar property available, offer to relocate the displaced guests to that unit at no additional cost. Ensure the alternative accommodation is of equal or better quality.
Template:
Dear [Guest Name],
I regret to inform you that there has been a double booking for the dates of your stay at [Property Name].
I am unable to accommodate you at my property, but I have researched alternative options in the area that are available during your dates.
I have reserved a room for you at [Alternative Property Name], which is [description of property].
I will cover the full cost of your stay at the alternative property, as well as any additional expenses you may incur.
Please let me know if this works for you, and I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.
Thank you.
Regards,
[Your Name],
[Property Name]
#2 Assist with Finding Alternative Accommodation
If you do not have another property available, help the displaced guests find suitable alternative accommodation in the same area. Cover the cost difference and any additional expenses.
Template:
Dear [Guest Name],
I regret to inform you that there has been a double booking for the dates of your stay at [Property Name].
I am unable to accommodate you at my property, but I have researched alternative options in the area that are available during your dates.
I have reserved a room for you at [Alternative Property Name], which is [description of property].
I will cover the full cost of your stay at the alternative property, as well as any additional expenses you may incur.
Please let me know if this works for you, and I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.
Thank you.
Regards,
[Your Name],
[Property Name]
#3 Offer Compensation
In addition to providing alternative accommodation, offer the displaced guests a partial refund or a credit towards a future stay to compensate them for the inconvenience.
Template:
Dear [Guest Name],
I’m very sorry but there has been a double booking for the dates of your stay at [Property Name].
I have reserved alternative accommodation for you at [Alternative Property Name], and I will cover the full cost of your stay there.
Additionally, I would like to offer you a [50%] refund of your original booking as compensation for the inconvenience.
Please let me know if this is acceptable, and I apologize again for the situation.
Thank you.
Regards,
[Your Name],
[Property Name]
#4 Communicate Proactively
- Reach out to the displaced guests as soon as you know about the double booking to inform them of the situation and your proposed solution.
- Maintain open and transparent communication throughout the process to ensure the guests feel heard and their concerns are addressed.
By implementing these strategies and providing clear, empathetic communication, you can effectively resolve double bookings and minimize the impact on your guests and your vacation rental business.
What are the Guidelines for Resolution Timeline?
To expedite the resolution process and mitigate guest inconvenience, adhere to the following timelines:
- For guests arriving within 24 hours, aim to resolve the double booking within 30 minutes.
- Guests arriving within one to seven days should have their situation resolved within two hours.
- For guests arriving after more than seven days, strive to address the issue within 24 hours.
Bonus Read: How Does Airbnb Work?
What are the costs of double bookings on Airbnb and other channels?
Double bookings can incur significant costs and repercussions for hosts on platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com. Understanding the cancellation policies of these online travel agencies (OTAs) is crucial to mitigating financial losses and maintaining a positive reputation within the industry to effectively avoid double booking.
Airbnb’s Double Booking Costs
Airbnb, known for its guest-centric approach, enforces strict policies to penalize hosts for double bookings:
- Cancellation Fee: Hosts face a cancellation fee of $50 if the cancellation occurs more than a week before check-in and $100 for cancellations within a week of check-in.
- Negative Reviews: Guests can leave negative reviews, impacting the host’s reputation. Additionally, an automated listing review indicating a cancellation is displayed.
- Superhost Status: Maintaining Airbnb Superhost status requires a cancellation rate below 1%, making double bookings particularly detrimental.
Booking.com recommends downloading Pulse by Booking.com to manage calendars effectively.
Booking.com’s Double Booking Costs
While Booking.com’s policies are slightly less stringent, hosts still face significant consequences:
- Alternative Accommodation: If a double booking occurs, hosts must find similar nearby accommodations for guests within 30 minutes, often necessitating local partnerships.
- Financial Responsibility: Hosts must cover transportation costs to the new property and any price differences between the original and alternative accommodations.
- SEO Penalty: Cancelled bookings result in a drop in listing visibility, potentially impacting future bookings.
Vrbo’s Double Booking Costs
Vrbo’s cancellation policies are relatively relaxed compared to Airbnb:
- Refunds: Guests must receive full refunds for canceled reservations, including service and cleaning fees.
- SEO Impact: Like other OTAs, canceling bookings on Vrbo negatively affects listing placement, potentially reducing future bookings.
Conclusion
Double bookings in the vacation rental industry refer to a situation where the same property is reserved for two different guests during the same time period. This can occur due to a variety of reasons, such as listing on multiple platforms, maintaining separate calendars for multiple listings, accommodating long-term guests with flexible plans, or allowing late check-ins and check-outs.
The consequences of double bookings can be severe, including financial losses, negative guest experiences, and damage to the property’s reputation. To mitigate these risks, vacation rental owners and managers should implement proactive strategies, such as synchronizing calendars across all booking platforms, linking calendars for multiple listings, maintaining clear communication with guests, leveraging channel management technology, and being prepared to accommodate displaced guests in alternative spaces or find them alternative accommodations. By taking these preventative measures, vacation rental businesses can minimize the occurrence of double bookings and provide a seamless experience for their guests.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the difference between overbooking and double booking?
The key difference between overbooking and double booking is intent. Overbooking refers to intentionally accepting more reservations than available capacity. At the same time, double booking is an accidental situation where the same property is reserved for two guests during the same period.
2. Is double booking legal?
Double booking is not inherently illegal. It can occur due to human error, technical issues, or intentional overbooking. However, it can lead to financial losses and negative guest experiences, making it a business risk that should be managed proactively through calendar synchronization and clear communication with guests.
3. What do you do if you face difficulty finding nearby accommodation?
If suitable nearby accommodations are unavailable, seek assistance from customer service for the OTA you use. They will make efforts to secure alternative arrangements at a comparable price point. However, if they cannot find viable options, they will invoice accordingly for any additional costs incurred, such as upgraded accommodations or guest transportation.
