Vrbo Cancellation Policy
A Vrbo owner cancellation policy is not only important to have, but it is a must. You should notify your guests beforehand of your cancellation policy. This not only gives them the necessary information, but it also covers you in case that your guests don’t show up for at your property.
Without a proper cancellation policy in places, this scenario would leave you with an empty rental that could have otherwise been rented out to other guests. Therefore, it’s the safest bet for vacation rental and short-term rental owners.
If you’d like more information on how Vrbo is dealing with cancellations during the Covid-19 outbreak, please check out our blog post here: Coronavirus: How to Manage and Protect Your Vacation Rental
VRBO cancellation policies for owners
When listing your property on Vrbo, there are five different cancellation policies that you can choose from:
- Relaxed: If your guest cancels 14 days prior to the scheduled booking, they are refunded the full amount. If they cancel at least seven days before the reservation, they’ll get a 50% refund.
- Moderate: Guests have 30 days prior to the start of their stay to cancel and receive a full refund. If they cancel at least 14 days before the stay, they get a 50% refund.
- Firm: Guests are allowed to cancel their book for a full refund up to 60 days before the stay and if they cancel at least 30 days before they get a 50% refund.
- Strict: Bookings must be canceled at least 60 days before the start of the stay to receive a full refund.
- No Refund: Once a booking is paid for in part or full, there are no refunds offered within any timeframe or for any reason.
You will have to take into consideration which option is best for your property. Stricter cancellation policies may protect you as the owner a little better. However, keep in mind that more relaxed cancel options are usually more popular among potential guests.
Let’s take a deeper look into all these Vrbo cancellation policies for owners:
The firm and strict VRBO cancellation policy
Both the firm and strict Vrbo cancellation policies are somewhat the same, though the strict is a final approach. It states that if a traveler cancels up to 60 days prior to their stay, they are given a 100% full refund on their stay and not charged any fees. For those that cancel within the 30 days from staying mark, they receive half or 50% of the costs of the rental and booking fees are charged. This is the firm policy, allowing the owner to have the right to either give all of the money back or keep half depending on when the cancellation takes place.
The strict Vrbo host cancellation policy approach states that the traveler has up to 60 days to cancel their booking to receive their full 100% refund without being charged any booking fees. The owner then has the right to keep their down payment and fees otherwise.
Moderate (recommended)
If you’d like to be a little more relaxed on the policy for guests, the moderate policy provides the travelers with a way to cancel up to 30 days before their stay to get their complete refund, instead of the 60 days. They can also cancel within 14 days to get half or 50% of their money back and they are charged booking fees with this.
Relaxed
This again is a more relaxed Vrbo rental cancellation policy for the traveler staying in the owner’s vacation rental and it gives them up to 14 days to cancel their reservation to receive a full 100% refund with no booking fees being charged. For a 50% or half refund of their reservation, they can cancel up to 7 days before their stay but booking fees are charged.
How to cancel a guest’s reservation
1. Log into your Vrbo owner login page
2. Click on the reservation listing you wish to cancel
3. Go to the ‘Reservations’ button
4. Find the reservation you wish to cancel on the page and then scroll to the bottom where it says ‘Cancel Reservation’, click it and save
Those owners that wish to refund any of the guests for their cancellation must do so prior to canceling out the reservation in the system.
How to adjust your Vrbo cancellation policy
1. Go to your Vrbo Dashboard
2. Select which listing you’d like to edit or adjust
3. Go to the ‘Settings’ button, then the ‘Rental Agreement and Cancellation Policy’ button and click
4. Select which policy you would like to use in the ‘Cancellation Policy’ section and save the changes you’ve made
Can Vrbo owners choose to offer no refunds?
Guests can get refunds on their canceled booking depending on the cancellation policy that the Vrbo owner has chosen or on the rental agreement that they’ve signed. Therefore, owners can choose to offer no refunds and all cancellation policies are at their discretion.
VRBO cancellation policy due to weather
If a guest has to cancel due to natural disasters such as a hurricane, flood or storm, they should get in contact with the owner. The owner and the guest must then come up with a solution, such as refunding the guest or rescheduling the stay for a different time.