1. Inside OR, were you able to add their commission onto the base rates (just as we do with Airbnb and other channels)?
Yes you add your markup in the channel API section.
2. How do you work with the 18 month calendar availability? Is that an issue for you?
We only allow our calendar to be open 365 days in advance, so this isn't an issue for us.
3. I am a little surprised by the Credit card information being given to the Host to input in their own system. Isn't there a danger in this? What do you charge - the whole amount at once or a deposit to be followed up later with the balance (if the booking is ahead of time)?
This is similar to all other API-connected channels outside of Airbnb. OR automatically charges the card on file once the guest supplies it. We charge 50% at booking at the remaining 50% 30 days before arrival.
4. Cancellation Policy: I am assuming that this is something we can set ourselves. Given that there is such a long calendar lead-time, did you then set a longer cancellation period with stricter rules for HTG bookings?
Yes OR gives you some options to choose from. We prefer 100% back (minus $100 cancellation fee) outside of 60 days, 50% back between 30-60 days, and 0% back inside of 30 days. We've found this helps us manage out calendar more effectively if someone does cancel.
5. Instant Booking only: do you find this an issue? I understand that the booking must be confirmed with the host before the host will actually take the deposit or entire fees for the property (I just set my Airbnb/VRBO bookings to "request to book").
Instant Book hasn't been a problem for us. It could be we've just been lucky, but our HTG guests have been fine so far. Mostly families/groups in the 40-60 age range.
