When you are connected to Airbnb or Vrbo via iCals, you will need to regularly use Channel Bridge to bring in information about your bookings and guests that the channels don't send by iCal. Even if you do plan on using API connections, it's still a good idea to use Channel Bridge to bring in all available data beforehand, particularly since the APIs tend not to provide old data.
Once you're connected to the channels using our API integrations, you will no longer need to use Channel Bridge for certain things. But, even when using APIs, you'll still need Channel Bridge - just, for fewer things, and/or less often.
This chart breaks down exactly what you need to use Channel Bridge for when Pre-API vs API connection.
Green - Use Channel Bridge
Red - No Need For Channel Bridge
Pre-API/iCal Connected
| Airbnb | Vrbo | |
|---|---|---|
| Bookings | Channel Bridge needed to pull in guest information such as full name, email address, and charges. | Channel Bridge needed to pull in guest information such as full name, email address, and charges. |
| Transactions | Channel Bridge needed to pull in booking transactions. | Channel Bridge needed to pull in booking transactions. |
| Reviews | Channel Bridge needed to pull in reviews. | Channel Bridge needed to pull in reviews. |
| Rates | Channel Bridge needed to push rates from OwnerRez to Airbnb. | Channel Bridge needed to push rates from OwnerRez to Vrbo. |
Channel Bridge Rate Push has been deprecated because it uses functions not officially supported by Airbnb and Vrbo. It will remain available as long as it works, but that could end at any time without warning if and when Airbnb or Vrbo make changes to their systems. It's fine to use Rate Push for convenience during setup, but is unwise to build your business processes around it long-term.
API Connected
| Airbnb | Vrbo | |
|---|---|---|
| Bookings | No longer needed, bookings come in automatically via API. *NOTE: Channel Bridge will still need to be run to update any bookings made prior to the API Connection going live. |
No longer needed, bookings come in automatically via API. *NOTE: Channel Bridge will still need to be run to update any bookings made prior to the API Connection going live. |
| Transactions | No longer needed if Transaction Sync is enabled; i.e., transactions can come in automatically via API. *NOTE: Channel Bridge may be needed before turning on Transaction Sync to pull in historical transactions. |
No longer needed; all transaction data is handled inside OwnerRez since the user is MOR (merchant of record). |
| Reviews | No longer needed, reviews come in automatically via API. | Channel Bridge needed to pull in reviews, as Vrbo API currently doesn’t pass review information (coming later this year!). |
| Rates | No longer needed, all rates are passed to channel automatically via API. | No longer needed, all rates are passed to channel automatically via API. |