Switching from another channel manager without double bookings
By GuestChat Team ·
Switching management software is nerve-racking for one specific reason: for a few hours there are two systems that think they're in charge of your calendar. If both publish at the same time, or if neither does, you get the same headache: a night sold twice or a listing that's stuck. With a clear order, you can make the switch in an afternoon.
The basic rule
Booking sites hand each listing to only one program. Airbnb is even stricter: it only allows one program per account, and that affects all your listings. As long as the listing still points to the previous program, nothing we send reaches it.
The order we recommend
- Set up the property here first. Fill in the property profile and, above all, set a base price in the Calendar. Without a starting price, the booking site won't publish anything.
- Connect the booking site in Settings, Booking channels, and link each property to its listing. Don't turn it on yet.
- Bring in what's already there. In the cell's panel: Fetch bookings that already exist and Fetch older conversations. Check in the Calendar that your future bookings are where they should be.
- Disconnect the previous program. On Airbnb, by removing it from your account. On Booking.com, by asking their support if needed: "please disconnect my account from my previous software".
- Turn the cell on. From then on, your prices and open dates go out.
Watch out for automatic turn-on
Some booking sites turn the connection on by themselves when you pair. If that happens, the dashboard tells you straight: the booking site is already receiving your prices and open dates, and if that property was still connected to another program, you need to disconnect it there so you don't end up with a double booking. Don't leave it for tomorrow.
When you change listings
If, when linking, you choose a different listing from the one the property had, the dashboard asks what to do with the bookings it already had:
- They're still on — it's the same property. This is almost always the recommended option: you change listings, but the apartment and its guests are the same.
- Start from scratch — the old listing took them. Only if those bookings no longer exist. It shows you the list of what will be deleted and warns you that it can't be undone.
If the dashboard can't check the bookings at that moment, it keeps all of them and their dates stay blocked. Better one night blocked too many than one sold twice.
Messages during the switch
The AI only replies to messages that arrive after connecting. Older conversations are brought in so you have the full thread, but old messages don't get a reply. If a guest wrote right during the switch, check Conversations that afternoon.
Vrbo, a special case
If your Vrbo account was connected to another system, first ask their support to switch it back to a regular account. And remember that with Vrbo, bookings, prices and availability are synced, but the listing content is still edited over there.
Checklist for switch day
- Base price set on each property.
- Each cell linked to the right listing, reading the full name.
- Future bookings brought in and reviewed.
- Previous program disconnected on each booking site.
- Cells turned on and showing Published.
- A mental test booking: if a booking comes in through Booking.com, does that night close on Airbnb? Check it in the Calendar with the next one that comes in.