Airbnb integration: how to connect Airbnb to your PMS or channel manager (API or iCal?)

An Airbnb integration connects your Airbnb listings to your PMS or channel manager, so availability, rates and bookings flow back and forth automatically and you never enter anything twice. There are two kinds: an API connection through software that Airbnb has approved as a connectivity partner, and an iCal link. An API connection syncs availability, rates, bookings and messages within seconds. An iCal link only passes on booked dates, and with a delay. If you are also on Booking.com or take bookings on your own website, in practice you need an API connection.

Below: what exactly goes over such a connection, how connecting works, and what to check when you choose software.

What goes over an Airbnb integration?

A proper integration works in both directions.

From your PMS to Airbnb:

• Availability. When a booking comes in through your own website or Booking.com, those dates are closed on Airbnb straight away.
• Rates. You change your rate once in your PMS, and the new price appears on Airbnb moments later.
• Blocks. Close a room for maintenance or your own use, and it can no longer be booked on Airbnb.

From Airbnb to your PMS:

• Bookings, changes and cancellations. An Airbnb booking appears in your calendar on its own, with the guest details Airbnb passes on.
• Messages (if you grant that permission). Guest questions land in the same inbox as your other channels.

That second half is where the difference lies with what many people think of as a "connection".

API connection or iCal: the difference

An iCal link is a calendar file that one system fetches from the other every now and then. It is free and works everywhere, but it is a one-way message with a delay: "these dates are taken". If someone books on Airbnb before your PMS has fetched the link again, the same night can be sold through another channel in the meantime. Why that tends to go wrong in busy periods is explained in the downsides of iCal synchronisation.

For channels without an API, such as some smaller booking sites, iCal is still useful. For Airbnb, which has an official API, it is a stopgap.

How do you connect Airbnb in practice?

With an API connection you never paste a password or property code into your software. Broadly, it goes like this:

1. In your PMS, choose Airbnb and click connect.
2. You land on a page from Airbnb itself, log in with your host account and confirm a verification code if asked.
3. Airbnb shows which access the software requests: availability, rates, listings, bookings and optionally messages. You grant permission.
4. Back in your PMS, you map each room or unit to the right Airbnb listing.
5. The software sends your availability and rates across for the first time. From then on it runs automatically.

That permission is separate from your Airbnb password. Change your password and the connection keeps working. To stop it, revoke the access in your Airbnb account or switch the channel off in your PMS.

What to check when you choose

If you are looking for a platform that integrates easily with Airbnb and Booking.com, ask these questions:

• Is it an API connection or iCal? Ask explicitly. "Works with Airbnb" appears on plenty of websites even when it means an iCal link.
• Do all channels share one calendar? A booking on Airbnb must also close Booking.com and your own website, and the other way round.
• Can you set a different rate per channel? Airbnb and Booking.com each keep a different share. Charging the same rate everywhere means earning a different amount per channel. How to work that out is covered in net revenue per booking channel.
• Do messages arrive in one place? Otherwise you keep switching between apps.
• What happens when a guest changes or cancels on Airbnb? That should update your calendar by itself, without retyping anything.
• What does it cost, and per what? Per room, per booking or a flat fee: for a small property that makes a big difference.

Also note one consequence on Airbnb's side: hosts who connect their listing through software usually get a different split of the service fee between guest and host. What that means for your rates is explained in why Airbnb charges different host fees after connecting.

Three mistakes we see often

Still changing rates in Airbnb itself. Once connected, your PMS is the source. Whatever you change directly in Airbnb is overwritten by the next rate update from your PMS.

Leaving the old iCal link in place. Switching from iCal to an API connection without removing the iCal link leads to double or ghost blocks. Remove the old links, both in Airbnb and in your PMS.

Mapping a room to the wrong listing. After connecting, check that every room belongs to the right Airbnb listing, especially if your listings look alike.

How it works in BedFlow PMS

In BedFlow PMS you connect Airbnb through an API connection in a few minutes: log in to Airbnb, grant permission and map your rooms to your listings. BedFlow PMS then sends your availability and rates for the coming year, Airbnb bookings arrive in your calendar by themselves, and guest messages show up in the same inbox as Booking.com and your own website. The steps with screenshots are in the Airbnb connection guide.

Want to see how that works together with Booking.com and a booking engine on your own site? Check the pricing or try BedFlow PMS free for 30 days, no card details needed.