Experience the difference of "Elite".

Booking.com, TripAdvisor, AirBnB, VRBO
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BlueMtnCabins
Jun 17, 2019 1:36 PM
Joined Jun, 2016 1115 posts

JTVRs said:

Cpc/commission (tripconnect) and sponsored placements are totally different from FlipKey and TA's other VR sites. They direct visitors directly to your website, as opposed to being handled my FlipKey or their other vacation rental sites

In other words, the web traffic are your direct customers and not handled by TAs vacation rental sites.

Night and day


Ah, I think I read about it someplace. Unless these "pay per clicks" are very cheap, I would not trust TA with this. I used to have VHR subscription (VHR was owned by TA but for a while continued to run as simple old fashioned subscription where they sent you an inquiry and you handled further communication and booking). So when sub was nearing the end, many owners observed that there would be a slew of "inquiries" that lead to nowhere. I was already using Ownerrez , so it responds and it has email tracker. The quotes that were sent in response to these "inquiries" were NEVER opened by "recipient". I strongly suspect that these "inquiries" were generated by VHR/TA employees in order to entice owner to re-up. Having said that, I am very skeptical about anything TA would promise you.

JTVRs
Jun 17, 2019 4:28 PM
Joined Jun, 2018 385 posts

Multiple bed and breakfast owners are very sold on tripconnect as a cheap source of direct bookings

JTVRs
Jul 22, 2019 7:19 PM
Joined Jun, 2018 385 posts

OK, I am trying to do VRBO connection.

I am a little baffled about ?the minimum? I need to do on VRBO to port over from OwnerRez.

1) I created an Owner VRBO account. They sent me an email to "Finish Your Listing" yada yada

2) I see the VRBO channel connection on OR: https://secure.ownerrez.com/settings/channels/edit?listingSiteType=HomeAway

3) Not really sure the minimum I have to do next to bring my OR listings over. Do I have to create an (empty) listing for each property I have on OR and then sprinkle pixie dust? Or do I need to do something more elaborate?

JTVRs
Jul 22, 2019 8:21 PM
Joined Jun, 2018 385 posts

Same question for TripAdvisor

1) I registered that I have 5+ properties (vs. 1-4 option) now via Flipkey. [ tripadvisor.com/RentalInsights/get-started ]

2) They said automated email would be sent

3) For this one, all my properties display on the TA channel connection at https://secure.ownerrez.com/settings/channels/edit?listingSiteType=TripAdvisor

4) But there is no Action except Preview Rates there, so I imagine once Tripadvisor contacts me, I will create listings for all mine on TA and there will be an Action connect to wire in the TA generated listing numbers?

JTVRs
Jul 22, 2019 8:59 PM
Joined Jun, 2018 385 posts

Again, both questions above are focused on what (mind is mum) needs to be done on the listing site so that owner reservation can port all information properly

Paul W
Jul 24, 2019 10:59 PM
OR Team Member Joined Jun, 2009 825 posts

Here's the main activation support document for the HomeAway API and connecting it:

https://paper.dropbox.com/doc/Activation-Documentation-for-OwnerRez--Ab9yACNk2lPiV0v1gvkhQYiNAg-Dxv5vQTLa1efjprYmeg3m

After you add the HomeAway API channel in OwnerRez, there is a Instructions tab that gives you step by step directions for where to go and who to talk to. HomeAway will assign you a integration specialist who will confirm the connection and validate things. They will provide the wiring on their side (whether to existing listings or new ones).

We highly recommend running Tools > Listing Quality Analyzer in OwnerRez which will give you a list of things, across your properties, that should be fixed or enhanced. It is highly helpful when setting up API for HomeAway or TripAdvisor.

The process is similar for TripAdvisor. Send an email to pmsupport@tripadvisor.com and say "I want to use OwnerRez as my channel manager". They will contact you back, confirm a few things, then tell you what you need to do.

JTVRs
Jul 25, 2019 12:57 PM
Joined Jun, 2018 385 posts

I did the TripAdvisor thing three days ago. They said they would contact me shortly, but never did.

Chris Hynes
Jul 26, 2019 8:29 PM
OR Team Member Joined Oct, 2012 1400 posts

Yep, sometimes they don't get back the first time. Follow up and they will.

Sarah H
Aug 11, 2019 10:36 PM
Joined Jul, 2019 109 posts

Do I need to have my merchant account set up before doing integration with HA? This thread is AWESOME.