Hey @Glen McMaster I’m not entirely sure what your feature request is here and think this may be a better question for either our support team or in our community.
To try and answer your question, the timing of when guests pay for reservations depends on the booking type and payment settings, for instance:
Airbnb Reservations
Instant Book: Guests are charged immediately when they complete the booking.
Request to Book: Guests are charged after the host accepts the request (within 24 hours).
Direct Bookings
The payment timing varies based on the host's payment schedule settings:
100% upfront: Guests pay the full amount immediately at booking
Custom payment terms: Payments can be split into multiple installments. For example:
50% at booking, 50% at 30 days before check-in
Or other custom schedules like 20% at booking, 30% at 45 days before check-in, 50% at 10 days before check-in
Authorization vs. charge: The system first authorizes the payment card when a guest submits their request, but doesn't charge until the booking is accepted.
The payment collection can happen anywhere from immediately after the guest submits the request up to 24 hours later, depending on whether Instant Book is enabled and whether the booking requires manual approval.
And there’s also payments for booking.com, VRBO, and other channels.
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Comments1
Matt Jongbloet
Oct 22, 2025
Hey @Glen McMaster I’m not entirely sure what your feature request is here and think this may be a better question for either our support team or in our community.
To try and answer your question, the timing of when guests pay for reservations depends on the booking type and payment settings, for instance:
Airbnb Reservations
Instant Book: Guests are charged immediately when they complete the booking.
Request to Book: Guests are charged after the host accepts the request (within 24 hours).
Direct Bookings
The payment timing varies based on the host's payment schedule settings:
100% upfront: Guests pay the full amount immediately at booking
Custom payment terms: Payments can be split into multiple installments. For example:
50% at booking, 50% at 30 days before check-in
Or other custom schedules like 20% at booking, 30% at 45 days before check-in, 50% at 10 days before check-in
Authorization vs. charge: The system first authorizes the payment card when a guest submits their request, but doesn't charge until the booking is accepted.
The payment collection can happen anywhere from immediately after the guest submits the request up to 24 hours later, depending on whether Instant Book is enabled and whether the booking requires manual approval.
And there’s also payments for booking.com, VRBO, and other channels.