Direct Booking

How Direct Booking works

Before you start: Start with a saved Airbnb listing verified through the extension or iCal. Saved booking pages and settings are available without the extension. Host approval and Airbnb calendar verification need the Airbnb Bridge extension in desktop Chrome. Guests can use your booking page without it.

Screenshots use sample data. Select any image to enlarge it.

1. Host: create your booking page

   Open Direct Booking, find the property, and choose a unique subdomain: 3–63 letters, numbers or hyphens. Add your Zelle email or phone, check the URL preview, and select Create.

   Use Open Booking Site to review the guest page. The displayed booking link and printable QR card let you share it with guests.

   

2. Host: save the price and policies

   Under Booking price and policies, enter the host name, cleaning and other mandatory fees, tax rate, refundable deposit, and cancellation/refund policy. Include a deposit policy if you charge a deposit.

   Confirm that all mandatory charges are included, then select Save booking price and policies. Amounts are in USD. New requests require these settings and a Zelle recipient.

   

   Accommodation · 3 nights

   $600

   Cleaning fee

   $100

   Tax · illustrative 10%

   $70

   Refundable deposit

   $200

   Total payment

   $970

   This example applies tax to accommodation plus mandatory fees, excluding the deposit. Enter the rate that applies to your property.

3. Guest: choose dates and enter details

   The guest opens your shared booking link or scans the QR code. They choose available check-in and check-out dates on the calendar, or enter them in the date fields.

   They add their Name, Email and an optional Note, then select Review price. Booking updates go to this email address. No payment is due at this step.

   

4. Guest: review the price and request

   On Review your request, the guest checks the dates, accommodation, fees, tax, deposit and total. They read the cancellation and deposit policies, open the linked terms, and tick the agreement checkbox. Request to book becomes available after they accept.

   They select Request to book to send the request, or Change dates or details to go back. Quotes expire after 15 minutes; changed prices or policies require another review.

   

5. Guest: wait for host approval

   The page shows Request sent, and the guest receives a Booking request received email with a copy of the accepted terms. You receive a separate email to review the request.

   Pending requests do not hold the dates, and no payment is due. The guest follows later updates by email. If you decline, they receive Booking request declined.

   

6. Host: approve and secure the dates

   Open the request from the host email or Notifications. Review dates, guest details and accepted terms, then choose Approve request or Decline request.

   Approval checks fresh Airbnb availability, holds the dates in Signal-Panda, and attempts to block them on Airbnb. Wait for the Airbnb block to be verified before asking the guest to pay. If it fails, use Open Airbnb calendar to check or block the dates, then Verify / retry Airbnb calendar block.

   

   Check-in / checkout

   October 9 / October 12

   Nights to block

   October 9, 10 and 11

   After approval

   Awaiting payment

   Checkout day is not a booked night. Approval alone does not confirm the stay.

7. Guest: follow the payment email

   The first approval email, Booking approved — securing your dates, tells the guest to wait. Once the Airbnb block is verified, Booking approved — ready for payment gives the total and your Zelle email or phone.

   The guest sends that amount through their own bank or Zelle app. In this example, they send $970 to the recipient in the email. Sending payment alone does not confirm the stay; you must record its receipt.

   

8. Host: record payment and confirm

   After the Airbnb block is verified, the guest receives payment instructions. Check that you received the full amount, tick the payment acknowledgment, then select Record payment and confirm stay. The guest receives final confirmation.

   Signal-Panda records your confirmation; it does not collect or transfer the Zelle payment. Use Retry unsent booking emails if a saved request reports a delivery problem.

   

9. Guest: receive the final confirmation

   The guest receives Your stay is confirmed after you record the full payment and the Airbnb block is verified. The email includes the property, dates, guest name, itemized total and accepted terms.

   They should keep this email for their stay. This is the final confirmation, following the earlier request and payment instructions.

   

More use cases

Follow the walkthrough that matches what you need to do next. Screenshots use sample data; select an image to enlarge it.

• Secure the dates after an Airbnb calendar failure
• Handle unavailable dates or decline a request
• Record direct-booking income in Accounting

Secure the dates after an Airbnb calendar failure

Use this when a request is approved but its Airbnb calendar status is pending or failed.

1. Open the request from Notifications or the host review email. Check its dates and Airbnb calendar status. The approved request already holds the dates in Signal-Panda.
2. In desktop Chrome, connect the extension and sign in to the matching Airbnb account. Use Open Airbnb calendar to inspect the requested nights, excluding checkout day.
3. If the nights are open, block the intended nights in Airbnb or explicitly use Verify / retry Airbnb calendar block to retry. This action can write to Airbnb. If they are booked by another guest, stop and resolve the conflict; a booking cannot count as the required block.
4. Return to the request and verify the block. Wait for the verified status and payment-ready email before asking the guest to pay. After receiving the full payment, acknowledge it and select Record payment and confirm stay.

What to expect: The stay can be confirmed after both calendar verification and payment receipt. Reloading the review page alone does not retry the block.

Approved holds do not expire automatically and have no self-service release. Contact support if a hold needs attention.

Handle unavailable dates or decline a request

Use this when a pending request cannot be accepted or its dates have become unavailable.

1. Open the pending request from Notifications and check the guest, dates and accepted price. Pending requests do not reserve the dates.
2. If you cannot host the stay, select Decline request. If approval reports a fresh availability conflict, leave it unapproved and decide whether to decline.
3. The guest receives a decline email. If they want different dates, they must return to the booking page, review a new quote and submit a new request.
4. If delivery fails, keep the saved decision and use Retry unsent booking emails on the request.

What to expect: The declined request does not create an approved hold or a payment request. This path applies to pending requests; it does not cancel an already approved stay.

Record direct-booking income in Accounting

Use this after receiving a guest payment that you need to include in your property records.

1. Check the received payment and the booking’s itemized price. Confirm the stay through its request page once its calendar block is verified.
2. Open Accounting → Books. Add an income transaction for the property, choose Direct booking, and enter its date, income amount and a memo identifying the stay.
3. Select Add Transaction, then check the property’s ledger and income total for the selected dates. Check for an existing manual entry first.

What to expect: The income appears in Accounting. Recording payment on the booking request does not automatically create this Books entry.

The guest’s total can include a refundable deposit and tax. Review the itemized amounts before choosing the income amount; do not copy the full payment into rental income without checking its components.