The Beds24 channel manager keeps your availability and prices up to date on all your booking channels in real time and imports their bookings, so you don't have to log in to each channel after every booking or cancellation. Beds24 becomes your master calendar: it holds the live version of your availability and sends it to every connected channel.
Table of Contents
- How availability stays in sync
- Connection types
- Before you connect a channel
- Connect a channel
- Price multiplier
- Updates and changes
- Channel manager settings
- Bookings from channels
- Disconnect a channel
- Troubleshooting
How availability stays in sync
Beds24 sends your inventory to your booking channels and your website. When a booking comes in on any of them, Beds24 reduces the inventory and sends the new availability to all the others.
Example: You run a B&B with 2 double rooms, so your inventory is 2. Your website and your booking channels can each sell 2 rooms. A guest books on your website: Beds24 reduces the inventory to 1 and sends it to the channels, so only one more room can be sold. A second guest books on a channel: the channel sends the booking to Beds24, the inventory drops to 0, and your website and all channels show no availability.
Besides availability, prices and bookings, Beds24 offers content management and listing creation for selected channels, including Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo, plus reporting, review management and messaging. Each channel has its own help page with its capabilities and setup steps. For an overview, see Channel Manager Capabilities.
Connection types
Two-way API connections
Beds24 has certified two-way API connections with the leading OTAs and is a preferred partner of Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo. Depending on the connection, Beds24 sends availability, one price or several prices, and imports bookings instantly. For some channels Beds24 also sends content such as descriptions and pictures, and creates listings.
iCal connections
iCal is a calendar file format that many vacation rental sites and calendar apps support. Beds24's iCal export sends your availability and the iCal import brings in bookings, so you can connect channels that have no API connection. For some channels, including Airbnb and Vrbo, Beds24 offers specially constructed two-way iCal connections.
Note: Use iCal only for channels without an API connection. See How to setup iCal.
Before you connect a channel
- Set up your rooms, see How to Do the initial Setup. If you sell rooms in different combinations on your channels, you may need virtual rooms.
- Set up prices that are active for the channel, see Setting Prices for Booking Channels. Without prices, Beds24 sends no availability to most channels.
- Read the Beds24 User Agreement, in particular the liability section.
Existing bookings
The channel manager only imports bookings made after you activate the connection. For bookings you already have:
- Some channels can import upcoming bookings. The channel's help page says if this is possible.
- To block the booked dates, change the inventory for those dates in the Calendar.
- To have the booking details in Beds24, enter the bookings manually, or import them from a .csv file with the Beds24 API.
Connect a channel
You need an account with each channel you want to use. The steps vary by channel: most need credentials, some (for example Booking.com, Agoda and Expedia) need you to start the connection in their extranet, and some have an approval process. The channel's help page has the exact steps.
- Go to Settings > Channel Manager and select the channel. Click Help in the top right menu to open its setup instructions.
- Enter the channel's credentials or IDs and save.
- Map your rooms, and your rates where the channel needs it.
- Click View Actual Data to check which prices and availability Beds24 will send.
- Tick all the tick boxes (for example Inventory, Prices and Bookings) and click Save.
Expected result: Beds24 sends availability and prices to the channel and imports new bookings. The connection works if you receive no error messages and the channel shows the right availability and prices.
If you receive error messages, fix them immediately: many channels reject all updates while there is an error. The channel's help page lists common errors and how to fix them.
Map rooms and rates
Map every room you have on the channel to a room in Beds24. Beds24 can't update channel rooms that aren't mapped, which can cause overbookings.
- Click Get Code next to the room type ID setting.
- Click the channel room ID you want to map to the Beds24 room.
- When the room ID is copied into the room type ID setting, click Save.
Some channels also need you to map rates or daily prices. The channel's help page explains how.
Tip: To limit how many bookings a channel can accept, use Channel Inventory.
Price multiplier
Mark your prices up or down for a channel, for example to cover the channel's commission, or convert them into the channel's currency. Enter the multiplier in the channel's multiplier field. On some channels it goes into another field, for example after the hotel ID; the channel's help page says where.
| Value | Effect |
|---|---|
*1.23 |
Multiplies all prices by 1.23 (23% higher). |
*0.85 |
Sends 85% of your normal price (15% lower). |
*1.23* |
Multiplies the prices you send and divides the price of bookings imported from the channel by 1.23, so the booking shows your original price. |
*[CONVERT:IDR-EUR] |
Converts the prices with a currency conversion template variable, here from Indonesian rupiah to euros. You can use all currencies the booking page currency selector supports. |
Note: The multiplier applies to all prices and fees Beds24 sends to the channel.
Updates and changes
Beds24 sends changes to availability and prices to the channel instantly. Changes to settings, for example minimum stays, the multiplier or the number of rooms, go with the next update. To send them straight away, click Update.
Channel manager settings
Set these for all channels in Settings > Channel Manager. Bulk settings are under Preferences.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Export Data | How far ahead Beds24 sends prices: 1 or 2 years, as long as you have prices set up for the channel. Not all channels accept 2 years; the channel's help page gives its limit. |
| Import Channel Collect Payments | Yes = payments the channel collects on your behalf are imported with the booking and shown on the Charges and Payments tab. |
| Deduce language from country | Yes = Beds24 sets the booking language from the guest's country, so your language-based guest messages go out in the right language. Without a language, Beds24 uses the default language in Settings > Booking Page > Internationalization > Booking Page Language. |
| Invoice | Booking Amount = the guest invoice shows the booking charges instead of the payout amount. |
| Allow Channel Modifications | No or All except room changes = changes from the channel don't override changes you made in Beds24, for example when you moved a booking to another room. You can also set this per booking on the Details tab. |
Bookings from channels
- Notifications: once the channel manager is active, the channel stops sending you booking notifications. Beds24 sends them instead.
- Guest confirmation: the channel confirms the booking with the guest; Beds24 doesn't. To send your own confirmation, set up an Auto Action email. A template is available.
- Modifications and cancellations: make them in the channel. Beds24 can't send booking changes to channels, and cancelling a channel booking in Beds24 doesn't cancel it at the channel, which can cause a double booking. Exception: Vrbo XML bookings can be cancelled in Beds24.
- Room changes: if you move a channel booking to another room in Beds24, the channel still treats it as booked in the original room.
- Credit card details: some channels send them. See Card Number Collection.
- Payments: each channel collects deposits according to its rules and your account settings; Beds24 isn't involved. If you use Stripe, Beds24 can send the cards from all channels to Stripe, where you can charge them. See Stripe.
- Promotions and special offers: Beds24 doesn't send them. Manage them in the channel's extranet.
- No-shows: for Booking.com, report a no-show with the button on the booking's Details tab. For other channels, contact the channel if needed.
- Invoices: to use a different invoice for bookings from one channel, see Invoicees.
Disconnect a channel
- Untick Inventory, Prices and Bookings for a room to stop the synchronisation for that room.
- For some channels you also need to ask the channel to disconnect Beds24 as your channel manager. The channel's help page says so.
To pause a channel without removing its settings, see Temporarily Disconnect an OTA.
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Likely cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| You receive error messages by email or under potential issues | The channel rejected an update | Fix the error immediately: it can mean the channel manager can't update the channel. See the common errors on the channel's help page. |
| Overbooking | Unfixed error messages, or the same channel room code entered in several Beds24 rooms | Check for error messages and setup warnings. If you find no problem, send Beds24 a support ticket with the booking numbers and dates. |
| A booking wasn't imported | The channel room isn't mapped correctly | Check the room mapping. If you find no problem, send Beds24 a support ticket with the booking number and the date the booking was made. |
| The booking price is wrong | A special offer in the channel reduced the price, you have linked rates in the channel, or your prices aren't set up as you expect | Check the channel's offers and rate setup, and your prices in Beds24. Beds24 can't import prices from all channels: if you set minimum prices in Settings > Properties > Rooms > Setup, the booking uses them. |
Important Notes
- You can send different prices for different minimum stays or numbers of guests, and connect several properties from one account, depending on the channel. The channel's help page explains its setup.
- Pool allotment: all your rooms sit in one pool and every channel sells from it. When the pool is empty, all channels close automatically. This is how Beds24 works by default.
- Different availability per channel: limit the bookings a channel can accept in Channel Inventory.
- Contracted rooms (base allocation): an agreement to give a channel a number of rooms exclusively. You can't sell those rooms directly or on other channels. See Channel with Custom Availability.