Integration overview

Introduction

Expedia is one of the world's leading full-service online travel brands helping travellers easily plan and book their whole trip with the widest selection of vacation packages, flights, hotels, vacation rentals, rental cars, cruises, activities, attractions, and services.

Integration model

Expedia is the next Sales Channel (SC) that has been successfully integrated with Rentals United. Property Managers (PMs) can now connect to Expedia and start advertising their properties through this channel.

  • All actions are initiated by Rentals United;

  • ARI data and property descriptive content for new properties are sent to Expedia upon initial connection;

  • When property descriptive content is updated in Rentals United, the property needs to be updated in Expedia. For more information, please see Updating listings.

  • Since 2023-02-22, you can turn automatic updates on and have the property descriptive content sent to Expedia automatically - see details at Automatic listing content update

  • When availability and pricing data is changed in Rentals United, Expedia is immediately updated.

  • Reservations, cancellations and modifications are retrieved from Expedia.

Categorization

Expedia specialises in selling inventory en masse. In this system, guests can choose a specific room type from the available inventory , for example a double room in a hotel.

  • Rentals United hotel or group refers to the room type, e.g. Queen Apartment or Two-Bedroom Apartment and is synchronized as multi-unit. A multi-unit refers to a set of indistinguishable properties. These properties work the same way the regular properties do; however, they represent a number of properties with the same specification at the same address. An example of a multi-unit property is a set of identical hotel rooms.

  • Rentals United property refers to a physical room of a certain type, e.g. Property 1 and Property 3 are categorized as Two-Bedroom Apartment.

  • Rentals United rate refers to a particular pricing plan, which is created based on particular settings in your property. You can see your rates after selecting the Property Settings page of the Expedia channel in the Services tab.

    The rate system provides you with the flexibility on multiple levels, for example occupancy (Standard number of guests in the Daily price), Minimum stay or pricing.

    Important: Any additional rates created in Expedia must be mapped in Rentals United. Otherwise you risk your new rates will get out-of-date and result in overbookings.

Contract details

New clients: Currently, Expedia is accepting new inventory depending on demand. Priority onboarding is on multi-unt inventory companies based in the USA. Other locations and types are reviewed and accepted by Expedia case by case. If you wish to connect your properties to Expedia,contact the Rentals United Support Team and we will present your case to Expedia.

Commission: 12 - 20% on booking total, depending on your agreement with Expedia.

Payment process: Expedia works with two main business models which determine the way you receive payments for the reservations:

  • Expedia Collects (Expedia Virtual Card): A guest has prepaid Expedia and Expedia deposited the amount on a Virtual Card. You will receive the Virtual Card details, which will be visible in Rentals United for 10 days. You need to charge the Expedia Virtual Card on the day of departure. You can contact Expedia Virtual Cards for any virtual card queries.

  • Hotel Collects: You can charge the guest's credit card upon arrival. Whether you can take a deposit at the time of the booking will be agreed upon and included in your contract with Expedia.

Length of stay: The maximum minimum stay value accepted by Expedia is 28 days.

Hotel ID: Log in to the Expedia dashboard. You can find your Hotel ID in the top right corner.