Summary

Trust between guests and hosts is essential in our marketplace, so we expect hosts to fulfil every confirmed booking. If a host cancels an accepted reservation, we may charge a cancellation fee, temporarily suspend the listing, or remove Premier Host status, depending on the circumstances. Read on to learn more. 

What’s not allowed 

At Vrbo, we expect hosts to accept booking requests and honour confirmed bookings. If a host cancels a confirmed booking, they may be subject to the enforcement actions set out below. These enforcement actions will be waived only in certain limited circumstances, which are outlined in the “Cancellation waivers” section below.  

Examples of host cancellations which may be subject to enforcement include the following: 

If a host cannot honour a booking, the host must cancel it. If a host encourages or pressures a guest to cancel a booking, this will be treated as a host cancellation. Any attempt to shift responsibility for a cancellation to a guest, or to act dishonestly to avoid this policy, is strictly prohibited.

Enforcement

Fees: We may charge a fee for host cancellations. These fees offset the anticipated costs and negative impact of cancellations on our guests, other hosts, and Vrbo.

For properties in the United States: 

The cancellation fees above will apply to properties outside the United States from the Effective Dates set out below:

Until further notice, cancellation fees will not apply to integrated property managers with properties in countries outside of the United States. Cancellation fees are only charged where a host’s chosen currency is supported.

The reservation amount is the total reservation amount for all nights, including the base rate, plus any mandatory fees, such as cleaning fees. For host cancellations on or after April 2, 2026, applicable taxes will be added to any cancellation fees that are charged.

For hosts that have selected payouts in USD, the minimum cancellation fee is $50 USD, plus applicable taxes. For hosts that have selected another currency for payouts, the minimum cancellation fee will be an approximate equivalent to $50 USD, plus applicable taxes. There is no maximum fee. 

Cancellation fees will be charged to the host or withheld from their next payout. Hosts who fail to pay invoiced cancellation fees may have their accounts suspended until fees are paid in full. Note: account suspension affects all listings under the Vrbo account, blocking future reservations and payouts. 

Suspensions: Hosts will have 10 days to submit a waiver request after a host cancellation occurs (details below). Unless a waiver request is received and approved during this time, the impacted listing will be suspended for seven days.  Hosts cannot accept new reservations for the impacted listing while it is suspended.  

Terminations and cancellation of future bookings: Repeated host cancellations or failure to respond in a timely manner to Customer Support inquiries may result in a host’s account (all listings) being terminated and future bookings for all listings being cancelled and treated as host cancellations, subject to cancellation fees.

Calendar blocks: We may impose calendar blocks for the days of the original cancelled reservation if bookings are cancelled because a host double-booked the reservation.  We may also impose calendar blocks for future dates if bookings are cancelled due to an extenuating circumstance impacting the host, or a property sale.

Payouts: Hosts will not receive the payout for a cancelled reservation. If the payout was already completed, future payouts will be reduced until the money is recouped. 

Same-Day Bookings: Host cancellations or other policy violations in connection with same-day bookings may result in a host being blocked from accepting same-day bookings.

Premier Host status: Host cancellations may result in the loss of Premier Host status. See the Premier Host Policy for more details. 

Lower ranking: Host cancellations can negatively impact a property’s search result ranking.  

Cancellation waivers 

We understand that not all cancellations are within your control. When such circumstances arise, hosts may request a cancellation waiver by providing proof that the cancellation was due to one of the reasons below.  Where Vrbo approves a cancellation waiver request, the cancellation will not be treated as a host cancellation, and hosts will be exempt from enforcement actions for that cancellation. Waiver requests must be submitted within 10 days of the cancellation.

Hosts may request a cancellation waiver for one of the reasons below:

Related

Marketplace Standards 

Extenuating Circumstances Policy 

Disruptive or Unauthorised Events Policy 

Premier Host Policy 

Property Sold Notice Policy

Host Communications Policy