How to Sync Your Calendar in WP Booking System Using iCal

Keeping your availability up to date is crucial when managing vacation rentals. WP Booking System makes it easy to synchronize your booking calendar with popular Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) like Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com using iCal. This ensures that your availability stays accurate across all platforms, helping to prevent double bookings.

In this guide, we’ll cover:

1. Syncing Your Calendar with iCal Import (from OTAs to WP Booking System)
2. Syncing Your Calendar with iCal Export (from WP Booking System to Other Platforms)

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Syncing Your Calendar with iCal Import (From OTAs to WP Booking System)

If you list your property on platforms like Airbnb, VRBO, or Booking.com, you can import their iCal links into WP Booking System. This allows your direct booking website to reflect bookings made through these OTAs.

Step 1: Get the iCal Link from the OTA

Each platform provides an iCal link that contains your booking data:

• Airbnb from your Desktop
  1. Go to Host Dashboard > Listings
  2. Select the listing you want to sync
  3. Under Connect calendars, click Connect to another website
  4. To export your calendar, copy the Airbnb calendar link, then paste it into your other iCal-based calendar
• VRBO
  1. Log into your VRBO account
  2. Navigate to Calendar > Import/Export
  3. Copy the Export iCal link
• Booking.com
  1. Go to Property > Calendar & Pricing
  2. Click Sync Calendars > Export Calendar
  3. Copy the iCal link

Step 2: Import the iCal Link into WP Booking System

1. Log in to your onNinth dashboard
2. Go to WP Booking System > Calendars
3. Select the calendar you want to sync
4. Scroll down and click the iCal Import/Export Button
5. On the right side under ‘Import from iCal URL’ Paste the iCal link from the OTA
6. Set a calendar name to something like ‘AirBNB iCal’ or similar for other OTAs so you can distinguish the iCals and set the ‘Import iCal Events As‘ ‘Booked‘
7. Click ‘Use Split Days‘ to enable them. This will allow for check-out in the mornings and check-in in the afternoon of the same day.
8. Set ‘Split Day Start‘ to ‘Changeover 1‘ and ‘Split Day End‘ to ‘Changeover 2‘
9. Click Add iCal URL

Your WP Booking System calendar will now fetch and update bookings from the OTA automatically.

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Syncing Your Calendar with iCal Export (From WP Booking System to Other Platforms)

To ensure that your direct bookings also reflect on external platforms, you can export your WP Booking System calendar using iCal.

Step 1: Get Your WP Booking System iCal Link

1. Go to WP Booking System > Calendars
2. Select the calendar you want to export
3. Scroll down and click the iCal Import/Export Button
4. Copy the generated iCal link

Step 2: Import the iCal Link into OTAs

• Airbnb
  1. Go to Host Dashboard > Listings
  2. Select the listing
  3. Under Connect calendars, click Connect to another website
  4. Paste the URL into the calendar address field
  5. Give the calendar a name and click Add calendar
• VRBO
  1. Go to Calendar > Import/Export
  2. Click Import
  3. Paste the WP Booking System iCal link and save
• Booking.com
  1. Navigate to Property > Calendar & Pricing
  2. Click Sync Calendars > Import Calendar
  3. Paste the WP Booking System iCal link and confirm

Step 3: Set Up Auto-Updates

Most OTAs refresh their imported calendars every few hours, but update times vary. Ensure your WP Booking System iCal updates frequently to prevent discrepancies.

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Final Thoughts

Syncing your WP Booking System calendar with iCal ensures seamless availability management across all platforms. By importing OTAs’ calendars and exporting your own, you can minimize the risk of double bookings and maximize your rental’s efficiency.

Need help setting up your iCal sync? Let us know in the comments! 🚀