Vrbo recently announced that starting October 29, 2026, they are moving all hosts to a flat 12% commission fee (up from the previous 5% model). If you have a custom formula rule in Clearing calculating your Vrbo channel commission, you'll need to make a quick update to keep it accurate going forward.
Does this apply to you? This only applies if you have a custom formula rule calculating your Vrbo commission in Clearing (Scenario 3 or 4 in How to Set Up Channel Commission Rules in Clearing). If your PMS already sends the Vrbo commission to Clearing as a line item, you don't need to change anything here, though it's worth confirming with your PMS that it's applying the new 12% rate.
Step 1: Add an End Date to Your Existing 5% Rule
Open your current Vrbo commission rule and set the Reservation date on or before field to October 28, 2026. This ensures any guest who booked on or before that date continues to be calculated at 5%.
Step 2: Create a New 12% Rule for October 29 and Beyond
Click the three dots next to your existing rule and select Duplicate. In the duplicated rule:
Remove the Reservation date on or before date.
Set Reservation date on or after to October 29, 2026.
Update all percentages in the formula from -5% to -12%.
Once both rules are saved, Clearing will automatically apply the correct rate based on the reservation date. No manual adjustments needed going forward.
A note on your rates: With this commission change, you may also want to review and adjust your nightly rates through your PMS or pricing channel to account for the difference. Vrbo sent its own notification email about this update. If you didn't receive it, we recommend reaching out to Vrbo directly for more details.
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