How to sync Airbnb and Booking.com calendars (without double bookings)

If you list the same place on Airbnb, Booking.com and your own site, you have felt the cold dread of a possible double booking. Here is how calendar sync actually works, where it goes wrong, and how to stop it eating your weekends.

What iCal sync is (and isn't)

Every major channel can export your bookings as an iCal feed — a single link that lists your booked dates. Point one channel at another's feed and it will block those dates automatically. It is free, and it is read-only: a feed shares dates, never guest payment details.

The catch: iCal sync is not instant. Channels re-check each other's feeds on their own schedule — often every few hours. In that gap, two guests can book the same night on two different platforms. That is where most "how did this happen" double bookings come from.

The three ways people set it up

1. Point every channel at every other channel

Workable with two channels, a nightmare with four — you are maintaining a web of feed links, and the sync gap multiplies.

2. Use a channel manager

A paid PMS/channel manager sits in the middle. Reliable, but often overkill (and overpriced) for a handful of huts.

3. One calendar that pulls everything in

A single system imports every channel's feed, shows you one combined calendar, and turns each incoming booking into the operational work it creates (the changeover, the guest message).

Practical tips to avoid the double-booking gap

• Reduce the sync window where you can. Refresh feeds as often as the channel allows.
• Keep a buffer on high-demand dates if your sync is slow.
• Have one source of truth. Looking at four separate calendars is how mistakes happen — pull them into one view.
• Watch for repeated/expiring feed links. Some channels reissue the export URL periodically; a stale link silently stops syncing.

How Beacon handles it

Beacon pulls in every channel's iCal feed on a schedule, de-duplicates the noise those feeds produce, and shows you one clean calendar — then auto-creates the turnover for each check-out so nothing is forgotten. It is read-only and safe, and it means you stop cross-checking four tabs every morning.

See your whole calendar in one place →