Understanding earlier activation dates for virtual credit cards

In 2020, because of Covid-19, to protect your guests’ and your own interests, we changed the activation date of all outstanding and future virtual credit cards (VCCs) to one day after check-in. We’re now reversing this change for certain eligible partners.

In this article:

Eligibility for the earlier activation date for VCC

We offer VCC as a payment option to streamline the booking process for your guests. If guests choose to pay online, they can do so using their preferred payment method. We then load that payment onto a VCC that you can charge like a regular credit card. Each VCC has a specific activation date and can only be used once.

Due to the unpredictability caused by the pandemic, we temporarily changed the activation date for all VCCs to one day after check-in to help you manage cancellations and refunds for VCCs.

We’re now reversing this change for eligible partners with an established payment track record. To be eligible, you must:

• Have processed monthly invoices in a timely manner for the last 12 months, according to payment due dates
• Have no written-off invoices from the past 12 months
• Have no property suspension due to financial reasons in the last three months
• Have no outstanding VCCs exceeding 60 days and requiring a guest refund
• Have six months of partnership with us, including validated guest stays and reviews

Your eligibility will be reviewed on a regular basis, and we'll inform you if it's changed. 

Earlier VCC activation feature

Here’s how the earlier VCC activation feature works:

• Non-refundable bookings can be charged using the VCC on the day the booking is made
• Partially refundable bookings can be charged using the VCC once a booking becomes 90% non-refundable
• All other bookings can be charged using the VCC on the check-in date

We’ll continuously review your eligibility, and you’ll keep benefiting from an earlier activation date as long as you meet the criteria.