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iCal synchronization

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Alek Janeva
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Export the BookingSync calendar in iCal 

Step 1

Go to the Calendar section and click on the Calendar (view) icon.

Step 2

Click the Share link at the bottom right.

Step 3

Scroll down to see the link and copy it.

Step 4 (optional)

Paste your iCal link into your browser to download the file on your computer.

Note: The iCal link from your BookingSync Calendar can also be found in Settings > Exports

 

Connect to a channel

If there is no application to connect BookingSync to the channel you like, you can still use iCal to sync your calendar FROM BookingSync TO the channel.

Note that this connection is only 1-way and not instant. The synchronisation can take up to 6 hours to happen. Tentative is not shown as blocked with iCal sync.

For the channels connected through iCal, we highly recommend not to use instant booking as the risk of double bookings would be very strong.

Each channel has it's own way of importing an external calendar. We've listed below a few. Please refer to your channel support to get this information.

Vrbo

  1. Log in to your account.
  2. Click Calendar.
  3. Select the correct property.
  4. Click the Import/Export Calendar icon.
  5. Click Import Calendar.
  6. Give the calendar a name.
  7. Select a color to represent the calendar.
  8. Paste the calendar link you just copied.
  9. Select whether the calendar will block availability.
  10. Click Import Calendar.

The calendar is updated every hour.

TripAdvidor

Source https://rentalsupport.tripadvisor.com/articles/FAQ/noc-How-does-calendar-sync-work
  1. Go to Calendar:
  2. Click Connect a calendar (or Manage my calendar if you’ve got at least one connected calendar already)
  3. Select the type of calendar you want to import
  4. Paste the web link of this calendar
  5. Give the imported calendar a name
  6. Click Connect

Synchronize your calendar with your "Google Calendar"

Source https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/37118?hl=en

After you've exported your events, you can import them into Google Calendar.

  1. Open Google Calendar on a computer. Note: You can only import from a computer, not a phone or tablet.
  2. In the top right, click SettingsSettings.
  3. Open the Calendars tab.
  4. Click Import calendars between the "My calendars" and "Other Calendars" sections.
  5. Click Choose File and select the file you exported. The file should end in "ics" or "csv"
  6. Choose which calendar to add the imported events to. By default, events will be imported into your primary calendar.
  7. Click Import.

If you're using a ZIP file, find it on your computer and open it. You'll see ICS files for each of your calendars. Take the individual files out of the ZIP file, and import each ICS file individually.

Note: Repeating events might not show up that way if you import them from a CSV file, but they'll be on your calendar as a series of one-time events.

Synchronize your calendar with your iOS calendar (mac)

 

Source https://support.apple.com/kb/PH11523

To subscribe to a calendar from a link on the Internet or an email you received, click the link. If you do this, you can skip step 1, and the calendar’s web address is filled out for you in step 2.

  1. Choose File > New Calendar Subscription.
  2. Enter the calendar’s web address, then click Subscribe.
  3. Enter a name for the calendar in the Name field, then click the adjacent pop-up menu and choose a color.
  4. Click the Location pop-up menu, then choose an account for the subscription.

    If you choose your iCloud account, the calendar is available on all your computers and devices that are set up with iCloud.

    If you choose On My Mac, the calendar is saved on your computer.

  5. To get the calendar’s event attachments or alerts, deselect the appropriate Remove checkboxes.
  6. Click the Auto-refresh pop-up menu, then choose how often to update the calendar.
  7. To prevent alerts from appearing for this calendar, select Ignore alerts.
  8. Click OK.

    To make changes later, click the name of the calendar, then choose Edit > Get Info.

Note that  tentative is not shown as blocked with iCal sync.

Synchronize your calendar with your iOS calendar apps (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch)

After exporting your BookingSync calendar in iCal, you can subscribe to it from your iOs calendar app to get the regular updates.

  1. On your device navigate to Settings > Calendars.
  2. Select Add Account
  3. Choose Other
  4. Go to Add Subscribed Calendar
  5. Paste the iCal link and go Next
  6. Save
Note that tentative is not shown as blocked with iCal sync.

 

Synchronize your calendar including client details with iOS calendar app (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch)

  1. Go in your Profile page

  2. Scroll down to the Authentication token section
  3. Copy the Authentication token



    Note: The Authentication Token works like a password so you should keep it safe just as you do with your email and password.
    You can always reset it and generate a new one if needed...
  4. Create a new note from the Notes application of your iPhone and paste the Authentication Token
  5. Update the following URL, with your BookingSync Account ID (to replace MY_ACCOUNT_ID) and Authentication token (to replace MY_AUTH_TOKEN) previously copied 
    "https://www.bookingsync.com/en/bookings.ics?account_id=MY_ACCOUNT_ID&auth_token=MY_AUTH_TOKEN
"
  6. Copy the complete URL
  7. Follow the steps described in the Synchronize your calendar with your iOS calendar app (iPhones, iPads and iPods Touch) section to sucsbribe to this calendar
Note that tentative is not shown as blocked with iCal sync.

Synchronize your calendar including booking details

Our iCal includes more details about your bookings.

  1. This is the link (you need to replace 3 values described on step 2): 
    "https://www.bookingsync.com/en/rentals/RENTAL_ID/bookings.ics?fullday=1&auth_token=AUTH_TOKEN&account_id=ACCOUNT_ID"
  2. You now need to replace with the right values from your account:
  • RENTAL_ID: you will find the rental ID in Rentals > hover your mouse over the name of your rental and you’ll see on the lower part of your screen an URL. The last digits belong to your rental ID
  • AUTH_TOKEN: you will find this value in Manage Account > Profile > Authentication token
  • ACCOUNT_ID: you will find your account ID in Rentals > hover your mouse over the name of your rental and you’ll see on the lower part of your screen an URL. The first digits belong to your account ID

Bare in mind you’ll have to follow these steps for every single rental you’d like to sync with iCal.

Why we don't recommend 2 way synchronization with iCal

At BookingSync we make the software so that no double bookings can ever happen. That's why we don't do 2 way synchronization with iCal (particularly import iCal into BookingSync).

We technically can, but this would lead to potential double bookings. Here is a step-by-step example of the problem if we were to do so:

a) Let's say you receive a booking on some of the portals where you've listed your property on a channel which is not connected to BookingSync, apart from an iCal import. As the iCal import is not instant (nor reliable), the booking might be updated 1 hour after it has been confirmed on the channel.
b) In the meantime, you receive a confirmed booking from another source to book a similar date with instant booking (Airbnb, Booking.com, ..)
c) As the calendar is "still free", the second booking is created. and you are now with a double booking situation...

As you can see, this solution can make advertising portals "connected" in both ways, but none would be considered as your calendar of reference. So there would be no way to accept instant booking with it, but also you would need another system to handle your business reservations.

With BookingSync, double bookings should never happen. You just have to follow a certain process. It’s proven to work and to be reliable.

It is that simple:

  1. You receive a booking request
  2. You update one calendar (BookingSync calendar)
  3. You accept the booking on the portal
  4. BookingSync synchronizers do the rest – updating the calendars on all BookingSync supported portals where you have listed your property


Please note, new reservations should be entered first in BookingSync before they can be confirmed on other sites.

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