Eligibility

We currently support the Request to Book model only for properties that meet the following eligibility criteria:

1. New to Booking.com – The Request to Book model is only available for properties that are new to Booking.com. A property is considered "new" if it is newly introduced to Booking.com and fits the rest of the eligibility criteria mentioned in this document. Existing properties cannot be converted from Instant Booking (IB) model to Request to Book (RtB) model.

2. Specific property types – The property must be one of the following property types that concerns renting out the entire place:

   • Holiday home
   • Apartment
   • Villa

3. Content API RtB Feature Flag – You must have the content_api_rtb_enabled feature flag turned on. This feature flag is crucial as it enables the following capabilities:

   • Onboarding Eligible Properties: You can onboard properties that are eligible, provided that they meet the rest of the RtB eligibility criteria.
   • Eligibility Verification: You can use the eligibility endpoint to verify if a property qualifies for the RtB model.
   • Switching Booking Modes: You can transition an eligible property between Instant Booking (IB) and Request to Book (RtB) modes.

Please note that, turning on this feature does not work retrospectively. Any properties onboarded before enabling this feature will not have their eligibility statuses changed.

For more information on enabling this feature and onboarding an eligible RtB property, or switching between Request to Book and Instant Booking models, please refer to the Getting Started with Request to Book section.

Request to Book model is available worldwide.

Checking if a property is eligible

To validate whether a property is eligible for the Request to Book model, you can use the Content API /ota/OTA_HotelDescriptiveInfo endpoint.

Eligibility Flowchart

To better understand the eligibility criteria for the Request to Book model, refer to the flowchart below: