Double Booking
A double booking happens when the same dates get reserved on two different platforms at once, because availability updated on one channel hadn't yet reached the other. It's the core risk of listing on multiple platforms, and the main problem calendar sync exists to prevent.
Double bookings are most common right after a reservation is made and before every synced platform has refreshed - the gap between the booking and the next sync cycle. Feeds updated only every few hours widen that gap; more frequent syncing narrows it but can't remove it entirely, since no iCal-based sync is instantaneous.
Manual date blocks, short sync delays, and a final availability check at the moment of booking are the usual layers hosts and platforms combine to cut the risk down further.
Why it matters for hosts
RentalBeam imports every connected iCal source and re-checks it frequently to keep the displayed calendar current, and the booking form widget verifies availability again from the source feeds when a guest submits an instant pay-in-widget reservation. Sync is never truly real time, though - the platforms you import from only refresh their own exported calendars on their schedule, so a booking taken on one may not have reached its feed yet. Inquiry-only and request-now flows sidestep the risk entirely, since nothing is confirmed until the host reviews it.
Further reading
More detail on how this works with RentalBeam.
Related terms
Other glossary terms that come up alongside this one.
See this in the product.
See how RentalBeam sync works