What counts as a direct booking? Track the source and checkout.

A direct booking is normally a reservation made through the property's own channel, such as its website, phone or email, rather than through a third-party booking site.^[13]

Discovery can happen anywhere. A guest might find you on Google, Instagram, an AI answer, an OTA or a friend's message. The booking becomes direct when the final reservation happens through the route you control.

That gives owners a clean distinction:

• source records where the guest came from;
• checkout records where the reservation was completed;
• cost records what you paid to acquire and process it.

Those fields tell a better story than one generous bucket called "direct".

Imagine three guests find the same cottage.

The first searches an OTA and books there. The OTA sourced and completed the booking.

The second clicks a link in the owner's newsletter, then checks out on the OTA. The owner sourced the demand, but the platform completed the booking.

The third finds the cottage in an AI answer, follows the official website and books through the owner's chosen route. The AI tool supplied discovery; the owner completed the booking.

All three guests found the property. Only the third reservation is direct under the ordinary channel definition. The second still deserves credit in the owner's marketing report because the owner's work created the demand.

When the label gets fuzzy, inspect the transaction. Who processes the payment? Which account contains the reservation? Where are changes, cancellations and refunds handled?

Airbnb's payment terms say Airbnb Payments collects money from guests and pays hosts through its account system.^[12] Airbnb also tells guests that offline or cash payments violate its terms for Airbnb reservations.^[14] A host-shared link does not move that checkout onto the owner's website.

Now record the cost. Airbnb's current service-fee page says most hosts on its single-fee structure pay 15.5%, while others typically pay 14% to 16%.^[11] Reports about the pilot cite lower rates of 6% or 10%, but Airbnb has not publicly explained those reported tiers.^[9][10] The offer displayed in a host's own account is the one to use.

A lower platform fee may be worth taking. Platform checkout, support and guest familiarity all have value. The useful description is precise: owner-sourced, platform-completed, at the actual fee charged.

Add source, checkout and cost to every reservation report you can control. Keep referral credit separate from transaction ownership. Then compare channel performance using the same definitions each month.

This avoids a silly outcome where an owner does the marketing, an OTA handles the payment and the dashboard calls the result wholly direct. It also shows whether a discovery channel is sending guests to your own route or merely feeding another platform.

OpenStays.AI works on discovery. A Property Passport publishes owner-approved facts and points interested guests towards the owner's or agency's chosen booking route. OpenStays.AI does not take the payment or booking, and charges no listing fee or booking commission.^[2]

Keep the OTAs and other tools that earn their place. Build the route you own as well, then measure where each guest came from and where each booking finished.

Create a free Property Passport, choose your approved direct route and give guests another way to reach it.