There can be different types of overbookings in the Cloudbeds platform. This article explains the most common scenarios where overbookings happen, why they happen, and how to handle them.
Overbookings caused by room blocks or courtesy holds
Cloudbeds PMS allows you to create room blocks, courtesy holds, or set a room out of service.
If you are fully booked and have unassigned reservations, the system still allows users to create a room block, courtesy hold, or set a room as out of service, which can lead to an overbooking (e.g., unexpected maintenance or repairs).
If you have auto-room assignment activated, the system won’t auto-assign any reservation to a room that has a block during the reservation’s date range. You’ll need to assign it manually via the blue Assignments button.
When attempting to create a block with full occupancy, a warning asks you to confirm. If you continue, an overbooking will be created.
Overbookings caused by manually adding a third-party reservation
- Third Party Sources can be used to manually register reservations made via OTA/wholesaler/travel agent/corporate.
- You can create these reservations regardless of availability or stay restrictions (Min/Max LOS, Closed to Arrival/Departure), assuming special agreements with partners.
- Note: This can cause overbookings if not managed carefully. See below for how to create (when needed) and how to restrict users to avoid mistakes.
Create a third-party reservation when there is no availability
- Follow steps to create a new reservation and select a Third Party Source.
- Continue and confirm reservation creation.
- You’ll see an overbooking warning — click Continue to proceed.
Even if there is no availability for the period, the system still allows you to select the room to complete the reservation.
Disallow users from creating overbookings via third-party reservations
Disable user permission to create overbooked third-party reservations
The Property Owner has access to User Management by default. Other users must be granted access by the Property Owner.
You may allow overbookings (e.g., expecting cancellations or using alternate rooms). Otherwise, prevent accidental overbookings by updating role permissions:
- Open Roles and edit the user’s role.
- Under Reservations, turn off Create Overbooked Third-Party Reservations and (optionally) Create Third-Party Reservations .
- Save your changes.
Deactivate all third-party sources
Deactivating all third-party sources prevents all users (including the Property Owner) from creating third-party reservations. See: Activate/Deactivate reservation sources .
Overbookings caused by moving a reservation between accommodation types
Reason/background:
- If you have unassigned reservations, available spaces appear in your calendar, allowing you to drag-and-drop a reservation between room types. If the target category is actually full, this will create an overbooking.
The system won’t warn that an overbooking may occur here — it only offers to recalculate the total price or cancel the action.
What to do:
- Before dragging reservations, ensure there are no unassigned reservations for the dates. Learn how to find and handle unassigned reservations.
- Use the Activity Log to research why an overbooking was allowed. If still unclear, contact Support with booking ID, dates, rooms, channels, and the expected vs. actual outcome.
Changing the quantity of rooms can also cause overbookings: e.g., you have 8 “Standard Double” rooms and 8 reservations for a day. If you reduce room quantity to 5 in settings, you’ll immediately have 3 overbookings for that date.
Overbookings caused by simultaneous bookings
A simultaneous booking occurs when the last available room of a room type is booked almost at the same time (within ~15 minutes) on different channels.
Example:
- Availability: 1 Double Deluxe. Two bookings arrive:
- Booking 1: Double Deluxe (May 5 — Booking.com — 12:10 PM)
- Booking 2: Double Deluxe (May 5 — Expedia — 12:15 PM)
Reason:
- On Booking.com, the first customer finds availability and has a 15-minute window to finish the booking. During that window, availability appears open.
- On Expedia, a second customer can simultaneously see the same availability and start a booking as well.
- If a customer doesn’t finish within the 15-minute window, they’re typically logged out and availability refreshes.
- If both complete at nearly the same time on different channels, the channels may ignore last-second availability updates and still allow both bookings.
- Cloudbeds PMS attempts to close availability across channels as quickly as possible, but if a customer is already far along in checkout, the channel can still accept the booking.
Many hoteliers don’t offer last-room availability to channel partners. For example, sell 8 of 10 rooms on channels and keep the last 2 for direct (website/walk-in/phone). This reduces overbooking risk.
Impact of overbookings on Auto Assign
Even if a specific room type shows available units, the property may still be considered fully occupied due to overbookings in other accommodation types. When this happens, Auto Assign will not place new reservations until the overbooking is resolved or a unit becomes free.
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