> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gridbeds.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Channels
> Connecting Booking.com, Airbnb and other channels through Channex, and what is synchronised.
**Channels** is in the Sales & Distribution group ("Manage distribution channels and booking platforms") and works on one property: the one chosen in the switcher or, while the switcher names several, the one you pick at the top of the page, which leaves the switcher as it is. You need permission to view channels.
The channel manager is part of your subscription's integrations module. Without it, the page reads "Channel Manager isn't included in your plan" — see [Plans and prices](/en/plans).
The page has three sections: **Direct Bookings** (**Always on**), **Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)** and **Guest messaging** (a Channex app billed separately).
## Connecting a channel
Click **Sync now**. Gridbeds sends the property, its room types and rate plans to Channex.
Click **Map channels**. **Connect channels - \{property}** opens Channex's configurator, where you connect each OTA and map its rooms and rates to Gridbeds's. If you did not sync first, you see "Property not synced".
When the configurator closes, the channel list reloads. Each channel has an on/off switch and **Manage**; statuses are Connected, Error, Inactive, Setting up… and Syncing….
## What is synchronised
| To channels | From channels |
| - | - |
| Availability, prices and restrictions: minimum stay (on arrival and through), maximum stay, closed to arrival, closed to departure, stop sell | New bookings, changes and cancellations |
The sync status is **Synced**, **Sync error** or **Not synced**; "Receiving live updates from channels (webhook active)" means bookings arrive in real time. A full sync also runs every night at 04:30.
Daily prices, minimum stay and stop sell are changed in [Calendar](/en/calendar), the **Rates** view (with **Bulk edit** for several days).
A booking the channel collected payment for cannot be collected again in Gridbeds: the collect window says "This booking's payment was collected by the distribution channel".
## Airbnb requests to book
Some Airbnb guests ask to book instead of booking instantly, and the host has 24 hours to accept or decline before Airbnb lets the request expire. When such a request arrives and Gridbeds does not accept it automatically, everyone who manages the channels (**Owner**, **Admin** and any role with that permission, for this property) is told:
* in the bell, with a link to **Channels**;
* by push notification on the mobile app;
* by email.
The notification gives the dates asked for and the deadline, never the guest's name. **Answer the request in Airbnb**: Gridbeds does not accept or decline it for you. If it is still unanswered two hours before it expires, you are told again, once.
The notice follows **Account and system alerts** in **Settings → Notifications** (in-app, email and push); with push off, the bell entry is still there. People who cannot see the property, or who are suspended, are not told.
## When the channel sync fails
Some sync failures put a guest at the desk that the calendar does not expect. When one of them starts at a property, everyone who can view the channels for that property (**Owner**, **Admin** and any role with that permission) is told: in the bell, with a link to **Channels**; by push notification on the mobile app; and by email.
| What happened | What to do |
| - | - |
| **Channel booking not imported**: a booking a channel sold is not in the calendar, because its room type or rate plan is not mapped, or because applying it has been failing for more than ten minutes. Its room is still on sale. | Map the room type or rate plan on **Channels**; the booking comes in by itself once it is mapped. |
| **Channel change not applied**: a channel changed or cancelled a booking, and the change was not applied by itself (the stay had started, or the room was taken on the new dates). | Apply the change to the booking by hand, then resolve it in the sync errors on **Channels**. |
| **Channel bookings not arriving**: bookings from the channel manager have not been collected for more than 20 minutes. | A booking made meanwhile may be missing: check each channel's extranet. The Gridbeds team is alerted too. |
| **Channel sync paused**: the platform has paused this property's channel updates, so availability and rates are not sent. | A room sold at the desk can still be sold online: check the extranets before selling the last rooms. |
You are told once per problem, not once per failed attempt: a booking that fails again on every sync, or a second booking that fails while the first is still waiting, sends no new notice. Once the problem has been gone for 15 minutes, you are told that the sync has recovered.
The notices follow **Account and system alerts** in **Settings → Notifications** (in-app, email and push), and each reaches you in your own language. People who cannot see the property, or who are suspended, are not told. A rate or availability update a channel refused is told separately, by the "Channel sync failed" notice.
## Channel mix and commissions
**Dashboard → Channels** shows the **Channel mix**: for a **Period** (this month, last month, the last 30 days, the year to date or the last 12 months), **By stay date** or **By booking date**, each channel's net revenue, nights or bookings, its share, ADR and **Est. commission**, against last year. At the top: **Net revenue**, **Direct share**, **Estimated commission** and **ADR**.
Commissions are estimates, worked out with the rates in **Settings → Operations → Channel commissions** (**Set commissions** on the card). Enter the rate from your contract with each channel; where you enter none, Gridbeds uses a typical rate, marked "Default". **Back to default** undoes your rate. The channel's own invoice remains the reference. Only people who manage the channels can change the rates.
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