Replacing an iCal link? Keep booked nights protected

The replacement link saves without an error. That feels like the job is done, until you notice that a confirmed stay is missing from another booking calendar. Changing an iCal URL is a small handover between systems: saving the address, importing the right events and protecting availability are separate steps.

Use this checklist when a provider gives you a new export URL or you replace an incorrect link. It is about changing a connection for the same rental, not moving reservations between properties or cancelling bookings. Keep the platform's reservation record as the reference throughout.

Map the direction before touching the link

Write down the source platform, its listing, the receiving property and every place that subscribes to that export. Include other booking sites and any personal calendars you still use. A link copied from Airbnb and saved in RentTools carries information in that direction; it does not by itself update every other subscriber.

Airbnb's calendar connection guide distinguishes exporting a link from importing one. Refresh timing depends on the receiving calendar. Use the export address supplied by the source, rather than the address of an ordinary calendar page.

Check the listing name in the source account before copying. Similar property names are a reason to compare the actual listing, not a reason to guess. Store the full address only in the intended private settings; redact it from screenshots and public support requests. Keep a short change note with the property, direction and responsible person, without copying the URL into a shared task.

Protect the stays that must remain unavailable

Before the change, compare upcoming confirmed reservations in the source with the calendars where the home can still be sold. Record arrivals and departures in a private working list. Include separate owner stays and manual closures in the review; they may have a different source from guest bookings.

If a receiving calendar is missing a known occupied interval, protect the affected nights using its supported availability controls while you investigate. Airbnb documents selecting nights and marking them blocked in its calendar instructions. Check the other platforms directly too; a temporary hold in one tool is not evidence that all channels are protected.

Illustrative check: a confirmed stay arrives Tuesday and departs Friday. Compare three occupied nights: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Inspect the departure boundary separately; do not turn it into a fourth occupied night. These weekdays are an example, not a real reservation. The checkout-day explanation helps when a displayed departure day is easy to misread.

Note exactly which temporary holds you create and where. That small list makes the final cleanup possible without confusing a repair hold with a booking or an unrelated restriction.

Replace the existing connection and inspect its result

In RentTools, select the correct property and edit the existing platform's import URL. Saving a replacement for the same property and platform updates that connection. Review the cleaning buffers as well; changing the address should not accidentally become a change to the preparation plan.

Avoid deleting and recreating the connection merely to clear an error. Removing a RentTools calendar link also removes its imported calendar events for that property and platform. A successful save, meanwhile, only confirms the settings change: you still need to inspect what the next import brings in.

Check the sync result and compare the actual upcoming stays with your private list. If the replacement imports no future events, the wrong home's dates or duplicate-looking entries, stop and investigate while the necessary availability stays protected. Do not create replacement guest bookings just to make the screen look complete, or delete a genuine booking to hide a duplicate. The stale-calendar guide provides a wider diagnostic path.

Check every subscriber before closing the task

Update each receiver that still uses the replaced address. Test the complete route you rely on, including the selling calendar at the far end; a correct RentTools view alone cannot prove that another site has refreshed. Keep the change under review if any receiver still shows old dates or an import error.

Finish with three comparisons: occupied nights match the source reservation, unrelated closures remain, and the next turnover still has an assigned preparation plan. Then remove only the temporary manual holds recorded during this change, one receiver at a time, checking availability again afterwards. If a night remains blocked for another reason, use the blocked-date review instead of forcing it open.

Record the verification time and who checked each receiver. Hand any changed arrival or departure instructions to the person preparing the home. The connection change is complete when the calendars agree and the next stay can proceed with a clear plan.