Save on service fees by booking direct on Houfy.

These directions are for planning purposes only. You may find that construction projects, traffic, weather, or other events may cause conditions to differ from the map results, and you should plan your route accordingly. You must obey all signs or notices regarding your route.

As a security deposit alternative, houfyProtect, an upfront nonrefundable low cost property damage protection policy for just $5 per night, is taken at time of booking.

This host has not verified their email or phone number on Houfy.

This host has verified their email and or phone number on Houfy.

This host verified their email and phone number on Houfy.

Houfy lets you contact and book direct with hosts. The host has provided the following links to give you more information.

This host responds to {response_rate}% of inquiries {response_time}.

A professional captain will navigate the boat for you.

Wonderful Houfy hosts are recognized as the best hosts in hospitality. The wonderful Houfy program rewards Houfy's top-rated and most experienced hosts.

Automated payments is Houfy’s system for collecting money from guests after the initial booking — without you having to lift a finger. When a guest books your property and agrees to automatic charges at checkout, Houfy securely saves their card and handles future payments on your behalf.

There are three types of automated charges:

A security deposit works best as a temporary hold — no money actually leaves the guest's account, and Houfy releases the hold after checkout if there's no damage. But card authorization holds have a limit: banks only guarantee them for about 7 days, after which they expire on their own.So for every deposit — no matter when you collect it — Houfy checks whether a hold can cover the whole window: from the day it's placed, through the guest's stay, plus a short buffer (about 2 days) after checkout to release it or claim damages.  

If that window fits within 7 days, Houfy places a temporary hold — no money is taken; released after checkout if you don't report damage, or captured if you do.

If the window is longer than 7 days, a hold would expire before you could act on it, so Houfy charges the deposit on your collection date and automatically refunds it after checkout if there's no damage.

This applies to every collection timing — at booking, 1/3/7 days before check-in, or on check-in day. In practice, collecting at booking is usually a charge, because bookings are typically more than 7 days before the stay — but if the wholewindow still fits within 7 days (for example, a last-minute booking), it will be a hold.

Houfy’s auto-payment system runs automatically every day in three phases. You don’t need to do anything — it all happens behind the scenes.

Houfy looks at all upcoming reservations and creates a list of charges that need to happen — balance due, split payments, and security deposit holds.

Houfy sends email alerts to both you and the guest: a heads-up 3 days before a charge, and a reminder 1 day before. No surprises for anyone.

Houfy charges the guest's saved card, or places a hold for the security deposit when the stay is short enough for a hold to last. If a charge fails, it retries automatically on the next run

Before automated payments can do their thing, you need to choose a payment policy for your listing. You’ll find this under your listing’s Settings > Payment & Policies > Payment Policy.

The guest pays 100% of the booking total at the time they book. There’s nothing left to collect later, so automated payments aren’t needed for the booking amount. However, if you have a security deposit set up, Houfy can still automate the deposit hold(a hold for shorter stays, or a charge for longer ones).

The guest pays an initial deposit when they book (you choose the percentage), and the remaining balance is due before check-in (you choose how many days before). This is where automated payments really shine — Houfy charges the balance automatically so you don’t have to remind the guest.

When you select Deposit + Balance, you configure two things:

During checkout, guests see your payment policy clearly displayed. If you use Deposit + Balance, they’ll see exactly how much is due now and when the remaining balance will be charged.

There’s also an auto-charge agreement checkbox. When the guest checks this box, they’re giving permission for Houfy to charge their saved card automatically for the remaining balance. Their card details are stored securely by the payment provider (Stripe, Square, or PayPal) — Houfy never sees or stores the actual card numbers.

Houfy keeps both you and your guest informed at every step. Here’s the timeline of emails for a typical auto-charge:

To use automated payments, you need at least one payment provider connected to your Houfy account. You can find this in your sidebar under Connected Payments.

 Stripe is recommended for automated payments because it supports all charge types including security deposit holds and 3D Secure authentication.

Don’t worry — Houfy retries automatically. If the guest’s card is declined (expired, insufficient funds, etc.), the system tries again on the next hourly processing run. Both you and the guest get a failure notification so the guest can update their card if needed.

…the guest didn’t agree to auto-charges?

If the guest unchecked the auto-charge agreement box at checkout, their card isn’t saved. Houfy sends them manual payment reminders instead. They’ll see a “Pay Balance” button on their reservation page where they can make the payment themselves.

…I want to change the payment policy after a booking?

Changing your payment policy only affects future bookings. Existing reservations keep the policy that was in place when they were booked.

…the guest pays manually before the auto-charge date?

If the guest pays their balance early through the reservation page, Houfy automatically cancels any remaining scheduled charges for that reservation. You won’t be double-charged.

For detailed step-by-step instructions, see these companion guides:

How Do Automated Payments Work on Houfy?

Houfy’s automated payment system handles balance due charges, split payments, and security deposit holds automatically — so you don’t have to chase guests for money or remember to collect deposits on time.

How Do Automated Payments Work on Houfy?

Related Articles

Need more help?

Post to the help community

Contact us

Table of Contents

Company

Hosting

Resources

Features

Settings