Vrbo prices & cross-OTA comparison

SKILL.md

---
name: vrbo-prices
description: "Get a real Vrbo price quote for a listing and dates, then compare that property against the offers StayingAPI can resolve for it to find the cheapest rate. Use for \"how much is this Vrbo place\" or \"is it cheaper elsewhere\". Powered by StayingAPI."
version: "1.0.0"
license: MIT-0
author: StayingAPI
homepage: https://stayingapi.com
repository: https://github.com/stayingapi/vrbo-skills
user-invocable: true
compatibility: Requires internet access to reach api.stayingapi.com. No additional runtimes or dependencies needed.
required_environment_variables:
  - name: STAYINGAPI_KEY
    prompt: Your StayingAPI key (starts with stay_)
    help: Free key at https://stayingapi.com/signup — no card. A stay_test_ sandbox key returns fixtures at zero cost.
    required_for: all API requests
tags: ["vrbo", "vrbo-api", "price", "price-comparison", "cross-ota", "travel", "accommodation"]
metadata: {"openclaw":{"emoji":"💲","requires":{"env":["STAYINGAPI_KEY"]},"primaryEnv":"STAYINGAPI_KEY","homepage":"https://stayingapi.com"},"hermes":{"tags":["vrbo","vrbo-api","price","price-comparison","cross-ota","travel","accommodation"],"category":"integrations"}}
---

# Vrbo prices & cross-OTA comparison

Get a real Vrbo price quote — then compare the same property against the offers StayingAPI resolves for it, with a computed min and median over those offers. Coverage varies by property: sometimes several OTA rates, sometimes a single aggregated-lowest rate.

## Setup

If `$STAYINGAPI_KEY` is not set, read [references/auth-setup.md](references/auth-setup.md) and follow it to get and store the key. A `stay_test_` sandbox key works for evaluation at zero cost.

## When to use this skill

**DO use when the user asks:**

- "How much is this Vrbo listing for these dates?"
- "Is this Vrbo place cheaper on another site?"

**Do NOT use when:**

- The user wants a list of options — use the search skill

## Required headers

Every request needs:

- **Authorization:** `Bearer $STAYINGAPI_KEY`
- **User-Agent:** your agent's name (e.g. `ClaudeCode/1.0`).

Base URL: `https://api.stayingapi.com/v1`.

## Tools

### `GET /v1/price`

Quote one listing for specific dates and occupancy. Pass the platform-native platformListingId returned by /v1/search — numeric on Airbnb and Vrbo, a slug string on Booking.com and Google (e.g. "abramovic2") — or a full listing URL. On a live key the response is always a real numeric price or a typed error — never a wrong property's price. Note this guarantee covers live calls: sandbox (stay_test_) responses are canned fixtures and may echo a different listing, dates or occupancy than you requested, so do not assert identity against a sandbox response.

Key parameters:
- `platform` — **Required.** vrbo | booking | airbnb | google.
- `listingId` — **Required.** Platform-native id from /v1/search platformListingId — numeric (Airbnb/Vrbo) or a slug string (Booking.com/Google). Or pass a url.
- `checkIn` — **Required.** YYYY-MM-DD; not in the past.
- `checkOut` — **Required.** Must be after checkIn.
- `adults` — ≥ 1.
- `children` — ≥ 0.

### `GET /v1/price-compare`

Rate-shop one property in a single call, resolved through the Google Hotels backbone. The response carries the offers the backbone exposes for that property plus StayingAPI-computed min and median over those offers as first-class fields, so you can read the cheapest rate without re-deriving it. Coverage varies by property: some resolve to several OTA offers, others to a single aggregated-lowest offer (then offers has one entry, min equals median, and the entry may be a direct-supplier rate rather than an OTA). Read offers.length before presenting a result as a multi-platform comparison — the schema does not guarantee more than one.

Key parameters:
- `name` — Property name to resolve.
- `googleHotelId` — Precise Google Hotels id.
- `location` — Disambiguating place / "lat,lng".
- `checkIn` — **Required.** YYYY-MM-DD; not in the past.
- `checkOut` — **Required.** Must be after checkIn.
- `adults` — ≥ 1.


## MCP (no key pasted into the agent)

On an MCP-capable runtime, connect `https://mcp.stayingapi.com/mcp` (OAuth 2.1 + PKCE) and use: `get_price`, `compare_prices`.

## Platform × endpoint support

Not every endpoint supports every platform. Verified:

| platform | search | availability | price | price-compare | listing | reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| `airbnb` | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| `booking` | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| `vrbo` | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| `google` | yes | yes | yes | yes | **no** | **no** |

`GET /v1/listing/google/…` and `GET /v1/reviews?platform=google` return
`400 platform_not_enabled` ("google is not enabled for this endpoint"). Use `booking`,
`airbnb` or `vrbo` for listing detail and reviews; use `google` for search, price and
cross-OTA price-compare.

## The cross-OTA advantage

StayingAPI is **cross-platform**: Vrbo data comes back in the *same unified schema* as Airbnb, Booking.com and Google Hotels, so one integration covers them all. `/v1/price-compare` resolves a property through the Google Hotels backbone and returns the offers it exposes plus a StayingAPI-computed **min** and **median** over those offers, as first-class fields.

> Coverage varies by property and by what the backbone returns: some properties come back with several OTA offers, others with a single aggregated-lowest offer (in which case `min` equals `median` and `offers` has one entry, sometimes a direct-supplier rate rather than an OTA). Read `offers.length` before describing a result as a multi-platform comparison.

## Async & partial failures

A live call that has to scrape returns `202` with `data.jobId`, `data.pollUrl` and
`data.estimatedSeconds` (the `202` itself charges 0). Poll `GET /v1/jobs/{jobId}` (free)
until `data.status` is TERMINAL — `completed` **or** `failed`.

- **`completed`** → the payload is at `data.result` (the same schema the sync call returns;
  `data` itself is just `{jobId, result, status}`). `meta` carries `partial`,
  `platformResults[]` and `warnings[]`. A completed job may still return an **empty**
  result (`data.result: []`) — the reason is in `meta.warnings[]` (e.g. `no_results`), and
  empty results charge 0.
- **`failed`** → HTTP is still **200**, not an HTTP error. The failure is nested at
  `data.error` (`code`, `type`, `message`, `retryable`). Detect it with
  `data.status === "failed"`, **not** a top-level `error`. `creditsCharged` is 0, and `meta`
  carries only `{requestId, creditsCharged, platforms}` — do **not** read `partial`,
  `platformResults` or `warnings` on a failed job.

Pace your polling: honour the `Retry-After` header, back off between attempts, and cap the
number of attempts. A tight loop hits `429 rate_limit_exceeded` (120 requests/minute).

## Known limitations

- **Pagination:** `limit`/`cursor` are accepted where documented, but availability depends on the endpoint and the upstream source — treat `meta.pagination` as authoritative and stop when `hasMore` is false or `nextCursor` is null.
- **Externally-sourced ids:** a Vrbo id obtained somewhere other than `/v1/search` may not resolve upstream and can produce a failed job (`all_actors_failed`). Prefer ids from `/v1/search` (`platformListingId`).
- **Platform gaps:** see the support matrix above — `google` has no listing or reviews endpoint.

## Credits

Number-free by design — **failed, empty and blocked calls are never billed**, and `stay_test_` sandbox calls are always free. Current costs: <https://stayingapi.com/pricing> · full contract: <https://api.stayingapi.com/openapi.json>.

## Trademark

StayingAPI is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Vrbo. Vrbo is a trademark of its respective owner.

---

**Get your free key → https://stayingapi.com/signup** · Docs: https://stayingapi.com/docs