FAQ – Home.

How do I pay securely for a vacation rental?

Paying online with credit card on BhaktNiwas is the most secure way to book a vacation rental on our sites. 

To book with BhaktNiwas, find a property, you will be entering your payment information through the BhaktNiwas checkout. When your payment information gets entered, BhaktNiwas protects that information. This gets done using encryption and advanced patented tokenization services to protect your credit card transaction. When booking or paying through BhaktNiwas's payment system, you are eligible for our Book with Confidence Guarantee.

If a property does not offer online booking, you can contact the owner by sending a message with your dates and details. Once your request gets received, the owner or property manager of the property will contact you via email. They will then provide either a payment request or a specific link to access their payment instructions.

When you are ready to make payment, carefully review any rental agreement provided. Each rental has their own cancellation policies and house rules. 

Avoid the following practices

• Sending cash is not recommended.
• Sending a check made out to cash.
• Using an instant money transfer such as Western Union or Money Gram.

These payment methods are preferred by criminals. Using them voids any guarantees from us.

• How do I cancel a reservation and receive a refund?

  If you’d like to cancel a confirmed reservation, you may do so by following the steps listed below.
• Log into your traveler account online or via the mobile app
• Click My Bookings
• Select the reservation that needs to be canceled
• In the Manage your booking section, view the Cancellation policy
• Click Request Cancellation and select the most applicable cancellation reason

Note: If this option is not available, or you simply need to modify the dates of your trip, you may reach out directly to the owner or property manager via email from your traveler account.

After you have submitted your request to cancel, the owner or property manager must accept your cancellation request and initiate any potential refund. Refunds are issued in accordance with the terms and conditions of the property’s cancellation policy.

• If you cancel a reservation with a cancellation policy that allows for a full refund, the full rental amount should be refunded by the owner or property manager and any service fee paid will be refunded by BhaktNiwas.
• If you cancel a reservation with a cancellation policy that allows for a partial refund only, the partial rental amount will be refunded by the owner or property manager, however, any fees associated with your reservation will not be refunded. 

Please allow up to 15 days for your refund to post to your bank account. If you have not received your refund within 15 business days, please contact Customer Support for further assistance.

• How do I contact a vacation rental owner or manager?

Messages are facilitated through our secure messaging platform. Keeping all communications and bookings on our site helps to protect you from phishing and other fraud.

To contact an owner or property manager before booking a reservation, you can send a message directly from the property page:

1. Locate the listing. 
2. Click the Ask Owner a question or Ask Manager a Question* link located on the right side of the listing details page.
3. If you are not logged in, you may be prompted to log in or create a new account.
4. Fill out the form to send a message to the owner and click Send. 

Owners and managers are encouraged to reply to messages within 24-48 hours. If you do not hear back in this time frame, you may want to consider alternative properties. 
 

If you have already made a reservation, you can access your My Bookings to find important reservation details including how to contact the vacation rental owner or manager*. 

*This feature may not be available on all listings. If you are unable to send a message or email directly from the listing, please contact Customer Support for assistance.​