Instant Book vs. Request to Book
Every listing works one of two ways: Instant Book confirms your trip right away, and Request to Book sends your trip to the host to approve — you'll always know which one you're looking at before you book.
Instant Book
If a listing has Instant Book turned on, your trip confirms the moment you complete checkout. No waiting on a host to respond.
1. Select your dates, extras, and protection plan.
2. Complete checkout — your card is charged.
3. Your trip is confirmed immediately. You'll see it in your Trips tab with pickup details.
Instant Book is the fastest way to lock in a car, which matters if you're booking last-minute or your dates are firm.
Request to Book
If a listing doesn't have Instant Book on, you're sending the host a request instead of confirming a trip outright:
1. Select your dates, extras, and protection plan, and submit your request.
2. Your card isn't charged yet — the host now has 12 hours to accept or decline.
3. If the host accepts, your trip confirms and your card is charged.
4. If the host declines, or doesn't respond within 12 hours, the request expires automatically. You're not charged, and you're free to book another car.
You can message the host during this window through in-app messaging if you want to share more about your trip or ask a question before they decide.
Why Carvia does it this way
On Carvia, Instant Book is opt-in for hosts — it's a toggle in their listing settings, off by default. A host who wants to personally review every guest before handing over their car can do that. A host who'd rather maximize bookings and skip the back-and-forth can turn Instant Book on.
That's a deliberate difference from marketplaces that require all hosts to accept Instant Book. We think hosts should get to decide how hands-on they want to be with their own car, and guests benefit either way: Instant Book listings are clearly marked, so if speed matters most to you, you can filter for those specifically.
What to expect either way
Regardless of which flow a listing uses, your total price is shown in full before you commit — see Understanding Your Trip Price: Fees Explained — and the host's cancellation tier is visible on the listing before you book, per the Cancellation Policy.