Why you shouldn't open the calendar more than 90 days ahead
- 2 mins
There are important reasons why Airbnb and Booking.com hosts should block their calendars 90 days in advance.
If you rent your property too early, you leave money on the table. This is because, as you know, demand fluctuates throughout the year. Vacation rental demand for 6 months in the future, is much lower than in a couple of months.
Stay with one fact, more than 90% of reservations are made when there are less than 90 days left. The exact percentage may vary a little depending on the destination and time of year, but globally the figure is in that environment. It is important not to forget it!
Guests who book more than 90 days in advance are usually price-shopping. That is why it is better to wait for the cheap offer to disappear and the average price of what is being offered to rise. If they have booked you so far in advance, it is because you had it too cheap.
Also, some big events may not have yet been announced. So, if you rent your property now for a weekend 6 months, and you later find out that there is a major event during that weekend, you will realize that you have rented your place for a lower price than you could have. In other words, the later you rent your house, the higher rate you will be able to charge.
The further we go on the calendar, the less information we have to price correctly.
Keep in mind that tourism also has its trends and trends can vary from year to year or even within months.
Every user has its reality and what is good for some people in large cities, for instance, might not be as good for people with more seasonal rentals. Many of our users with beach houses have contacted us saying that they want to see price recommendations for the next 6 to 12 months. We understand their worry, but we strongly recommend avoiding renting your property for more than 90 days in advance.
In any case, we would like to advise all our followers that if you don’t block your calendar for more than 90 days, you should price your listing very high. In this way, those who want to rent your vacation rental so many months in advance think it twice. If you don’t follow this advice, you might be leaving money on the table.
