scheduling calendar philosophy

[Diane1545]

Hi, all.  I am new to hosting and this is my first Airbnb property.  I have multiple requests for 2025 and am not certain on how to handle the request this far out.  Do you have any suggestions?

[Paula]

Hello @Diane1545,  Great question.

I would like to reach out to some of our experienced Hosts to see if they would like to share how they handle these requests: @Kitty-and-Creek0, @Laurelle3, @Robin4 and @Debra300.

All the best,

[Cheri354]

@Diane1545 You could ask some friendly (a tad nosy) questions... "Wow, I don't even have a calendar for next year yet, you must have a pressing engagement happening then !"

Bear in mind, some events like company functions, reunions and weddings are commonly booked a year in advance so it could be simply an innocent gathering. Try making some small talk to decipher the situation if you're curious. Also, perhaps there's an event locally you aren't aware of ? Maybe a festival or school/college event that you should check out. If so, make sure your rates are up to snuff 🙂

[Laurelle3]

@Diane1545 thinking ahead that far ahead does my head in. 

I personally have only 6 months ahead open on Airbnb bookings because of the algorithms. I then block of some months. That way I have control as I am not sure what my personal life and family needs maybe.

The rationale is that we live on site and cottage is never let if we arenot able to be here and we work around the booking if something happens. We are family friendly small time Hosts.

*   What I  do do is see what events are programmed for the local area on the internet.

*    I check the local holiday accommodation market for their pricing for public holidays, Easter, Christmas, Anzac day. Long weekends, School holidays and adjust the prices a little higher in my calander is open and I have overlooked these dates.

Rationale is the prices often go up and I can adjust the price if the market is lower.

I am sure other hosts do it differently but in the end you happy with what you do and you have to manage the situation that effects you and your Airbnb.

Keep enjoying being a Host.

Laurelle from Downunder

[Robin4]

@Diane1545 

Hi Diane, and welcome to the world of Airbnb hosting. I hope your future here will be as great as it has for many of us.

If you do not want to accept booking requests or reservations a long way in advance set your booking calendar window to the amount of time you feel comfortable with.

If you go to your calendar page, you will note a panel on the right of your screen which is headed 'Pricing' and 'Availability'.

Click Availability and a drop down box will appear as per this screenshot......

By scrolling that box highlighted in red you can set your booking calendar to only accept reservations in advance for either 

3 months.

6 months.

9 months

12 months

or

24 months

Set the time period you feel comfortable with and then click save. Your booking calendar will then only accept bookings as per that setting.

In that panel you can also set maximum nights for a reservation, and I would suggest you set that to 27 nights because tenancy rights alter significantly after 28 nights and you need to understand the difference before accepting long term reservations.

You can also set the preparation time you need between reservations.

Diane your availability window is an extremely important function, Study it closely and make sure you understand all the availability functions you have set.

All the best.

Cheers........Rob

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Diane1545 @Paula 

We have our calendar blocked after 3 months. Like @Laurelle3 I cannot even wrap my head around a year in advance. 

We live in a volatile environment and we expect the unexpected. During fire season we play it safer by opening only a few weeks at a time. In winter we are similarly cautious around storms and snow. We are accustomed to living easily with these things, but we don't expect our guests to be as resilient as we are.

When we used to take reservations long in advance,  we noticed that folks would change their minds when the dates got close. This prompted us to keep these far off plans to a minimum. Life happens to us all.  

We live in a volatile environment, here, and we expect the unexpected. It comes with the territory!

[Laurelle3]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 I agree with you. I didn't mention bush fires which we have escaped this summer with all the rain. Then that brings us into the storye of floods and closed roads.

Luckily we don't have the snow that country's around the world 🌎 in the northern hemisphere are experiencing that we see on the news.

Take care Kitty?

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Laurelle3 

You please take care too!

[Debra300]

I have only a three or six month advance booking window.  Unless a place is very exclusive, there is a special event taking place, it's returning guests or there's a strict cancelation policy, there is a high likelihood that the booking will get canceled.  It has been my experience that guests book a place early as a "just-in-case", and continue to look for other options until the free cancelation period ends.

[Robin4]

@Debra300 

Yes Debra that is my experience to. I have my booking window set to 'All Future Dates'  and I do get quite a few bookings for 9 months out or even further.

This area of mine is a very popular area for weddings, there are numerous wineries and wedding venues in the area and, the location and the staging of the wedding and reception is one of the first things potential brides set in place when they decide to formalise their relationship!.

But like you I find only 10% of extended advance bookings actually come to fruition. A lot happens in the space of a year and plans do change.

The reason I do not put any restriction on my booking window is,  a few years ago we went through a patch where the rolling window was opening up deliberately blocked dates as it came to them 3 or 6 months in advance and the only sure way to prevent that from happening was to set the window to all future dates so it did not come into play!

I have just never bothered to change since that issue was fixed. How far ahead a guest books doesn't fall high on my priority list!

Cheers.......Rob 

[Debra300]

Robin, I have been lax with visiting the community,  and am just now seeing your post.

I think a place's location and minimum length of stay requirement can be a big factor for deciding the booking window and cancellation policy.  For example, our spaces in Metro Atlanta in the US has a large potential market of guests, whether they are local or from outside of the area.  We typically rent them for long-term stays (Firm cancellation policy allows free cancellation up to 30 days before arrival), and folks rarely cancel.  Sometimes, we accept shorter stays to fill gaps (2 night minimum), and have a Moderate 5-day cancellation policy, because it's not unusual to get a last minute booking.

On the other hand, our spaces in St. Lucia have two night minimum stsys, but we have Firm cancellation policies because, it's difficult to get a replacement booking for a short notice cancellation.  Most guests have to make advance travel arrangements before arriving at our place. 

Tourism is cyclical, and has spikes for key events.  This year, there is the St. Lucia Jazz Festival in May, the Cricket T20 World Cup in June, and Carnival in July.  I'd prefer to take bookings for these time periods just 60 days in advance because they tend to have a high cancellation rate, but 90 days is the shortest available on Airbnb.  Often times, I block key dates on Airbnb and accept reservations only directly or via Booking because I can offer nonrefundable rates only.  I wouldn't do this if Airbnb allowed hosts to choose specific dates as nonrefundable only.  On Booking, properties can select 30 days a year.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Diane1545 I am wondering if you are too cheap. Also unless you have a strict cancellation policy these bookings might disappear over time.

[Paula]

Hello @Diane1545,

Amazing advice from our Hosts! Please let us know when you have had the opportunity to read our messages. Also, feel free to mark as the best answer the one that best fits your situation. This is a way to say thanks to our lovely Host Community.