How soon in advance do your guests book?

[Pete69]

Ever since I raised my prices to a competitive level, 11 out of 15 of my most recent reservations came only 4 or less days in advance of check-in date! Six of those were made same-day (2) or one day in advance (4). The other four were made 17 to 42 days in advance.  Back when I started out with my too-good-to-be-true grand opening price people booked well in advance, so price obviously affects how soon guests jump at the opportunity.

So do you get a lot of reservations made just days in advance of check-in?

Do you reconsider your price if people are not booking far enough in advance?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

of course, units with lower prices are booked first so it depends of the season. In high season it's more then  2 weeks in advance, low season 1 week or less.  If you are always fully booked a month in advance it usually means your price is to low 🙂

It doesn't metter when you will get a reservation, important is to get it 🙂

[Ute42]

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Hi @Pete69 ,

the average (!) lead time of my bookings is 9 months. This is not a joke.

[Ned-And-Laura0]

I don't allow instant book for same day bookings, two day for IB.  We get bookings usually 4 to 6 weeks in advance so that we are 50-60% booked 4 weeks out and then the bookings trickle in to fill the gaps day by day.  Then about a week to ten days out we are usually booked solid and if there is an odd day here or there still open with less than a week I will actually increase the price a bit for the inconvenience of changing the cleaning schedule at the last minute.  I figure if somebody is booking last minute then everybody else is booked and they'll pay an extra $10 for the convenience.

[Pete69]

I think your price might be too low if you're booked 50 - 60% four weeks out, but I'm sure you've experimented with pricing in the past.

[Ned-And-Laura0]

I am comparable to other similar listings in my area.  I haven't really explored raising my prices across the board yet.  I'm pretty much booked solid and happy with the income. 

[Henley0]

Glad to see a lot of you from California. I'll provide some insight for my listings in the Bay Area.

I'm usually fully booked 3 weeks in advance. However, I don't think my prices are too low. Here's how I break down my prices:

Private bedroom, Shared bath, street parking: $63-66/night + $15 cleaning fee (2 listings of this)

Private bedroom, Private bath, street parking: $80-85/night + $15 cleaning fee

Private bedroom, Private bath, Parking on premise: $85-90/night + $15 cleaning fee

According to my data (of all listings that show up for 'San Francisco Airport'),  90% of the listings are Private bedroom, shared bath and street parking with about a total of 60-70 listings. This month, about 10-15 these listings remain unbooked on a daily basis. The other 10% of the listings which are private bed and private bath, they're always fully booked if they're under $105/night (including cleaning fee). Add in parking on premise, and it'll get booked out super early (I'm still experimenting with the best price for this listing).

What I do with the private bed and shared bath is I lower the prices if I have any single days remaining within the next 1.5 week. For private bath, I beat out my competition by $1/night if remaining within the next 1.5 week and if there is no competition remaining, I just jack up the price to $105/night (including cleaning fees).

I use this little tool to monitor my competition daily.

 

[M--Cristina0]

@Henley0 - where did you get this tool?  Thanks!!

[Sandra126]

I actually reduce my prices for short notice if I am keen to fill the gap. By a third, sometimes. Unless I am wanting to do maintenance, in which case I leave the price as it is. I often have short notice, weekends fill up ahead for a few months, midweek trickles in closer to the date. I just want a full calendar.

[Pete28]

In theory price drops as date gets closer - I believe that is the general strategy of most booking software - since the value of the room is zero if it's not booked 😞

In the slow season (nov onwards here), I like to drop below the general price ($90ish) for weekdays to get them sold earlier, as that is a weak market. Weekends will always sell at a premium.

Varying price is a necessity to maximize earnings - my neighbour with a 1bed comparable to mine sticks at $120 / night and doesn't get much business.

Have been thinking of adding another bedroom, gotta take a look at premium on 2bed to see if it's worth it.

[Huma0]

I used to drop my prices closer to the time if a particular month was looking slow, but I realised that I'm going to get more or less fully booked anyway, so there's no need to panic, just sit tight.

In fact, now I tend to do the opposite. Once a listing has achieved a certain number of £s worth of bookings, I usually push the price up for the remaining nights. Of course I want plenty of bookings, but if I'm going to be run ragged, the financial reward needs to be worth it! If a couple of nights don't get booked here or there, then fine, I get a bit of a breather.

My listings do tend to get fairly booked up in advance, so I rarely have last minute bookings unless I've had a last minute cancellation for those dates. As soon as the guest cancels, another one books. My most popular room has bookings into late May 2019, which is the furthest that people are able to book.

I guess that means I am pricing too low!

[Suzanne302]

@Huma0 I do something very similar! Aside from high season weekends and special events, I keep my prices at my minimum. Once I've booked a certain amount of income for the month, I raise my prices by a little bit each week, with the highest prices for the closest available dates.

Like you, I figure if I'm going to be booked solid, I want more money for my efforts. And if those dates don't book, it's no big deal because I've already made my extra income goal for the month.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

I get a lot of longer-term exchange student guests so I get booked as early as 6~7 months in advance, but on average about 3~4 months in advance. Once I get a confirmed booking for the upcoming semester (spring: Mar~Jun/summer:Jul/fall:Sep~Dec) I block a couple days before and after the booking then increase the prices for any dates in between. 

My approach is similar to @Huma0 and @Suzanne0 - we have a goal for occupancy and income so once we reach our goal we don't care if guest room is booked any further. If it is booked, then it needs to be worth the additional work for me and Henry. So according to our logic we'd want to get more income from a last minute booking, not less. 

[Tomaz5]

We usually get our reservations 1 week or less in advance. Sometimes it can be 2 weeks and during high season in summer we get a lot of reservations for 2 months in advance. 

[Valerie192]

Hi @Pete0, During June July and August I found I was booked pretty much full about a month in advance with maybe an open day here and there. Now that we are getting into fall, I am observing the same as you - days not being booked even with a week to go. But similar to other hosts, at a certain point once I've made my average income then I don't feel like hustling anymore to get that last minute booking by lowering a price. In fact, it seems that if I sit tight on my higher prices, somebody who is a last minute booker is willing to pay a bit of a premium due to there not being a lot of good options. So I have been trying this strategy of just keeping my prices and not dropping and overall finding that my openings get filled up a little less but I am likely making about the same money and not working quite as hard. Hope that makes sense.