Late Check In due to Travel Delays

[Christina328]

Hello!  I posed this question in October but recieved no replies so I thought I would try again. 🙂 We live in a major city and often international flights are delayed. Our check in time is 4PM-9PM because we get up early for work so late check ins are generally not accommodated, but what if someone is coming in from abroad and they have significant delays?  I feel terribly telling them they can no longer stay-where will they go in the middle of the night?  But it is a real imposition for us. Any thoughts are appreciated!

[Kelly149]

@Christina328 It depends, do you want to accommodate them? or maybe you're ok with they still come but owe you a inconvenience fee? or would you rather they not book with you if their flight details make it likely? that they could fall outside your checkin time?

how often does this happen??

[Christina328]

These are all interesting questions. During the summer when there were a lot of storms it was happening quite frequently. I would rather not lose the entire booking due to their late arrival because by the time we all know they are delayed it is too late to rebook the room. I don't mind losing the first night however if it means I don't need to stay up all night! Is there a way to add an inconvenience fee? If so it might deter people from checking in the first night-there are hotels near the airport that they could stay at for one night-and then come to us the next day. Or if they do choose to still come to us I could do as Mark and Lawrene suggested and leave clear instructions, go to bed and lock our bedroom door! 🙂

We have instant book so I do write them as soon as they book asking about arrival times and confirming our check in times. If they state that they have a flight arriving near 9 PM I do remind them again that we ask guests to check in by 9 and then often they will say that's impossible and cancel, or let me know that they will be at our door by 10 and is that OK. If it's an international flight I have taken to stating that because flights are frequently delayed we would prefer they not stay with us that first night or find other accommodations entirely. Generally people are accommodating. Again it's just the travellers who are delayed by multiple hours and don't know it until they get to the airport that are really the challenge.

Thanks for helping me think all this through!

And, is there a way to add an inconvenince fee?

[Mark116]

@Christina328

We have a flexible check-in policy, but when guests are arriving after 11pm, we leave the keys for them in an accessible place along with a short note that we hope hits any basic questions they might have on checking in...where the wife password is, where to find house manuel, etc.  This has worked generally pretty well, but we still find that the stays are smoother when we can greet guests personally.

[Christina328]

Yes, We could try that. Our house is an old Victorian and the stairs go right through the middle so it's a tad tricky-noisy suitcases on wooden stairs, confused guests opening the wrong doors-but perhaps we could put a welcome sign on their door-a chalkboard or something-with the guest's name so they know they've arrived at the right place. Thanks for the ideas!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Christina328

even if we could meet our guests until 21 h we set our deadline to 19 h because guests will allways push the boundaries or can be late due to traffic delays.

If someone send us an inquiry and ask to check in arround 21 h we decline and tell them to book elswhere because from the experience we know they will arrive even later.

[Christina328]

Yes, I do hear you. Ours is at 9PM becuase we antcipate they may not arrive until 10. It's the ones that are later than that that we struggle with. Thanks for replying!

[Lawrene0]

I was delayed once in such a way as a guest, @Christina328, and my host left a key for me in a safe place, described exactly which room was mine and how to get to it, and asked me to be as quiet as possible.  

Would that work in your case?

[Christina328]

Hello-Yes, my husband tried that once when a guest was delayed nd I was out of town and then the man walked into our bedroom while my husband was asleep-guess the directions weren't clear enough!  Hence I'm a little wary...but yes I guess we could give that a go again. Thanks for your thoughts!

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@Lawrene0 wrote:

I was delayed once in such a way as a guest, @Christina328, and my host left a key for me in a safe place, described exactly which room was mine and how to get to it, and asked me to be as quiet as possible.  

Would that work in your case?

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[John1080]

@Christina328, if the delay is of no fault of the guest's you as a host should do what you can to accommodate the late check-in. I would say under these circumstances, it would be improper to tell the guest they can no longer stay, but instead set up specific procedures as others have specified with the key and exact directions to their room. 

[Suresh14]

@Christina328 - We have many listings around Chicagoland and for this reason, we use Vivint Smart Home systems(https://www.vivint.com/). 

Why Vivint Smart Home?

- You can pass keycode and ask check-in between 9 PM to 12 AM (or any time before 11 AM) using door keycode.

- You can see who checked in from your Apple watch or phone or web by VA or later review it.

- If needed, hire VA and they will do open it remotely ( you can hire per check-in basis).

- Dynamically generate keycode for each guest. 

- Many more

When get chance I will make a video on how I do it or PM for a demo. 

Thanks,

Suresh

Superhost, Chicago, IL

NOTE: I am a reseller for Vivint Home System