Three Easy Airbnb Calendar Adjustments to Increase Bookings
Getting quality bookings involves providing great guest experiences, a clean and accurately represented home, and making constant adjustments to the pricing and the calendar. Not all bookings are quality bookings. They need to be at a good price, the right length, and with reputable renters. Here are three adjustments that we make to our calendar that contribute to getting quality bookings.
Custom Minimum Stays- Most vacation rentals that have short term rental permits have their minimum length stay set to either two or three nights. This works well for most of the year, however, there are certain times when you want to adjust the length for specific dates. An example would be if you have a Palm Springs home and you are renting for festivals like Coachella or Stagecoach, you want to set the minimum length stay to 4 nights for those specific weekends. If a renter were to book one of those weekends for two or three nights, that could potentially cost the home owner thousands of dollars. Another example would be during the holidays as many any renters want to spend “Christmas by the beach”. It is very beneficial to increase the minimum length of stay to 5-7 nights during this time so as not to leave money on the table.
Day of the Week Pricing- In most markets, weekends have more demand than weekdays and the pricing on a vacation rental should reflect this. Analytics will show that during certain times of the year it gets even more defined than that and each day of the week should priced differently in accordance with market demand. The best way to implement this is to use a pricing software such as PriceLabs or Beyond Pricing.
Promotions and Discounts- Many hosts fail to utilize the available promotions and discounts through Airbnb. Hosts are allocated a certain amount of promotions that will have a rental show up in a search result higher and with strike through pricing. Hosts should also be using the Airbnb Rule Sets that include discounts such as ‘Early Bird Pricing” (which offers discounts to guests that plan their trip far out in advance), as well as “Last Minute Discounts” (that will help fill gaps in the calendar 7-10 days out).
By implementing these three strategies within your calendar, hosts will be a few steps closer to getting the most revenue and occupancy out of their vacation rental.