Flexible arrival date

[Giulia]

Hi there. I have a few free weeks left over the summer and I recently got a couple of people asking for bookings from midweek to midweek. Is it quite common? Do you normally have bookings from Saturday to Saturday?
Giulia

[Hells Bells]

I am offering flexible arrival dates outside of my peak season (Winter skiing). It has worked quite well, as I charge a nightly rate that is a little higher to compensate for extra work for my cleaner. It also helps to compensate for the possibility of losing a full week (I didn't though). I wouldn't do it in high season though.

[Christine Kenyon]

In high season, we would only accept a booking for our "normal" week (which in our case is Saturday to Saturday) otherwise it messes up two weeks and you just end up with more changeovers for not a lot more cash!

Out of season, the customer calls the shots as we're grateful for whatever short breaks we can get .

[Clexane]

I agree with Christine. High session is sacred. you need to stick to your times. Low season - well thats more flexible depending on your booking rate.

[CostaBlanca]

Giula,

I think that it depends! If you are hopeful/confident that you can get bookings for your high season weeks then I would not change from the Saturday changeover day.

Up until this year, I have not accepted any other arrival days. However, my friend´s villa which I am trying to rent for her ( ) this year had only 1 week booked up until a short while ago so I was quite happy to accept a 2 week rental arriving mid week. Ok, I accept that I will have vacant periods but as the saying goes "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush".

Many of the low cost airlines fly midweek when airports are not so busy and there are probably not enough properties for non Saturday arrivals.

Un saludo,

[Martha]

I was discussing this with quite a big letting agency in chamonix, he said that they had begun to offer flexible dates (though outside the peak weeks, I should imagine) and found that at the end of the year they hade filled the properties for more days and that it was well worth it, as people wanted to take advantage of the cheap midweek flights.

[Jo Tomkinson]

I let people book arrival / departure days to suit themselves all year for our properties in Spain and Turkey. It seems to work quite well for us. We may get an odd few days when the property is empty, but not many really. In fact just recently one guest was leaving on the Monday afternoon and the next guest was arriving on Thursday evening. Somebody booked last minute for the Monday to Thursday. It all seems to average itself out over the year and maybe if we weren't flexible we may not get some of the bookins in the first place?

[Nightowl]

we are quite flexible on dates too - although generally for the summer the bookings I've taken have been Friday/Sat or Sun arrivals - once you have one booking it tends to set the pace for the others.

But in the lower seasons I have all sorts of start/leave dates and I think that it's possible that I have got these bookings partly because we are flexible and people can take advantage of cheap ryanair flights midweek. I don't really mind having a couple of days between changeovers (it gives our managing agent a bit of breathing space) and if there is a gap of 4 or 5 days I have a few friends a few hours drive away who like to take the opportunity to have a few days in Spain and they always buy something for the house or clean it til it sparkles so it's a good deal all round.

[Ben McNevis]

I allow flexible changeover dates throughout the year.
Being flexible has several advantages:

• It gives your renters the ability to find the most convenient and cheapest travel. In many cases, it's the travel cost that weights most heavily on their minds, so they won't mind paying a little extra for flexible dates. This applies most in France where Sat-Sat is de rigueur but midweek travel is so much cheaper especially in the ski season.

• It gives your renters ability to have a break which is not a multiple of 7 nights. This really suits people who can only spare a few days or want to make the most of their hectic calendar.

• If your cleaners have more than one property to look after, it means that they don't have to cram all their work into a single day.

True, you will get some gaps. I find that gaps of 5 or 6 days tend to get filled anyway. To compensate for gaps, I have an "odd days" supplement on the price. It's a bit difficult to sum up in a single sentence, but this is how I put it on my web pages:

"If your booking leaves 2,3,4 or 5 days between itself and an existing booking while there is available space at the other end of your booking, then there is a £40 supplement for wasted days".

People seem to understand that OK and those who leave those gaps seem quite willing to pay the extra.
__________________
Cheers, Ben
http://www.prgrancanaria.com/hrd

[Normandy Cow]

those who leave those gaps seem quite willing to pay the extra.

Doesn't that kind of negate any advantage they have gained by using cheaper travel dates?

[Ben McNevis]

those who leave those gaps seem quite willing to pay the extra.

Doesn't that kind of negate any advantage they have gained by using cheaper travel dates?

that depends very much on the travel cost. I recently paid 200 Swiss Francs (£87) extra for a Sunday changeover in a ski apartment, because the Sunday flights were half the price of the Saturday flights. With 4 of us travelling, it was still a saving of about £350 pounds overall, so we were more than happy.

[roxytoo]

I take the bookings as they come all year round. True out of season I am left with odd days but for the summer I always offer days either side of an enquiry at half price and most people seem to like that and take it up!

[Alan Knighting]

During high and mid season I run on a Saturday to Saturday basis. I find that all my guests run their holidays on a Saturday to Saturday basis. I think most employers run their holiday schedules on a Saturday to Saturday basis.

If I take a Wednesday to Wednesday booking I get one week’s rent for two weeks taken out of my accommodation calendar - I don’t think that’s a sensible business proposition. I’d want double the price for the days on either side, not half.

Alan

[Ben McNevis]

If I take a Wednesday to Wednesday booking I get one week’s rent for two weeks taken out of my accommodation calendar - I don’t think that’s a sensible business proposition. I’d want double the price for the days on either side, not half.

Alan

Alan: I honestly think you're missing a trick. You're in competition with all the holiday accommodation in your region and in French tradition, it's almost all Saturday to Saturday. While it's true that most people are happy to arrive and leave on Saturdays, there is a significant minority who prefer or need to go on other days. If you were flexible, you could be charging more. You would be offering something that is almost unique in your part of the world and I'm sure that the clients would be willing to make it worth your while.

[roxytoo]

I know what you are saying Alan but there is so much competition where I am I just would not get that! I take what I can, because again ratio of enquiries to bookings is pretty abysmal where we are, there are thousands of new builds in the area going up and its pretty frightening!