8 tips on leveraging the calendar tool for holiday rentals

Managing holiday rental bookings and rates across one or multiple properties is no easy feat. But with our calendar tool for holiday rentals, you can easily manage and update your rates and reservations, view your confirmed bookings and establish blocked dates—allowing you to manage your holiday rental business with confidence.

Within the calendar, you have access to all your rates and reservation management tools and can view your required actions—all in one place. The calendar also provides a shortcut to resources that make running your business easier, including revenue management tools to keep your rates competitive year round.

The calendar feature makes it easy to set your base rate, which is automatically applied to every night now and into the future. This prevents gaps in your calendar if no rate is entered. You can then change your base rate at any time and override it if you want to raise or lower the price for certain nights.

When setting your base rate, remember to use our MarketMaker^™ tool to establish a competitive base rate that drives consistent bookings throughout the year.

When managing your holiday rental calendar, it’s important to open your booking window to capture demand from travellers booking trips far in advance.

With travellers planning and booking trips well ahead of their actual holiday dates—73 days on average*—it’s important to expand your booking window so you don’t lose out on bookings to other properties whose calendars are set farther in advance.

1. From the owner dashboard, select Calendar in the main navigation;
2. Select Settings and Booking window;
3. Define when travellers can book the property and fill out the following prompts:

• How far out do you accept bookings?
• How close in do you accept bookings?

Long-stay discounts that offer a reduced weekly or monthly rate are enticing to holiday rental guests who, on average, stay 10.7 days—2 to 3 days longer than other types of travel bookers.* While you aren’t required to enter or provide a discounted rate for any length of stay, it can help attract holiday rental guests looking for an extended stay.

Setting up your fees and tax management are another aspect of holiday rental ownership that we simplify for you in the calendar tool. Fees are any extra charges beyond your nightly base rate and are often used to compensate holiday rental owners or property managers for additional services or amenities.

You can choose two types of fees to charge:

• Standard fees (i.e. extra guest fees, cleaning fees, pet fees)
• Custom fees (anything beyond a standard fee)

1. From the owner dashboard, select Calendar in the main navigation;
2. Select Calendar settings, then select Fees or taxes;
3. Follow the directions to enter your tax rate or fees.

Our seasonal cancellation policies give you the opportunity to offer a date-based policy of your choice to adjust for seasonal demand and strike the perfect balance to apply the right policy at the right time. You can also adjust your minimum stay requirements throughout the year to account for any lulls in occupancy.

A damage deposit, much like a security deposit, holds the guest responsible for any damage they may cause. You have full control over the required damage deposit amount, which travellers can view under the house rules on the property details page or during checkout before they book.

By default, guests are charged the entire amount for their reservation at the time of booking, but you can also adjust your payment terms in your rates calendar and customise how much and when guests will be charged.

For example, you can adjust your payment terms so that a portion is due closer to check-in, which could appeal to travellers looking for a holiday rental where supply outpaces demand.

Our calendar tool provides you with several helpful resources so you can confidently oversee and manage your holiday rental business. Leverage these calendar tips to stay on top of your rates and reservations and operate your business like a pro.