Investor · Maggie Valley, NC · Member since 2020 · 284 posts · 85 votes
I was curious if anyone has considered giving guests currently booked a couple of days a discounted extension to their reservation in order to fill vacancies?
For example, if one guest books FRI-SUN, another from the following TUE-THUR, and a third from SAT-SUN.
On the one hand, I would think the guest would simply extend if they have any inclination to do so, as most have plans set before-hand and don't have the flexibility to simply extend their reservation. That, at least, is my intuition.
Then again, if they are a remote worker / student, it might be very convenient.
I am tempted to increase my minimum to 3 days because I keep getting holes in my calendar.
Whenever we have a 1 day gap, we always offer a discounted rate for the guest on either side to book it. We probably have a 65% or more take rate on that. The key is - at a discount to entice them to stay the extra day.
My property management system is programmed to automatically offer the dates before and after a guests reservation at a 25% discount. I am currently at a 3 night minimum but will offer 2 if it gets within 5 days and remains unbooked.
I'll let people stay an extra day or two for free. But then again they have already stayed there for a month or two and paid rent. It brings them back on future visits. They stay here for temporary jobs that pay for their living expenses.
Thanks to everyone. I guess it was more common than I thought. Some people are adamant about never offering discounts. Right now I could actually use the shorter consecutive bookings because the listing is new and I need the reviews.
Just about everyone staying at our home is on a schedule. Personally I like having a day here and there of downtime to head over and reorganize, fix things and deal with logs on the beach.
I think that is a pretty great idea actually. I mean, you have zero downside, and all upside. McDonald's has made all the money in the world with the simple "would you like fries with that?" questions - and grocery stores are set up the same way with all of the $0.99 items right where you have to wait to checkout. Upsells are a phenomenal way to boost your per-customer income.
I would wait until the guest has just one day or so left and send them a message like "Hey there, I hope you are enjoying your stay. I've noticed that I don't have a booking right after you checkout, and wanted to offer you a ($) discount in case you would like to stay another night". What's the worst that could happen? I would assume you wouldn't find that you have to ask as hard for good reviews after checkout too.