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In the past there have been discussions on the effects of blocking days on the calendar for host vacations, remodeling, off platform bookings or seasonal renting. My experience over 3 instances of blocking dates was that it was always slow in the period just after the blockages.
Following the advice of someone here (sorry I can’t recall who, but thanks!) the last two times I’ve “blocked” off time by creating rule sets. I was recently away for almost a month and I’ve seen no slow down on my return. I had friends here over the past weekend and they let me know Sunday morning they would be leaving to stay with their parents Sunday night. I opened the calendar and didn’t get booked but did get pinged in the middle of the night. It was an odd inquiry and not sure if it was for Sunday night after my booking window closed or for Monday. Since then I’ve had one stay that was booked weeks ago and three new bookings for 4 nights, all same day. I have no other reservations at this time despite it been spring break month. However, the last minute bookings have become my stock in trade and they work great for me.
Not everyone can do this kind of hosting but with concerns about CV19 slowdowns I urge any host who needs Airbnb income to consider your options. Taking same day bookings until late in the day and back to back bookings, perhaps allowing late check ins can help you fill your calendar.
Although many here say it doesn’t work, I also tweaked my listing this week. I lowered prices a little and changed some wording. Just last night I had just edited my listing when a booking request came in at 7 pm for 10 pm arrival. This morning I got a two night booking beginning tonight. It’s from a local who just needs a break from the parent’s home. I know some of you avoid such bookings.
In the current environment we are going to have to work a bit harder and maybe make a little less money. But there are still people booking.
How did you block off the time with “rule sets” I’m looking to book our summer travel soon (which is our slow season here) but would love to know about a work around to straight up blocking dates.
So if I am closing my calendar for a month for a personal vacation, you are saying it’s better to block it using a rule set (I have no experience with those) than just manually blocking the dates? I have definitely noticed that in the past, when I just blocked the month manually, that my search ranking dropped substantially and it took awhile to start getting bookings again.
Go to Availability Settings → Trip details → then additional details. Once you get there the page will say Trip Length. Scroll down to where it says “Add a custom rule for seasons or specific dates”
Click on that and under “During” there’s a drop down menu and you can put in specific dates. (Note: I think this is easier if you have Pro tools enabled but I don’t.)
I put in the day before I left and the day I came back and put something like minimum stay 21 days. I also put “check in only on a Tuesday” and raised the prices. I figured that was 3 safety nets. No one inquired for any days in that period while I was gone but had you clicked on my calendar for the month and not entered dates it would look available.
I also did something similar for 2 weeks in October. Now I have upcoming friend visits followed by a major bathroom remodel in my part of the house. I haven’t yet decided between juggling contractors with guests and just closing again.
I’m saying that based on the advice of another member and my own very limited experience of with blocking vs rule set use I’m going to continue using rule sets instead of blocking dates. As per my post above I’m going to have to do some blocking again starting at the end of the month and that will add another data point. That said I seem to get more bookings than some people and I have a different business model so those factors probably count too.
Thanks for the advice on the rule sets @KKC. I might try that out next time I go out of town. For those of you trying this, be very careful with the rule sets as I found out recently that they don’t always mean what you think they mean. I recently created a rule set to require a minimum stay for a particular period (I.e. between February 1-February 10, minimum stay is 30 days and my normal minimum is 2 days). However, I got a booking request for some of those days for less than my 30 day minimum (for example, January 30-February 5). I talked to AirBnB and they said that the rule set only applies if the start date is within the days in the rule set—I.e. since the guest chose a check-in date of January 30, my rule set doesn’t apply and my usual minimum applies. I was forced to decline this booking request due to city regulations that only allow me to have one booking at a time of less than 30 days. I imagine it is probably is more failsafe with the additional restrictions that @KKC put in unless someone happens to choose the right combination of dates and doesn’t kind a higher price.
