Instant bookings for holiday rentals: Everything a host needs to know

November 2024

Many of the most popular holiday rental portals use instant bookings, allowing guests to book a property without waiting for a confirmation. It’s certainly convenient for guests, but what about landlords? Is this something you should be opting into? We have a look at how instant bookings work, and give you the lowdown on the pros and cons.

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What is instant booking?

Instant bookings are exactly what they sound like. Potential guests log onto a holiday rental website, see a property they like and with just a couple of clicks, make a booking. They don’t contact the landlord in advance, and the landlord doesn’t have the chance to approve or deny the booking. Effectively, instant bookings work in the same way that a hotel booking does.

The advantages of instant bookings for holiday rentals

Many holiday rental hosts have already signed up for instant bookings, as they offer some major benefits. Here are the reasons you might want to activate instant bookings for holiday rentals:

• It’s one of the best ways to increase bookings for holiday rentals. In fact, a survey by TripAdvisor suggests that 40% of travellers expect instant bookings. That’s huge —because they don’t see it as a pleasant perk, but they view it as a standard base feature instead.
• If you don’t have instant bookings activated, guests might not see your property. Many platforms now let guests filter their search results to only show properties with instant bookings. That means people won’t even see your rental, let alone rent your holiday flat.
• It opens up the door to last-minute bookings. That can raise your occupancy rates, which, in turn, keeps your business profitable.
• It requires less time and input from you, as you’ll no longer have to answer questions, manually approve bookings and so on. You may also find fewer time-wasters, sending you questions that don’t lead to a booking.
• It can increase your visibility on platforms. When you advertise your holiday home with instant bookings, many holiday rental portals will automatically boost your placement in search results — without you needing to spend an extra penny.

Sounds great, right? Not all landlords agree. There are still some disadvantages of instant bookings, which you should consider before signing up.

The disadvantages of instant bookings

Here are the reasons some landlords choose not to opt for instant bookings:

• You are not able to vet your guests. Some landlords like taking the chance to check their guests in advance, as they can avoid antisocial behaviour or other problems. With instant bookings, you lose that chance, as absolutely anyone can rent your house for holidays. In fact, guests who want to engage in disruptive behaviour, such as throwing house parties, will almost certainly look for instant bookings.
• It increases the chance of double bookings. You’ll need to make sure your calendar is correctly synced across all platforms, so if a double booking does take place, you’ll have to take responsibility. If you have an automated check-in system, you’ll need to change the code very quickly and inform your guests.
• Last-minute bookings for holiday rentals can be a double-edged sword. If a guest books your property out of the blue with 48 hours’ notice —or even less— you may have to scramble to arrange cleaning, check-in and communications.
• You’re more likely to miss important messages. When you sign up for instant booking, you’ll probably get into the habit of skimming your messages, and you may miss vital communications from guests.
• Cancellations may increase. Many landlords complain about guests making an instant booking as a kind of safety net, then cancelling when they find something better. You’ll need to make your cancellation policy very clear to prevent this.
• In extreme cases, you may actually miss a booking. If you’re sick, distracted, or away on holiday and not checking your messages, a guest may book to arrive tomorrow —while you have no idea. You might not even realise what’s going on until someone arrives at your property and is unable to check in.

Luckily, there are tools and strategies to manage instant bookings that can help you reduce these problems.

Managing instant bookings for holiday rental landlords

Instant bookings can be a great way to increase occupancy and revenue, but you’ll need to keep your eye on the ball. Some top tips for instant booking management include:

• Automate your messaging system. Guests should get an automatic, generic welcome message from you once they make a booking. This means they’ll have some kind of reassuring communication, no matter what time it is. In your welcome message, give them your personal phone number so they can contact you easily.
• Use a platform to automate tasks. There are many holiday rental management platforms that can sync your calendar, messages and more. Automated task scheduling is particularly useful when it comes to instant bookings. For instance, it automatically informs your cleaner when new bookings come in.
• Look for advanced settings on your holiday rental platform. Some websites allow you to do a kind of rudimentary guest screening. For example, you can select instant bookings only from guests with a good track record (never had any negative incidents or bad reviews). You can also restrict your bookings to guests with a verified ID.
• If you’re really worried about instant booking guests hosting parties in your property rental, install smart noise monitors. These devices will alert you when noise reaches a certain level. You won’t hear what your guests are saying or doing, but you’ll be able to tell if antisocial behaviour is taking place.
• Keep an eye on your calendar and edit your availability as soon as you are able to do so. If you know that you are going to be away on holiday for a week or so, cancel instant bookings during that period.
• Some platforms let you switch instant bookings off for longer stays. This is probably a good idea, as you’ll want to vet guests who plan to stay in your rental for over a week. Most will probably be harmless digital nomads or travellers, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Using these strategies, you can minimise the risks that come with instant bookings. Remember, instant bookings are becoming more and more common in the holiday rental world. Increasingly, guests don’t want to wait for a host’s confirmation. Be smart and manage them correctly, and they could be one of the best ways to grow your business.

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