With the arrival of the covid-19, most of the reservations that tourists made were in advance, with at least 60 days in advance, this gave them the possibility of canceling in advance in the event of a possible eventuality. However, this year 2021, due to the lifting of restrictions and the desire to travel of many tourists, the phenomenon of last minute reservations is returning, for which many hosts are not prepared.
As the Rental United company points out, last minute bookings are great for selling your unsold nights and monetizing expiring inventory. But there is such a thing as too last minute.
It’s every property manager’s nightmare when a guest books an hour before check-in. How are you supposed to prepare the property before your arrival?
The best way to deal with last minute bookings is to avoid them in the first place. And for that, you need a Vacation Rental Channel Manager that allows you to set up a PTBA (Prep Time Before Arrival) and communicate it to your sales channels.
But what is a PTBA? How does it work?
PTBA means preparation time before arrival. It is well known as “minimum notice”, “publication time”, “minimum delivery time” or “cut-off days”. It refers to the minimum amount of time in advance that a reservation must be made so that property managers have time to prepare for the guest’s arrival.
Basically, PTBA blocks a period of hours on its availability calendar to avoid unwanted last minute bookings. This way, guests won’t be able to book their property too close to arrival and will never find themselves in a situation where response time is too short to handle.
This is a tool that most channel managers don’t have and it allows you to run a truly global business by accepting bookings without having to worry about time zone differences or short response times.
Setting up a PTBA in your vacation rental software prevents guests from booking last minute before arrival. As a result, property managers have more control over last minute bookings and can ensure that they always have time to prepare before a guest checks in.
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