Instant Bookings
Instant Bookings means that we will be taking bookings for your packages automatically. We will not be checking with you first.
If a client finds one of your packages and their dates align with your package dates, and you have availability, then they can place a booking immediately. You will then get notification of their confirmed booking.
Instant Bookings therefore means you need to provide us with the right elements, ahead of time, in order to create a valid booking automatically.
Instant Bookings Require a Combination of Availability & Open Packages
To be visible and bookable on the platform you need a combination of:
- Packages with commencement dates that align with the commencement date desired by the client
- Availability of the room/space for the complete length of the client's booking.
If this combination doesn't exist then there is nothing that can be instantly booked and your listing will be hidden from the platform.
So I have to Ensure I Have Availability?
Yes. For most Stays this means having an online availability calendar that we can draw the availability of your room/space automatically.
Online calendars are typically provided:
- As an iCal (iCalendar) formatted data feed from your master online calendar, or
- As a JSON formatted availability API data feed from your Channel Manager
The data feeds get inserted into our platform automatically. Typically we'd check on your iCal feed every 1 hour for example.
Larger properties can also use Free Sale and give us a quantity of rooms we can sell without checking first as they have ample opportunity to switch guests into unoccupied physical rooms. Under Free Sale larger properties can update their free sale quantities or block out dates inside via the Stay Dashboard.
What if I'm Full?
We will know when your room/space is available from your Availability Calendar. if you have nights where there is no availability then our system won't allow a booking to be made including those nights.
As soon as we make a booking our system reduces the number of rooms available and prevents us making another booking if there are now new nights that have been booked. You may have to manually update your Master Availability Calendar for our booking however as other platforms may not be updating themselves from our iCal feed or reservations.
For example, if you use Booking.com's ical based calendar as your Master Calendar and Booking.com does not have a automatic synchronise from our iCal then they won't know automatically of the booking we've just made. In ths case you need to insert the booking into Booking.com's system as some form of booking. (NB: Note the technical problem at Airbnb of using 'blocked dates' from Booking.com)
If you are still full when we place a booking it means that your availability calendar is not accurate and you'll need to kick into action your Overbooking Plan.
I Also Need Open Packages?
Yes, even if you have availability, in order to have a bookable product you also need to ensure you have an open Package.
Packages are fixed price offerings with at least 2 elements:
- A period of dates that a booking can start in, and
- A fixed price for the offering
For example. A 1 month stay costing $1,000 can be started anytime between 1 Feb and 31 March. In this example bookings starting on 1 April may have a different package price or inclusions.
To ensure maximum visibility of your Stay you should set your Packages to cover the next 18 months (at least). You can adjust the Package's prices or inclusions at any stage for future bookings. For example if you peak season is starting slow you may wish to reduce the price for longer staying guests like digital nomads. Also, if you are busier than usual you may wish to increase your prices.