Apr
12

Why Instant Booking using an Online Calendar is Best for Bed & Breakfasts

We’ve discussed the request-only versus instant booking methods at some length, but for many bed and breakfasts, the choice continues to be request-only. This is fine, however, there are clear advantages to the instant booking method that far outweigh any administrative inconveniences.  We are happy to work with our partners in any manner they wish, but find that on average, online requests end up resulting in some degree of frustration. Here’s why instant booking using an online calendar is best in almost every situation:

  1. The vast majority of users searching accommodation on the internet want instant gratification. If they have to wait for a response to a request, they disappear quickly. With instant booking, you capture the booking immediately, before they have time to search elsewhere.
  2. Instant booking has a much higher reservation success rate because of (1) above.
  3. Some users will submit a request simply to find out what rates are, and have no intention to book soon. This forces the innkeeper to respond to requests that will never turn into reservations.
  4. A percentage of all users never receive the response email because they are using some free email service (e.g., hotmail, yahoo, gmail etc.) that blocks mail from new senders as spam, and they don’t realize that this is happening. This is a simple fact that affects virtually all online services these days. A user that falls into this category will either disappear or complain that they never received a response. Nevertheless, with instant booking, this is never a problem, since the user receives confirmation directly while they’re still online.
  5. Innkeepers that are concerned with managing a calendar online have many options available to them. If they don’t want to use our interface directly, they can use one of several third party interfaces that feed into our system (you can contact us for recommendations).
  6. The risk of an occasional overbooking is more than offset by the higher level of bookings, income, and benefits mentioned above that can be achieved with the instant booking method.
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Posted in Business Intelligence Online Booking Online Marketing
2 Comments Posted by Sarah T. Bronson

2 Responses to "Why Instant Booking using an Online Calendar is Best for Bed & Breakfasts"

  • Luray va accommodations says:
    April 14, 2010 at 6:45 am

    For reservation I always use the internet and do not have any problem. Sometime reservation reply receives late but I think it is common problem if you reserve anything via internet.

    Best Regards,

  • Monica Finn says:
    August 25, 2011 at 3:47 am

    Hi, Egans House has been using the Internet for direct bookings for years. I find it can be messy & tedious if you use too many internet booking sites/engines, especially if you have to manage them all yourself. It is best to stick to one or two that bring in the most business. The commissions can be high of course but you have to weigh up the commission against the return on bookings and getting your business out there. On line request bookings is too slow. I personally run a mile from it when making my own bookings as I want instant confirmation and visible rates. I think it is a small minority of customers that would prefer this, again the same people who might like to book through Tour Operators or Travel Agents. What will replace the Internet is maybe the next question to ask? Mobile phone bookings? Any thoughts? Regards, Monica