In today’s evolving vacation rental market, flexibility has become a top priority for travelers. To stay competitive and ensure your property remains a top choice for guests, we’ve decided to adopt a more relaxed cancellation policy that allows refunds up to 30 or 14 days before arrival without a cancellation fee. This decision is grounded in the latest travel trends and is designed to maximize both visibility and revenue for your property. Here’s why this change is essential.
Ensuring Your Property Gets Seen
The number one reason for this shift is that many travelers now limit their searches to properties with refundable options and no cancellation fees. On major booking platforms like AirBNB and VRBO, our data shows that guests are often filtering for flexible policies, and if your property doesn’t meet those criteria, it won’t appear in their search results. By offering a full refund up to 30 days before arrival, and no cancellation fees, we ensure your property remains visible to the widest audience possible.
Building Guest Confidence
Guests are far more likely to book a property when they know their money is protected if plans change. Offering flexibility fosters trust and encourages more bookings, particularly for those planning trips well in advance.
Keeping Up with Changing Traveler Expectations
Today’s travelers face many uncertainties, from fluctuating work schedules to unpredictable global events. A flexible cancellation policy reflects an understanding of their needs and makes your property more attractive in this dynamic environment.
Boosting Reviews and Repeat Business
Happy guests make for great reviews. Even if a guest has to cancel, a fair and guest-friendly policy leaves a positive impression. This can translate into future bookings, referrals, and glowing testimonials for your property.
Opening the Door to Last-Minute Bookings
Flexibility also creates opportunities for last-minute travelers. Properties with relaxed policies are more likely to attract spontaneous bookings, especially during busy seasons.
Exactly What Is Changing?
Our current policy allows for cancellations up to 60 days prior to arrival, but with a 5% cancellation fee to cover the cost of credit card processing. With the new policy, guests may:
- cancel up to 31 days prior to arrival with a 100% refund.
- cancel 15-30 days with a 50% refund.
- cancel 0-14 days with a 0% refund.
Addressing the Cost of Cancellations
We understand that increased cancellations can lead to higher non-reimbursed credit card fees. While this is a consideration, we firmly believe the additional bookings and revenue generated by this policy will more than offset these costs. Moreover, by keeping your property visible to a larger pool of potential guests, we are securing more opportunities to maximize your income. Please note that for refunded reservations Premium Beach Condos will absorb the cost of these credit card fees for you. This will remove any associated expense to you, but allow you to benefit from the increased visibility and bookings.
What About Travel Insurance?
With the introduction of this more flexible policy, travel insurance can play an essential role in protecting both your guests and your revenue. Guests often face unforeseen circumstances—such as illnesses, extreme weather, or other emergencies—that force them to cancel after the refund window has passed. Travel insurance provides a safety net for these situations, allowing guests to recover their costs without additional financial loss to you.
What This Means for You
This change will help your property:
- Stay competitive by appearing in more traveler searches.
- Increasing the direct demand for your property and allowing a higher competitive price.
- Benefit from more 5-star reviews and repeat bookings.
We’ll continue to monitor booking trends and provide updates on how this policy is impacting your property’s performance. Our goal is to make sure your investment thrives while keeping guests happy.
Thank you for trusting us to manage your property. If you have any questions about this policy change or its benefits, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Together, we’ll ensure your property remains a top choice for travelers.
Leave a Reply