Explaining High-Season Rates For Your Vacation Rental

It can be surprising that many travelers still haven’t clued into the fact that prices can increase with demand, which is one of the truths of the travel industry. Business travelers and frequent flyers understand that flight prices, hotel prices, and accommodation rentals can be considerably higher during peak travel times. Yet, it doesn’t stop travelers from asking homeowners and property managers why rates are higher during certain times of the year.

But it’s good to know that higher vacation rates aren’t the same across the entire industry. For example, Florida vacation rental rates may be higher in the summer, as the kids are out of school for summer vacation, while ski resorts may have higher rates in February, near the end of the season. Long weekends can also command higher rates.

No matter how you’re questioned by your future guests, your answer is always going to be that the busy travel season means that guests pay normal rates during these times, but you do offer discounts during the off-season.

But what does this really mean in business? It’s one of the fundamental laws of capitalism that is known as supply and demand. A marketing manager may call this a compressed demand, something that occurs during a specific time of the year. This is what causes the rates to go up.

Airlines, short-accommodation hosts, and vacation rental owners know they can raise the prices during these higher times of supply and demand, and there will still be plenty of people willing to pay the higher prices. This pushes the rates up so there is a better ROI—Return on Investment—for owners. This means that the owners make higher profits off of travelers and guests.

This is one of the basic concepts of business and can be likened to how gas prices are always raised right before a long weekend too.

This means that a guest has to expect they’re going to pay higher prices during the summer vacation, a long weekend, holidays, and even special events or conventions that are occurring in their chosen city that week.

The good news is that if guests are flexible with travel plans, they can also benefit from discounts from the off-season. Vacation rental owners are happy to announce special discounts, as they want to get accommodations booked up during these quiet times.

To fill up bookings year-round, guests will be enticed with lower rates during the quieter times of the year. While the owners don’t get as much cash, they certainly can optimize their revenues by still being fully booked throughout the entire year.

If you’re listing your vacation rentals on CuddlyNest, or you are a property manager wanting to provide the best customer service to your guests, the best way to think positively about it is to realize that the high season means that you’re charging regular or normal rates, while the low season is the time that you give the big discounts.

It’s best to offer guests who complain about regular vacation rental rates an option for discounted rates during the off-season. Stay positive, and you never know, your guest may still be willing to pay a “regular rate” for the convenience of summer travel.

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