Tips · 9 October 2026

Set your holiday rental prices early, before long-stay guests book

Long stays get booked about four months ahead. Here’s how to get yours booked early.

It's a Sunday evening in January. A group of five friends from Italy is planning two weeks on the Costa Brava in August, looking for a three-bedroom holiday home with a pool. They compare a few options and book one.

If you haven't set your prices for August yet, your home isn't one of those options, because a night without a price can't be booked.

That's how most of next summer gets decided: months before the season begins, while guests are already comparing homes and making their plans.

This article explains when guests start booking for next year, and how to get longer stays booked earlier.

How next summer fills up, month by month

Take all the June-to-August nights booked on Holidu for summer 2026. On 1 October 2025, only around 1 in 15 had been booked. By New Year, that had risen to almost 1 in 5, and by the start of March, nearly 2 in 5.

That's how quickly summer fills up, months before the season begins. And it wasn't a one-off: a year earlier, summer 2025 filled up in almost exactly the same way (Holidu booking data).

It's not too late. Between New Year and March, the share of summer nights already booked doubles, and guests can only book the nights you've priced.

How to get your best weeks booked in advance

On Holidu, we see that guests staying one to two weeks typically book about four months ahead. Guests coming for one or two nights book about three weeks before (Holidu booking data). Large groups and guests choosing premium homes also tend to book early.

Summer gets booked early mainly because summer holidays are longer. To get your best weeks booked four to five months ahead, give long-stay guests a reason to book now. An early bird discount does that. This is how you can set it up in Holidu:

Offer a lower price for guests who book early. For example, you could offer 10% off bookings made 150 days or more before check-in.
Choose the discount and booking window. Set the discount anywhere from 5% to 50%, and decide how far in advance guests need to book to qualify.
Choose the window carefully. A 150-day window targets guests booking furthest ahead. A shorter window reaches more bookings, but means more guests receive the discount.
Combine it with other discounts. On most booking sites your discounts stack, except the New Listing Discount. Some allow only one discount at a time. While the New Listing Discount runs (your first six months), it's the only discount that applies.
Keep your best nights at full price. Peak night protection uses local market data to find the nights with the highest demand in your area and keeps the early bird discount off them. It's on by default for your early bird discount; you can check it or change the level under "Exclude high-demand nights".
Change or switch it off whenever you like. You can manage it under Configuration → Discounts.

To fill the weekends between longer stays, use a last-minute discount rather than an early bird discount. Weekend guests book in the few weeks before arrival, so that's when a discount reaches them.

How to have all of next year priced on time

To have next year priced before long-stay guests start planning, start with dynamic pricing. It creates a recommended price curve for the next 14 months, based on what guests have actually paid for similar properties in your region, which you can review and adjust before applying. Start before November and the curve covers the whole of next year. As demand changes, Holidu keeps recommending prices, and you can either confirm them yourself or switch on automatic price optimization to adjust them for you.

Before you apply the curve, check what it will change:

Review your pricing first: applying the curve overwrites custom prices you’ve set by hand, such as individual weeks or seasonal adjustments.
The curve covers 14 months: after that, you’ll need to set it up again for the following year.
Automatic price optimization is optional: if you switch it on, the first adjustments are made around four weeks later.
Pricing manually? Use “Add new season” under Pricing and make sure there are no gaps between seasons. Dates without a season can’t be booked or used for check-out.

Price changes can take several hours to reach your connected channels. Channels connected via iCal don’t receive prices, so you’ll need to update those directly.

What your first bookings tell you about the rest of the year

Once next year's first bookings come in, you can see which weeks are filling up and which are still empty. That leaves you months to fill the gaps, for example by adjusting prices, adding a discount for those dates or sending custom offers to past guests to get them to book with you directly.

Even if an early booking is cancelled, your calendar is reopened on all booking platforms you are listed on and you still have enough time to fill that gap.

Returning guests book first: open your dates for direct bookings

A guest who stayed with you last August visits your website in February to book again. Returning guests tend to book earlier than first-time guests, so opening your prices and availability early gives them the chance to book their next stay with you directly. You can also encourage more direct bookings by making your website easy to find on Google and sending past guests custom offers with personalized prices and dates. With a direct booking website, your prices and availability use the same calendar you manage in Holidu, so next year’s dates become bookable directly as soon as you add your prices.

Where to start: get more long stays booked earlier

Long stays and early bookings go together: guests planning a week or more are the ones who book months ahead. To get more of them:

Open next year by November. Set prices for all of next year, so guests planning their summer in winter can book your dates. Dynamic pricing sets this up in minutes. Check the recommended prices before you apply them.
Reward guests who book early. Check your early bird discount is set for bookings made four to five months ahead.
Reward guests who stay longer. A weekly discount gives guests a reason to book a full week, especially in quieter months.
Keep your busiest nights at full price. Check peak night protection is on for your early bird and weekly discounts.
Keep shorter stays bookable. Weekend guests book only a few weeks ahead, so they fill the gaps between longer stays. A last-minute discount helps you reach them.

Frequently asked questions

Is it too late to price next summer?

Usually not. On 1 October 2025, about 1 in 15 of summer 2026's nights were already booked. By New Year it was almost 1 in 5 (Holidu booking data). Guests staying a week or more book about four months ahead, so August gets decided in winter. If you start dynamic pricing before November, its curve covers the whole of next year.

Will dynamic pricing overwrite prices I've already set?

Yes. Applying the curve replaces custom prices you've set by hand, such as individual weeks or seasonal adjustments. Review them before you apply it.

Can I still change prices once next year is open?

Yes, at any time. Already confirmed bookings will retain the price that the guest booked.

Does the early bird discount affect my busiest dates?

No. Peak night protection is on by default for your early bird discount: Holidu automatically detects your highest-demand nights and keeps them out of the discount. You can also choose whether that covers peak nights only or peak and high-demand nights.

Can past guests book next year directly with me?

Yes, if you have a direct booking website. It uses the same calendar you manage in Holidu, so next year's dates become bookable directly as soon as you add your prices.

Open next summer, before your guests start planning

Start dynamic pricing this month and every night of next year will get a recommended price, June to August included. Switch on automatic price optimization to let Holidu adjust them as demand moves.

Your account → Properties → Pricing

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