Revenue management, answered

Why am I only getting last-minute bookings inside a zero-to-seven-day window and almost nothing booked further out?

Your rates at the 30-to-90-day window are almost certainly too high relative to your comp set, so demand is passing you by and only the desperate last-minute traveler books. Fix your lead-time pricing curve and bookings will spread across the window.

By Jack Murphy, Head of Revenue Management at UpRev. Running pricing for US vacation rental managers since 2017.

Your Pricing Curve Is Probably Flat or Inverted

Most portfolios we audit have rates that stay stubbornly high from 90 days out all the way to 8 days out, then drop sharply. That trains the market to wait. You need a deliberate step-down structure where rates decline gradually as you approach the stay date, not a cliff at day 7. Review your pickup reports by lead time and you will likely see a dead zone between 14 and 60 days where you are generating almost no reservations.

Check Your Comp Set Positioning at Each Lead-Time Band

Pull your market's available inventory at the 30-day and 60-day marks and compare your rates against direct competitors unit by unit. If you are priced above median on comparable properties at those lead times, you are invisible to planners who book early. Position competitively at 45-plus days to capture the organized traveler, then protect rate closer in once inventory tightens.

Minimum Stay Rules Can Silently Kill Lead-Time Demand

Long minimum stays at the 30-to-60-day mark block a large share of potential bookers who cannot yet commit to a specific length. Audit your minimum stay settings by lead time and loosen them progressively as you move further from the stay date. A 3-night minimum at 45 days out will often unlock bookings that a 5-night minimum was quietly turning away.