Vacation Rentals Community

My kids are trying to convince me to make online registration automatic (as in all online). They keep telling me they would want to book it when they decided to (this could be late evening) and wouldn't want to have to have human contact.

I can see their point but not sure how I would go about doing this? Are there programs or do you have to hire someone? Any input appreciated

Your children are ahead of their times and this will sure be the way of the future as more people feel comfortable placing transactions online.  However, as of today, the majority of travelers like to have a human contact with the home owner before booking...for many reasons.

You may offer online booking as an option along with the more traditional booking approach.   There are several ways to offer online booking technology.  There are some companies that offer software to do this.  An alternative would be to hire a programmer to create a custom script and integrate it with a simple database.  If you need help, please send me a private message with exactly what you want and the website address and I will see what I can do to help you.

I agree with the human contact. We like the ability to feel out a customer and tell them what to expect as opposed to an "unknown" guest.

I have done an unofficial survey with younger people and they all seem to favor "humanless" booking? Not what I would want but it seems to be the way it is with them?

I would favor the ability to do both but I fear date combinations and Holiday rates would make it complex?

We do seem to do a lot of e-mail conversing but it always seems to end up with a phone call at some point.

The other problem is the majority of our bookings seem to come from Homeaway.  I obviously have no control over anything with them.

Thanks for the feedback.

You are correct that also from the home owner point of view, it is very important to screen the potential renters by phone.  I actually stopped using vacation rental managers just for this reason (I wanted to screen travelers myself).  

However, you may still use online booking technology to make the process more efficient once you come to a mutual agreement with the traveler.  Or you may provide a secure online form in which they could submit a signed agreement and pre-authorized payment (the payment will be processed later if there is an agreement) but would be subject to your approval and availability.

Hello all!

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www.ivacationonline.com

I am happy to explain everything. We consult owners also. This is our business! We show you how to maximize your rentals with online booking and you still talk to every guest! Just run your business the right way.

Love to share and hear more about this forum!