If you're an avid reader of Owner Community articles, you have probably seen a few articles that talk about the benefits of keeping your availability calendars up-to-date. However, we know there is a pretty significant chunk of owners out there that, for whatever reason, simply do not like to update their calendars. If you happen to be one of those owners, perhaps some actual feedback from travelers might give you more incentive to update.

“Apparently, the owners on your website don't bother to update their calendars AT ALL and so we prospective renters spend hours of wasted time finding and contacting TOTALLY UNAVAILABLE unit owners. One owner showed practically every month fully available, but when contacted had only four individual days left for the year!!! How ridiculous - and what a waste of my time! “

“Why do you let these people list? They do NOT update their calendar then I have to wait three days to find out they are full on a day that says they are open. I might just go to Craigslist it is so frustrating....”

“When I found your website, I was so excited to see an affordable alternative to hotels! Unfortunately, though I carefully looked up [rentals] in NYC that were "available" according to your calendar and contacted six different apartment owners, NOT ONE of them was available.”

“I wanted you to be aware that your member owners are EXTREMELY INEFFICIENT in updating your site, so you will probably face MANY frustrated customers who sadly, like me, are now going elsewhere…”

“I have used Home Away twice before with pretty good results. I think perhaps you guys should make it part of your membership that the property owners either update their calendar on a regular basis or not display one. I have contacted 9 - I repeat 9 - owners in regard to a vacation I am planning in December, all of who showed available dates. All of those 9 responded that they were in fact booked. Very frustrating, makes me want to use another site or method to look for a vacation rental.”

Think about it this way. When travelers have a smooth and straightforward experience booking vacation homes through HomeAway, VRBO or VacationRentals.com, chances are they might recommend the sites to their family and friends. More travelers mean more bookings for you.

Like we've said before, keeping your calendar up-to-date has many benefits for you, the owner. If that wasn't convincing enough, keep your travelers in mind and they will likely be grateful for the savings in time and effort.

The Importance of Keeping Your Calendar Up-to-Date Don't underestimate the importance of calendars in the traveler search process.   How to Update and Maintain Your Advertisement Unlike print advertisements, it is easy to update your HomeAway.com listing.   Christine on Keeping Up Vacation Rental Calendars Keeping calendars up-to-date has been a bit of a sore subject with vacation rental owners. Why Christine thinks it's a must.   How to Book Last-Minute Rentals at Your Vacation Property Tactics you can use to increase last-minute bookings of your vacation rental property.

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