What Are Blackout Dates?

Blackout dates are set dates that property owners use to block out other's booking stays in their property. 

If you're a homeowner or property owner and have friends or family staying at your property or want to use it, it might be important to state blackout dates. Similarly, if your property is undergoing renovations, cleanings, or lots of repair work is being done, this might be useful too. 

Other than property owners, blackout dates are relevant to hotels and airlines too. However, the travel industry blackout for different reasons, such as promotions, discounts, and holidays. Moreover, it's important for the hospitality industry too. Similarly, to save money, many travel companies use these dates that are kept the same for each year.

How are blackout dates determined? 

If you're a property owner, you can define your dates in your property profile before doing so. Then when you get any new bids, it will show the dates you're blocked out to new bookings. However, on platforms, you can edit or remove them based on your requirements.

What are the blackout dates?

Now you know what blackout dates are, let's review the most common ones for the U.K. and USA. Generally, for most countries, the most common blackout dates are for the winter season. Alongside this, they tend to be for public holidays, such as the following dates:

• Christmas week
• New Year's Eve and day
• Valentines day
• Easter weekend
• Mother's day
• Father's day
• Memorial day
• 4th of July
• Labor day
• Columbus day
• Thanksgiving weekend

How can blackout dates benefit your business?

If you're a property owner and find you've got interest in bookings surrounding such blackout dates, then you may wish to charge more during those periods. It also may be wise to remove any relevant promotions for these dates, to allow you to charge more money. 

Will there be an impact of blackout dates on my vacation rental? 

Based on which platform you use, sometimes blackout dates can cause a significant impact on your property rental. The main reason for this is that it can affect your search engine ranking causing additional hurdles for your business. Therefore, when setting blackout dates, you must consider your flexibility, website ranking, and schedule.

What to consider when adding blackout dates? 

When creating blackout dates, you'll want to make sure your plans for your property don't interfere with the plans of your guests who are staying. After all, blackout dates are designed to benefit you as a property owner giving you full control when you want to go on a vacation, keep the property for yourself or undergo any maintenance. 

Final thoughts 

Overall, blackout dates can vary between the USA and the U.K. However, the most common ones tend to fall on public holidays like Christmas, thanksgiving, New years eve, valentines day, fathers day, mothers day, and more. As a property owner, it's up to you to decide when to set these dates for your property and when your guests can book. Remember to make sure you don't overlap with existing bookings and consider your flexibility and schedule.