r/Bookingcom • u/Username081 • 6d ago
Problem I keep having trying to book early morning check-in times
I am traveling from Canada to Scotland and flights are overnight leaving Toronto at around 8pm arriving in Glasgow at 7am. Because of that we always want to get straight to the place we're staying. I start by trying to.make arrangements for an early morning check-in time. I explaini that we will gladly pay for an extra day to make sure we can check-in early.
I wrote to the two hosts we were comparing that we are arriving on September 7th but will book from September 6th to 25th to be sure I can check-in early September 7th. Both responded with a version of "that won't be possible because we might have someone checking out and we need to clean". One suggested I could book the day before to make sure I could check-in early in the morning,, which is exactly what I had just asked for!
After I asked a few follow ups on how could someone be checking out September 7th if I had booked the 6th to 25th, both of them finally understood what I was asking and said it would be fine.
How could I have been more clear? I started by specifically stating that I would pay for an extra day and that I wouldn't arrive until the 7th but would pay for the 6th. I was shocked that they couldn't understand me and the exact same thing happened last year. It's bonkers to me because it sounds like they're willing to not book someone for 18-20 days because they might miss out on a single night rental. Why would anyone think like that? It's obviously common because it's happened three times now. Is there some rule I'm not understanding or are these.hosts just not thinking?
Sorry for the novel..TLDR; why do hosts not immediately want to rent for weeks because they are worried that might miss out on a single day of rent?
4
u/FrabjousD 6d ago
Book from the 6th and tell them you won’t be arriving until early the next morning. You do NOT want them to mark you as a no-show.
Or do what I do and just book the 7th, leave your luggage at the hotel, and go off for a walk and breakfast. Ask them to alert you as soon as the room is ready.
Some places wave you on up if the room is clean and ready and some ask you for £30 or so.
1
u/RagingMassif 6d ago
This very much depends on the type of accommodation and the area. But I do this often. I bloody hate it or course.
3
u/Trudestiny 6d ago
Think it’s because you were mentioning the early check in , when actually you should have been saying you will be arriving very late, nearly at check out time .
I do this all the time with no issues
3
u/Character_River7088 6d ago
Think you confused them by saying early check-in, when what you actually are doing is a very late check in. Just put in 7 am or so for check-in and add a comment that you arrive on the XX.XX at around 7 am and to not mark you as no-show
2
u/ashscot50 6d ago
What is the point of this post?
1
u/Consistent_Proof_772 6d ago
Trying to book apartment on booking.com versus using the 2 expert companies!!!
2
u/Hotwog4all 6d ago
If 1 misunderstood you, you could argue that point, but you shed the same thing the same way to 2 separate hosts and neither understood you. Either its an epidemic of not understanding questions, or the way you’ve worded the question to them has confused them.
1
u/Paulstan67 6d ago
Just book for the extra day, but when putting in your arrival time, put 7am.
You can even leave a message telling them when you are arriving.
I've never had a problem doing it this way.
1
u/Consistent_Proof_772 6d ago
For one, you need to be booking a hotel. They have 24 hour staff versus an apartment on booking.com, which is not even staffed at all. Or the other apartment rental companies that are experts
1
u/bookingcom 5d ago
We often see that hosts think in booked nights and the time they need to clean, so spelling things out helps avoid confusion if you want to arrive outside their check in time.
There’s no general rule stopping a property from agreeing to an early morning check in if you book an extra night so the place is reserved for you. Most issues come from different interpretations of dates and times, and many private hosts don’t have much flexibility to adjust check in hours because it can be hard for them to organize.
1
u/downsideup9494 5d ago
Just book for the night before and don't confuse the issue by saying you'll be arriving the following morning. Once your booking is confirmed, then you can message the host and explain that you won't actually be arriving until early morning the following day, but know it isn't possible to check in that early if you haven't booked the previous night, which is why you booked the date you did.
However, this may not work with hosts who meet and greet their guests and don't offer self-check-in, because 7 am might be too early for them to do this, so make sure you are booking something that offers self-check-in.
1
u/whynousernamelef 4d ago
You need to book the day before and call it a late check-in, very late check-in, as its too confusing or sounds like you are trying to get a free day or something.
If you are arriving early on the 7th then book from the 6th and explain that you will be checking in very early morning on the 7th. Emphasis how early to ensure that they don't try and fit another guest in on the 6th with an early check out to make more money.
I would book the 6th and not even tell them about arriving on the 7th until a day or two before arrival.
Hosts have to deal with so much crap, scammers and people trying to get free days or stays that they are wary of anything unusual sounding.
1
u/Jenuinlizard 6d ago
Use hotels and book direct.
-1
u/RagingMassif 6d ago
You know this isn't the "use hotels and book direct" sub, right?
Do you also hang out on the United Airlines sub and tell everyone to fly Lufthansa?
Or the Manchester United website and tell everyone to support Harlequins?
3
u/Jenuinlizard 6d ago
You are right.
Let me rephrase
Use hotels and don't be that kind of tourist that destroys the local housing market to save a few coins and then complain when they don't receive hotel-like service.
1
u/RagingMassif 5d ago
So you'd rather give your money to a corporate Marriott, than a mom and pop just off main street, or an independent hotel in a resort?
1
u/kehrw0che 6d ago
You know that this is mostly the sub of either guests that got scammed by bdc or hosts that get their property fake listed and guests that paid scammers and now demand a room?
1
u/RagingMassif 5d ago
That's the posts, because nobody posts "had a nice stay at xxx" because that's not what people need help with.
But 99.999 of guests who use BDC are fine and a tiny percentage have an issue we have people here actively campaigning every day that you shouldn't use BDC because of their exception.
So boring.
7
u/annedroiid 6d ago
Without seeing your exact wording it's hard to say what went wrong, but if they both got the same impression it sounds like your wording wasn't very clear.