How far in advance do you book your rental?

[Hopeful8]

Curious...how far in advance do you book your rental when staying offsite? 1 year, 9 months, 6 months or 3 months or less? I have my eye on a rental with vrbo and just wondering if 6 months out is too early to book it? I don't think so but DH thinks we can wait to book it.

 

[hardis5]

9 months out I have one almost 1/2 current rates. If it ever drops down lower, I'll cancel the existing and rebook..

 

[migel]

I never know our dates earlier than 5-6 months out, but I start immediately and usually make an initial reservation through Costco. I then check other sites regularly, including perusing the Thread on this site that is specific to my month (usually there is a monthly car rental rate thread in the Transportation Thread). Good luck!

 

[Ted in Halifax]

I book at the lowest rate available, which could be very far out .... then I cancel when a better rate comes out (and rebook) .... then I cancel when a better rate comes out (and rebook) .... then I cancel when a better rate comes out (and rebook) .... a constant game of fine the better price. Expedia.ca has worked well for me.

 

[starvenger]

For any trip, once we figure out dates, I'll book a refundable hotel room via Expedia as a fallback option.

With VRBO, Airbnb and the like, I'll start looking around the same time. If the owner has a full refund policy (which nowadays is unlikely), I'll consider booking then, but for the most part I will favourite the places I like and book once I get my tickets confirmed. The good thing about places like Orlando/Kissimmee is that there are so many options that waiting really doesn't hurt you much.

 

[bankr63]

if it's a VRBO and you like it, book it. These are privately owned properties; many are quite similar, but if there is something unique that is really attracting you to this one, I say book it before someone else does.

But to answer your question for us, well, we are booked for eternity. We own a March break week timeshare in Orlando, so it is always there. We have to decide about 6 months out if we are going to deposit it and trade elsewhere or we start losing "trading power". Sometimes we'll farm it around to friends and family to see if they want to visit the mouse.

 

[Hopeful8]

Thank you for your advice....went ahead and booked it - so excited!! This will be our second time to Orlando after our first "one and only time to WDW" last year...funny how that happens!

 

[webworm]

I just booked a 4 bedroom villa today in Sarasota/Bradenton arriving on Dec 19th on the gulf coast with a pool and hot tub for 9 nights. The owner lives in the UK. I normally wait until 2 or 3 weeks out to get the best deal from owners since there are a lot of different rentals available.