How much money do you lose by blocking a night before and after each booking?
Airbnb allows you to set preparation time between bookings. It may be necessary, but always leaving a night free out of habit can have a much greater opportunity cost than it seems.
A simple example
Let’s assume a property with 30 bookings a year, an ADR of €180, a margin after variable costs of €115 per night, and one night of buffer between stays.
Commercially unused nights: 20
Historical probability of selling them: 55%
Margin per night: €115
20 × 55% × €115 = €1,265 expected annual margin
The operational break-even point
If allowing a guest change on the same day costs an additional €35 for cleaning, the comparison is:
€35 / €115 = 30.4%
If there is more than approximately a 30% probability of selling that night, paying the additional operational cost may be financially better than blocking it.
What to measure before changing the buffer
- How many nights are actually blocked per year.
- What percentage of those nights would be sold.
- What ADR they have in high and low season.
- Actual cost of cleaning and accelerated turnover.
- Operational risk of same-day check-ins and check-outs.
The buffer should be an operational decision, not a habit. In low season it may not matter; in high season, a blocked night may be worth much more than rearranging cleaning.
Main source: Airbnb Help Center, availability settings and preparation time.