Control when guests can request early check-in and late checkout

Guests see early check-in and late checkout upsells in their portal. Set lead time and cutoff rules for each upsell to control exactly when these options become visible and when they stop being available. Guests now see live countdown timers showing exactly when a booking window opens or closes, so they always know where they stand. When guests purchase these accommodations, your dashboard pricing updates automatically and reliably so it always reflects what guests have actually booked.

Getting started

1. Go to Websites and select your website
2. Click the Portal tab
3. Expand either the Early Check-in or Late Check-out section
4. Under Availability Gates, configure your timing rules:
   • Lead Time (days): How many days before check-in/check-out the option appears
   • Cutoff (hours): How many hours before check-in/check-out to stop accepting requests
   • Max hours early / Max hours late: How far before check-in or after check-out guests can shift — this now fully defines the upsell window (see below)
5. Click Save to apply your changes

[Screenshot: Portal settings showing the availability gates and max hours fields for both early check-in and late checkout]

How it works

Both early check-in and late checkout use the same flexible availability system. The platform automatically shows or hides upsell options based on your timing rules:

• Before lead time opens: Guests see "Available starting [date/time]" so they know exactly when to return, along with a countdown showing how long until the window opens
• Within the booking window: Full time and pricing options appear as configured, with a countdown showing how long guests have left to book before the window closes
• After cutoff passes: The upsell disappears entirely to prevent last-minute requests

The system calculates availability in real-time using each guest's specific check-in and check-out dates and your property's local time zone, so timing is always precise — including on the morning of arrival for properties in any time zone around the world.

Cutoff timing is anchored to each guest's actual booked check-in or check-out time, not your property's standard check-in hour. So if a guest is booked for a 1:00 PM check-in and your cutoff is 1 hour, the request window closes at 12:00 PM — exactly when it should, regardless of what your standard check-in time is set to.

[Screenshot: Guest portal showing an early check-in upsell with a "Book within X hours" countdown timer]

When a guest completes a purchase — such as early check-in — your dashboard pricing refreshes immediately to reflect the updated booking value. You'll always see accurate totals without needing to manually refresh or reconcile.

When guests confirm their early check-in or late checkout requests, notifications are sent immediately to keep you informed. You'll receive these alerts consistently, ensuring you can respond promptly to accommodate your guests' needs.

Max hours early and max hours late

Max hours early and Max hours late — set on the Portal settings page — are now the authoritative controls for how wide the upsell window is. When you set one of these values, it fully defines the time slots offered to guests:

• Max hours late set: guests are offered slots from your standard check-out time up to that many hours after it — regardless of any other behind-the-scenes configuration. For example, with a 10:00 AM standard checkout and Max hours late set to 3, guests see 11:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 1:00 PM.
• Max hours early set: guests are offered slots from that many hours before your standard check-in time up to check-in. For example, with a 4:00 PM standard check-in and Max hours early set to 4, guests see 12:00 PM, 1:00 PM, 2:00 PM, and 3:00 PM.
• Neither set: the window falls back to the range defined by your booking page's earliest check-in and latest checkout times.

Previously, these fields could only narrow a window that already existed — they couldn't extend it, and a collapsed window would hide the upsell entirely. Now, setting Max hours late or Max hours early is all you need to control what guests are offered. If late checkout was not appearing for your guests even though you had a cutoff configured, setting Max hours late on the Portal settings page will fix it.

[Screenshot: Portal settings page showing the Max hours early and Max hours late fields under the Early Check-in and Late Check-out sections]

Key features

• Symmetric controls — Early check-in and late checkout use identical lead time and cutoff settings
• Max hours defines the window — Setting max hours early or max hours late on the portal settings page now fully controls how many slots guests are offered, overriding any conflicting behind-the-scenes values and fixing cases where late checkout or early check-in was hidden unexpectedly
• Guest countdown timers — Guests see exactly how long until a booking window opens and how long they have left to book before it closes, removing any guesswork
• Real-time updates — Availability changes automatically as dates approach
• Accurate cutoff anchoring — Cutoff hours are measured from each guest's actual booked check-in or check-out time, not your property's standard time. A guest booked for 1:00 PM check-in with a 1-hour cutoff will see the window close at 12:00 PM — not at some unrelated hour
• Time zone accuracy — The property's true local time zone is resolved from the listing's location, so cutoff deadlines are always correct — even for reservations imported from other platforms that may carry incorrect time zone data
• Reliable dashboard sync — When guests purchase early check-in or other add-ons, your dashboard pricing updates immediately and stays in sync with actual bookings
• Reliable notifications — Get notified every time guests request early check-in or late checkout
• Per-listing overrides — Set different rules for specific properties when needed
• Flexible timing — Combine lead time, cutoff, and max hours for complete control over when and how much guests can shift their arrival or departure

Lead time

Lead time is the earliest a guest may request the upsell, expressed in days before their check-in or check-out date. Set lead time to 14 to keep the upsell hidden until two weeks before their arrival or departure.

Leave lead time empty to make the upsell available immediately when the reservation is booked.

When a lead time is set and a cutoff is also configured, guests who visit before the window opens will see both countdowns at once: how long until they can book, and how long they'll have to make their decision once the window does open.

Cutoff

Cutoff is the latest a guest may request the upsell, expressed in hours before their check-in or check-out time. Set cutoff to 2 hours for early check-in to stop accepting requests when it's too late to coordinate with your team.

The cutoff counts down from the guest's actual booked check-in or check-out time. If a guest's reservation shows a 1:00 PM check-in, a 2-hour cutoff closes the window at 11:00 AM — not at some other hour based on your standard check-in time. When no specific check-in time is recorded for a reservation, the window falls back to your configured standard check-in time.

Leave cutoff empty to accept requests right up to the check-in or check-out time. When no cutoff is set, no closing countdown is shown to the guest.

Cutoff timing is always calculated in your property's local time zone. If your property is in a western time zone, for example, a 2-hour cutoff before a 3:00 PM check-in will correctly stop accepting requests at 1:00 PM local time — not several hours earlier as it may have appeared before.

Tips & best practices

• Match your operations: Set cutoffs based on how much notice your team needs to prepare
• Use lead time strategically: Longer lead times can increase booking urgency and advance planning
• Let countdowns do the selling: The closing countdown creates natural urgency — guests can see the window shrinking in real time, which encourages earlier decisions
• Use max hours to control the menu: Set Max hours late and Max hours early on the portal settings page to define exactly how many time slots guests can choose from. This is the most direct way to control the upsell window, and it takes precedence over everything else
• Test guest experience: Book a test reservation to see exactly what guests will see, including how the countdown timers appear
• Coordinate with housekeeping: Ensure your cutoff times align with cleaning schedules
• Set up workflows: Configure automated messages and team notifications for incoming requests
• Trust your dashboard totals: Pricing shown on your dashboard now reliably reflects any add-ons guests have purchased through the portal, including early check-in

Common questions

What happens to my existing booking window settings? Your previous booking window hours for early check-in automatically convert to cutoff hours with the same timing.

Late checkout wasn't showing for my guests even though my cutoff was set correctly. What was happening, and is it fixed? Yes, this is fixed. Previously, the time slots offered to guests were driven by a behind-the-scenes "latest checkout" value that your portal settings page doesn't expose. If that value happened to match your standard checkout time, the upsell window collapsed to zero and late checkout was hidden entirely — even if your cutoff and max hours were configured correctly. Now, setting Max hours late on the portal settings page is all you need: it defines the offered window directly, and those slots will appear as expected.

Max hours late is set to 4, but guests were only seeing 2 late checkout options. Is that fixed? Yes. Previously, Max hours late and Max hours early could only shrink the offered window — they couldn't extend it beyond what a behind-the-scenes value allowed. So if that value capped the window at 2 hours, guests would only ever see 2 options no matter what you set. Now, Max hours late and Max hours early define the window outright. Set Max hours late to 4 and guests will see exactly 4 late checkout slots.

What do guests actually see with the countdown timers? Depending on where a guest is in the booking window, they'll see one of three things: a timer counting down to when the upsell becomes available (if lead time hasn't passed yet), a timer counting down to when the booking window closes (if they're inside the open window and a cutoff is set), or no upsell at all (if the cutoff has already passed). If no cutoff is configured, no closing timer is shown.

Can I set different rules for different properties? Yes, use per-listing overrides in your property settings to customize availability gates for specific listings. Each property's countdowns are calculated using that property's own local time zone, so guests always see accurate times regardless of where the property is located.

Do max hours limits still apply? Yes — and they now do more than before. Max hours early and Max hours late set on the portal settings page fully define the upsell window. They both extend a window that's too narrow and cap one that's too wide, so guests see exactly the number of slots you intend. Availability gates (lead time and cutoff) still control when guests can request, while max hours control how much they can request.

Will I always be notified when guests make requests? Yes, notifications for early check-in and late checkout requests send reliably every time, so you won't miss any guest accommodation requests.

Will my dashboard pricing stay accurate after a guest buys early check-in? Yes. When a guest purchases early check-in or any other add-on through the portal, your dashboard pricing refreshes automatically. You no longer need to manually check or reconcile — what you see on the dashboard always matches what the guest has paid.

My property is in a western time zone and early check-in used to disappear too early on arrival morning. Is that fixed? Yes. Previously, cutoff and lead time windows were calculated incorrectly for properties in western time zones, causing early check-in options to disappear several hours before they should have. This is now fixed — availability is calculated in your property's local time zone, so guests will see early check-in options correctly on arrival morning.

A guest had a custom check-in time but the cutoff window seemed to close at the wrong hour. Is that fixed? Yes. The cutoff window is now anchored to each guest's actual booked check-in time, not your property's standard check-in hour. If a guest is booked for a 1:00 PM check-in with a 1-hour cutoff, the window closes at 12:00 PM — not at an hour based on your standard 4:00 PM check-in time.

I import reservations from other platforms. Will time zone handling be correct for those too? Yes. Some platforms send reservations with inaccurate time zone data. Vanio AI determines your property's correct local time zone from the listing's location directly, so cutoff windows are always calculated accurately — even when imported reservation data carries a generic or incorrect time zone.