Airbnb Reservation Guideline

I always book apartments as soon as I can to get the best selection. I also don't really love sending money many months ahead, but would rather do that than lose the good apartments. One nice thing about paying for the apartment ahead of time - is not worrying about having a big chuck of euros when you first arrive.
I usually start researching 9-10 months ahead of a trip, and try to make a decision no later than 7-8 months before I leave.

I like to reserve a year in advance usually to score the best, most popular, and best priced places.

Try vrbo too - we usually use them. Usually you pay like 1/2 now, and 1/2 on arrival, or at some closer time.

In venice we found this place on vrbo and it was amazing.
http://caleonessa.com/

Good luck!
Kim

I book as soon as I find a good place! It is nice to have it done and paid for.

" It feels too early to give Airbnb my money right now"

As others have suggested, when you give Air your money is not the primary question. Forget about giving up your money a little too soon and keep your eyes on the prize-a great place to stay with lots of good reviews! Lock it in before someone else does, as soon as you know it's where you want to be. Do take note of cancellation policy/level for the unit, as far as strict, moderate, etc.

While I don't disagree that early booking can be advantageous (if you find something early, grab it before someone else does), there are downsides:

• Many hosts don't want to commit too far in advance, so they delay listing available dates until closer to the actual date.
• Worse (and I've had this happen to me), a host lists their place far out, but then realize they can't host on those dates, so they cancel closer to your travel dates, and by then many good alternatives have been snatched up already.

For these reasons, I usually wait until maybe 4-6 months before my trip. It doesn't eliminate the possibility of a cancellation, but I think it gives you the best balance of many good choices with more reliable commitments from the hosts.

Thanks for the replies and suggestions!

I booked in early May for a mid-Sept stay. We are going to Paris early Oct and I booked a few months ago. As soon as I find my perfect place, especially in a popular city, I don't want to take the chance (but on the off chance I do wait too long, I generally have a top 5 for the big cities I am going to so if I wait a few weeks and lose my fist choice, at least I have a few backed up...start a wish list for Venice...for May, I would def be keeping an eye on how booked up the room is getting.) I generally start searching about 6 months out and book about 5 months ahead. That being said - if you wanted a spot for a longer stay (say, more than 3 nights) you may have to book sooner...

I booked on airbnb in late January for our trip in October. The idea that a host might cancel close to our travel dates will now give me nightmares.